WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 80, @Southern Illinois 52
@Wichita State 69,
Jacksonville State 65
MURRAY STATE 80, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 52
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Murray State Racers turned in a first half gem and rode it to an 80-52 win over the Southern Illinois Salukis at the SIU Arena Wednesday night in Carbondale.
The Racers (6-1) has won back-to-back road games and won for a fourth consecutive time against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference and have won three in a row. They also evened the all-time series with SIU 18-18 and are 10-4 in road games.
Ja Morant scored 23 points to go with 13 assists and Tevin Brown scored a career-high 20 points on 6-of-11 3-point shooting for the Racers. Brion Whitley and KJ Williams each added 10 points for their career highs and Mike Davis grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
The first half for the Racers might go down as the best first half in program history. The Racers hit the Salukis (7-4) with a 15-4 run to build a 19-9 lead at the 10:15 mark. Included in MSU’s initial salvo was a pair of Morant 3-pointers. Tevin Brown got hot and hit three-straight 3-pointers and the Racers led 35-14 on a 12-0 run.
When the horn sounded for halftime, the Racers had a 31-point lead over SIU at 49-18. In the first 20 minutes, the Racers were 19-of-33 from the field for 67 percent and 8-of-13 from the 3-point line for 61 percent. Defensively, it is hard to imagine the Racers could defend any better in holding SIU to 19 percent (5-of-26) and 1-of-7 from the 3-point line for 14 percent. The Racers had 12 assists on 19 field goals and had a 22-16 rebounding edge. They forced SIU into four more turnovers than field goals.
The Racers cruised to their largest margin of victory in the history of their 18 wins in the SIU series.
WICHITA STATE 69, JACKSONVILLE STATE 65
WICHITA, Kan. - A late-game surge wasn't enough to lift the Jacksonville State men's basketball team over Wichita State on Wednesday, falling 69-65 at Charles Koch Arena and bringing an end to the Gamecocks' five-game winning streak.
JSU trailed by nine points at the 14:21 mark of the second half after the Shockers outscored the visitors 8-2 in a two-minute span. Despite falling into its largest deficit of the night, 50-41, Jacksonville State answered with a nine-point run to take a 58-57 lead with 6:12 remaining in the game.
JSU and Wichita State traded baskets over the next four minutes until Shocker point guard Samajae Haynes-Jones hit a 3-pointer with less than two minutes to go to widen the gap to four. WSU created a seven-point advantage, but a last-second 3-pointer from Ty Hudson provided the game's final score.
The first half saw the two teams combine for 70 points. Wichita State's four-point lead, 37-33, was their smallest advantage at a halftime for the year, but the highlight of the stanza came on an offensive rebound at 7:48 by senior Christian Cunningham. His third of five rebounds on the night was the 680th of his career, making him Jacksonville State's all-time Division I rebounding leader. The four-year Gamecock surpassed Nick Murphy's previous record of 679 and ended the night with 682.
Senior Marlon Hunter collected 11 points in the first period, hitting 4-for-11 shots and two free throws, while the WSU defense was able to hold Jason Burnell to zero. The senior forward was 0-for-3 and ran into early foul trouble with three in the first period. As a result, Wichita State outscored 24-6 in the paint for the first half, 42-18 overall.
Burnell caught fire in the second period and became one of four Gamecocks to record double-digit points. He and Jamall Gregory each tallied 10, while Hudson and Hunter led the way with 15 each. Ten of Hudson's 15 came in the second half, as well.
Haynes-Jones was the Shockers' leading scorer with 17 points, going 7-for-16 with three 3-pointers. Meanwhile, the JSU defense held the American Conferen's leading scorer, Markis McDuffie, to 11 points - 8.5 points below his average.