While the majority of students relaxed at home during Christmas break, Head Coach Steve Prohm and his players were hard at work.
After a rocky 4-5 start to the season, the men’s team kicked off the break by getting back to .500 with a much-needed victory over long-time rival Southern Illinois.
Perhaps even more significant than the win itself, however, was the debut of junior T.J. Sapp. The 6 foot 3 inch guard, out of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., transferred to Murray State in January 2013 from Clemson.
Sapp came out with a bang in his debut, scoring 15 points in 17 minutes, including going a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line.
Since then, Sapp has provided a spark off the Murray State bench, averaging 14.3 points and 1.6 steals on 28.4 minutes per game.
With newfound depth and momentum, the Racers faced a tough two-game road trip to round out the nonconference portion of their schedule. After leading at halftime, the Racers lost a 71-64 heart-breaker at Western Kentucky. Eight days later, the team was blown out 72-51 by Dayton, dropping to 5-7 on the season.
As the calendar flipped to a new year, the Racers found themselves facing the beginning of all-important conference play. To kick things off, the Racers hosted Southeast Missouri State – the team picked during preseason polling as Murray State’s fiercest competition for the OVC Western division title.
Murray State took care of business, defeating the conference rival Redhawks 82-75 – a win in which something seemed to click for the team.
Since the Jan. 2 victory over SEMO, the Racers have reeled off three straight double-digit victories against UT Martin, Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay to improve to a perfect 4-0 start in conference play and 9-7 on the season.
One of the biggest keys to the team’s recent success has been the improved play of freshman guard Cameron Payne.
Payne unexpectedly assumed the starting point guard role before the season began after former guard Zay Jackson went down with an ACL injury.
The 6 foot 2 inch freshman experienced some growing pains through his first few weeks, but now seems to have found his scoring touch.
After averaging just 13 points through the 13 nonconference games, Payne has turned it on of late, averaging 21 points and 5.75 assists a night through the first four OVC matchups.
The Racers have also benefited from the play of forward Jarvis Williams during the winning streak.
A junior transfer from Gordon State Junior College, Williams has been dominant in the paint during his first season at Murray State.
On Jan. 2 against SEMO, Williams pulled down a whopping 18 rebounds, tying a CFSB Center record.
Williams is averaging 10.5 rebounds per game – a mark which ranks him twelfth in the nation.
The Racers have seemed to hit their stride through the first quarter of conference play, but they still have work to do as they enter the heart of the OVC schedule.
Story by Jonathan Ferris, Staff writer