Story by Mark McFarland, Assistant Sports Editor
Sophomore forward and guard Ke’Shunan James dribbles past a defender at the UT Martin game Saturday.
Recent struggles have put the Racers at 3-6 and in tenth place in the OVC and in danger of missing the OVC tournament for the third straight season.
The team has not been able to string together wins this year as its longest and only win streak sits at three games. Offense has not come easy for Murray State, shooting 37 percent as a team. Defense has been much of the same story as opponents are shooting 43 percent against the Racers.
The largest margin of victory for the Racers was 25 points against Blue Mountain College while losing to Florida State University 101-59, a 42-point deficit as the low point of the season.
UT Martin was the latest team to take it to the Racers as they lost 92-62 despite having senior forward Kyra Gulledge and sophomore forward and guard Ke’Shunan James finish with double-doubles. The Racers were unable to get anything started against the high tempo offense of the Skyhawks. Turnovers hurt Murray State as it committed 26 turnovers and gave up 37 points off of those turnovers. Head Coach Rob Cross said they need to be able to hold onto the ball if they want to be able to compete.
“For whatever reason we just threw the ball to them, to be honest with you,” Cross said. “They took advantage of it.”
The loss came after the Racers beat Eastern Illinois at home to move them into the top eight teams of the conference and a spot in the OVC Tournament.
Murray State has a tough road against the top teams in the conference if they wants to have a shot to get to Nashville at the end of the month for the OVC Tournament.
They have to play the conference leader SIUE once more, second place UT Martin, fourth place SEMO and sixth place Austin Peay twice.
The Racers host Austin Peay at 5 p.m. Saturday and will play at SIUE at 7 p.m. Feb. 10 in Edwardsville, Illinois.