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Photo Gallery (by
Sandy King)
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Murray State slowly built a double figure lead midway through the first half as the Racers remained undefeated in the Ohio Valley Conference handing Eastern Illinois its first home conference loss of the season, 83-61, on Thursday night at Lantz Arena.
EIU fell to 10-8 overall, 3-2 in the OVC. Murray State improved to 14-2 overall, 5-0 in the OVC.
NBA prospect Ja Morant opened the game with a deep 3-pointer that EIU was able to counter on the next possession with a 3-pointer by
Mack Smith. The two teams traded baskets again before
Rade Kukobat gave the Panthers an early lead with a jumper with 17:12 to play.
Morant tied the game at 7-7 with a dunk and then had an assist on a 3-pointer by Shaq Buchanan that gave the Racers a lead they would never relinquish. Morant finished with 27 points and nine assists as he was 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Buchanan knocked down four 3-pointers finishing with 17 points.
A Morant 3-pointer with 13:24 to play in the first gave Murray State a double figure lead which grew to 20 points with another Morant 3-pointer with 1:16 to play in the first half. MSU led 48-29 at the half after
Shareef Smith hit a late 3-pointer for the Panthers. Smith was one of three EIU players in double figures finishing with 13 points on 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
A 7-0 run by the Panthers midway through the second half gave some life to the Panthers crowd with baskets by
Josiah Wallace,
Shareef Smith and
Kashawn Charles that cut Murray State's lead down to 12 points with 10:31 to play.
Mack Smith led EIU in scoring finishing with 22 points. He knocked down three 3-pointers as he extended his consecutive game streak with at least one 3-pointer made to 35 which ranks as the longest active streak in the OVC. Kukobat had 12 points and six rebounds.
KJ Williams had a double-double for the Racers collecting 16 rebounds to go with 14 points. Murray State finished the evening with a 48-32 rebound edge.