Racers Adding To History

First Top 25 Win in Ten Years

(St. Louis, MO) – Murray State’s years of sustained success had lacked a signature win for quite some time, but that ended Thursday in Myrtle Beach. When Steve Prohm’s team defeated No. 24 Texas A&M, it was merely the Racers adding to history.

Four Racers reached the double figure scoring level during the 88-79 victory. JaCobi Wood led the way with a career-high 23 points, including several clutch free throws in the game’s closing minutes. He made all nine of his free-throw attempts.

Joining Wood in double digit scoring were Kenny White Jr (18), Jamari Smith (17) and Rob Perry (12).

“When they cut it to 60-58, our guys showed a lot of toughness and character,” Murray State coach Steve Prohm said. “They stayed calm. There wasn’t a lot of complaining. They were just focused. That’s the biggest thing you want to see as a coach. Can you keep your composure? Can you stay even-keeled and continue to just exuded confidence?”

While the Racers were out rebounded and committed more turnovers than the Aggies, MSU connected on 50% of their shots and held A&M to a 38% night and allowed just six of 27 triple attempts.

The Next Two Games at Myrtle

Murray’s hopes of winning the Myrtle Beach Invitational ended with a Noah Fernandes, buzzer-beating triple, moving Massachusetts into the final. During the semifinal loss Wood hit two free-throws to give the Racers a narrow, (69-68) lead. The Fernandes long ball provided the Minutemen with the two-point win.

Wood collected his second straight, career-high scoring performance. This time the Belmont transfer rang up 24-points. UMASS, who was a top-200 kenpom.com team last year moved to 3-1.

Murray bounced back with a 77-60 third-place victory. The Racers defeated a Southeastern Conference team, lost to the Atlantic Ten’s UMASS and then knocked off the American Athletic Conference’s Tulsa. Jamari Smith (19), Kenny White, (16), Jacobi Wood (12) and D.J. Burns (11) led the offensive charge, while Burns collected 15 rebounds. Wood completed his spectacular weekend with eleven assists.

The Racers (3-2) have moved to 108 in the latest KenPom.com ratings. Next up for Steve Prohm’s team is the Southern Conference reigning champion Chattanooga (158) on Saturday.

Racers keep tangling with high level teams and keep adding to history.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo courtesy of goracers.com