Gage Johnson
Sports Editor
gjohnson17@murraystate.edu
Riding a seven-game winning streak, Murray State men’s basketball is set to return to the CFSB Center for the first time since Jan. 2 for matchups with Belmont and Tennessee State.
Murray State
The Racers are coming off the end of their four-game road swing in which they defeated the likes of Jacksonville State, Tennessee Tech and most recently UT Martin and SEMO.
Murray took on the Skyhawks on Thursday, Jan. 16, and came away with a dominant 84-62 victory, while defeating the Redhawks 96-91 in overtime on Saturday, Jan. 18.
The win over SEMO marked win No. 100 for Head Coach Matt McMahon and he expressed his gratitude to the opportunities former Athletic Director Allen Ward, former Murray State and current Iowa State University Head Coach Steve Prohm and all the players he’s had over the years have given him.
After the win the players were waiting for McMahon to enter the locker room and immediately showered him with a gatorade bucket full of water.
“We always celebrate wins no matter what, but it caught me off guard,” McMahon said. “I didn’t know anyone was counting a total or anything like that, but it was a fun moment.”
While the win was a little rough around the edges having to come back and force overtime after blowing a 17-point lead, McMahon feels as though a game like that can better the team going forward.
“Winning on the road is tough,” McMahon said. “I think there are a lot of lessons you can learn from it. We can go through the why and study the film as to how we lost our lead and try to work to correct some of those things, but most importantly I was proud of our resolve and our toughness in finding a way to get it done.”
Murray State’s offense has been on a tear over the six-game stretch of OVC games with sophomore guard Tevin Brown (19.7 ppg), sophomore forward KJ Williams (15.5 ppg), senior forward Anthony Smith (14.0 ppg) and senior guard Jaiveon Eaves (12.3 ppg) providing ample scoring with double-figure averages.
Redshirt freshman guard DaQuan Smith has also seemed to become more comfortable in the Racers’ offense, shooting 50% from beyond the arc in conference play.
After missing out on his first year of Murray State basketball entirely due to injury, McMahon knew it would take some time but feels as though DaQuan has worked himself back to where he was prior to injury.
“It’s taken a little time, but [now] he’s shooting 50% from three in conference play,” McMahon said. “I think he’s an elite level shooter. I think what you’re starting to see is him gain more and more confidence and get more and more comfortable on the floor. I’m proud of how he stuck with it because he did get off to a slow start, but I thought he weathered the storm and he’s worked really hard to get back to the level he’s at now.”
Belmont
With Rick Byrd’s era in the books, Belmont has gotten out to a 14-5 overall record with a 5-1 record in OVC play under new Head Coach Casey Alexander.
The Bruins’ singular conference loss came at the hands of SIUE, losing 79-69 on the road in their OVC opener.
Outside of this blemish, their conference slate is squeaky clean with five straight wins coming into their matchup against Murray State. In those five games, Belmont has defeated every opponent by double digits besides its 85-78 victory over UT Martin.
The Racers will be tasked with stopping the second-best offense in the OVC in terms of scoring. The Bruins are led by the 2018-2019 OVC Freshman of the Year in sophomore forward Nick Muszynski (17.0 ppg and 9.3 rpg), sophomore guard Adam Kunkel (14.3 ppg), graduate student guard Tyler Scanlon (13.8 ppg) and sophomore guard Grayson Murphy (9.5 ppg).
Muszynski was expected to be the main focus of Belmont’s offense after being named to the All-OVC First Team in his freshman season, but the supporting cast has done more than enough to fill the shoes of former Bruins Dylan Windler and Kevin McClain.
Following a freshman season in which he averaged 2.3 ppg, Kunkel has become an integral part of Belmont’s offense, providing 35% shooting from beyond the arc as well as being more than capable of scoring off the dribble.
Scanlon is a fifth-year graduate transfer from Boston University and has provided the Bruins with another solid scorer who can also light it up from three, shooting 43% percent in conference play.
Murphy has returned to his position at the helm of the offense under Alexander and has been a stat-sheet stuffer this season.
McMahon knows that the sophomore guard is a player to watch out for, as he is averaging 9.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 6.2 apg in conference play.
“What a really good player he is,” McMahon said. “He’s got some unique stats to his resume. I think [he’s] the leading rebounder at the guard position in college basketball and he’s [got] a four-to-one assist to turnover [ratio]. He’s their leading offensive rebounder at the point guard position and he’s so good out in the open floor in transition and doesn’t make many mistakes.”
The Bruins are also just as proficient on the defensive end, claiming their spot atop the scoring defense category in the OVC by only allowing opponents to score 65.2 ppg on average.
This 2018-19 OVC Championship rematch will be the first of two matchups this season and McMahon knows that the game aired on ESPN 2 will be a big one in the CFSB Center.
“They’re a very good team,” McMahon said. “[They’re] well-coached, don’t make many mistakes and can beat you from outside the [three-point] line and inside the [three-point] line as well.”
Tennessee State
The Tigers will head into its matchup with Murray State on Saturday, Jan. 25, after taking on Austin Peay on Thursday, Jan. 23.
Tennessee State enters the week owning a 12-7 overall record, while being tied for fourth place in the OVC with a 4-2 record in conference play.
The Tigers’ two OVC losses were to UT Martin (87-74) and most recently to EKU (92-88) on Saturday, Jan. 18.
This is the second year under Head Coach Brian “Penny” Collins and so far Tennessee State has made progress after going 9-21 in his first season.
The Tigers currently own the fourth-best scoring offense in the OVC, averaging 77.4 ppg with nearly five players averaging double figures.
They are led in scoring by two transfers from Southwest Tennessee Community College in Redshirt sophomore guard Carlos Marshall Jr. (14.7 ppg) and senior guard Michael Littlejohn (18.0 ppg), while graduate student Wesley Harris, junior forward Shakeem Johnson and senior forward Jy’lan Washington follow right behind them in scoring.
Harris made his way to Tennessee State after leaving West Virginia University. He was with the Mountaineers when they defeated the Racers in the 2017-18 NCAA Tournament.
Since joining the Tigers, Harris is the team’s fourth-leading scorer at 10.3 ppg. Johnson is the team’s third-leading scorer at 11.8 ppg while Washington—the former Louisiana Tech University player—averages 9.8 ppg.
The Racers will be tasked with a much different Tennessee State team than the one they faced a year ago when they defeated the Tigers in a 100-62 blowout.
When and where
Murray State will take on Belmont at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23, and Tennessee State at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25, with both games being played at the CFSB Center.