Jarvis Williams, Cameron Payne Lead Murray State past Morehead State, into Ohio Valley Final

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, March 6, 2015

The Ohio Valley conference flies under the radar most of the season, until some team in March has to come up against the likes of Murray State, which went through the conference schedule like a well-sharpened blade, going 16-0 to capture the regular season title.

Friday night found the Racers in a struggle with Morehead State, eventually prevailing in the semi-final game at Nashville, 80-77.

The inside-outside combination of Jarvis Williams and Cameron Payne proved critical throughout the contest and down the stretch, securing the win and an advance to the final, against Belmont, which barely escaped with a 53-52 win over Eastern Kentucky in the other semi-final.

Williams scored 23 points and ripped down 10 boards, while Payne led all scorers with 25 and rounded out his game with four rebounds, four assists, three steals and a pair of blocked shots.

In the final minutes of the game both players came to the fore. With a dunk at 1:45, Williams tied the game at 75, and Payne's three-pointer at 0:56 put the Racers up, 78-77. T.J. Sapp canned a pair of free throws as the Eagles could not produce another score.

Murray State will have to rest up quickly if they plan on securing their ticket to the Big Dance. The final against Belmont is scheduled for Saturday night at 7:00 pm.

Other than Kentucky, no team in the country has more consecutive wins than the 25th-ranked Eagles, currently holding at 25 straight.

Isaiah Canaan Leads Murray State to Comeback Win for 22nd in Row

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, February 2, 2012

There's only one undefeated team left within the Division 1 ranks - the Murray State Racers - but, trailing SE Missouri State, 39-33, at the half, even that seemed to be in doubt.

In the second half, however, the Racers turned on the afterburners and outscored the Redhawks, 48-34, to post their 22nd straight win with the 81-73 home win.

Junior guard Isaiah Canaan caught fire, scoring 24 of his 32 points in the second half to lead the comeback. Canaan, the Racers' leading scorer, who is averaging 19.3 points per game, was 8-for-17 with six 3-pointers. He was also accurate from the foul line, making 10 of 12 attempts while adding five rebounds and three assists.

Murray State is ranked #10 in the latest AP poll.

Murray State Upends Memphis, 76-72, as Donte Poole scores 20, Hits 6 of 8 Threes

College Hoops Player of the Day for Sunday, December 11, 2011

The Memphis Tigers are almost certain to fall out of the Top 25 in Monday's polls after losing its third game of the season, dropping their record to 5-3 with a 76-72 loss to unbeaten (10-0) Murray State.

The Racers, the only undefeated team out of the Ohio Valley conference, looks like a lock to capture that conference title and proceed to the NCAA tourney. Their win at Memphis, over a ranked opponent, bolsters their already impressive resume and likely marks the end of Memphis domination of Conference-USA. The Tigers have won the conference tournament five of the last six years.

Murray State was paced by senior guard, Donte Poole's 20 points. The sharpshooter was on target on seven of 11 attempts from the field, including going 6-for-8 from outside the 3-point line. Memphis' Will Barton led all scorers with 27 points in the losing effort.

NOTABLE: Following the despicable display of unsportsmanlike behavior in Sunday's Xavier-Cincinnati game (won by Xavier, 76-53) which ended in a bench-clearing brawl with 9.4 seconds left, the two programs issued suspensions to a total of eight players, four from each squad.

For the Bearcats, the major blow will come in the middle, with center Yancy Gates receiving a six-game suspension along with junior Cheikh Mbodj and freshman Octavius Ellis. Freshman Ge'Lawn Guyn will be suspended for one game.

Xavier issued a one-game suspension to senior guard Tu Holloway and will sit freshman Dez Wells and walk-on Landen Amos for four games. Junior guard Mark Lyons received a two game suspension.

The two conferences which the teams represent - the Atlantic-10 (Xavier) and Big East (Cincinnati) - indicated that they will not issue additional suspensions. The NCAA has not weighed in on the matter, though they could issue additional penalties.

Advancing: K-State, Murray St., St. Mary's, Baylor, Butler

NCAA Tourney Update

Kansas State easily cruised past North Texas, the #15 seed in the West region. The Wildcats, the #2 regional seed, took command of the game early and were never threatened. Denis Clemente led the way to the 82-62 victory, with 17 points. Three other players scored in double figures for the Wildcats, who face BYU in the second round.

The upset of the day thus far belongs to the Murray State Racers, a #13 seed, taking out #4 Vanderbilt on a buzzer-beater by Danero Thomas, 66-65. The Racers clawed all day long to maintain short leads, but eventually found themselves down by a point with 4.8 seconds remaining. Thomas' 15-footer caught nothing but nylon as a celebration ensued with the ball going cleanly through the hoop. Murray State's next opponent is the winner of the Butler-UTEP game, the last of the Thursday day games. It was the second one-point win of the day.

The St. Mary's Gaels, winners of six straight, including the final of the West Coast Tournament over Gonzaga, took over after the break, and outgunned Richmond, the #7 seed from the Atlantic-10, 80-71. The big problem for the Spiders was 6'11" Omar Samhan, who scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, both game highs. Samhan dominated the interior, while his teammates lined up open outside shots. The Gaels earned their first tournament win since 1959, shooting 49%. They face Villanova in the second round on Saturday in Providence.

Baylor unknotted a tight game with a late spurt to put down pesky Sam Houston, 69-58, in the South region. Ekpe Udoh registered a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. The Bears advance to the second round game against upset winner Old Dominion on Sunday.

Trailing by 6 at the half, the Bulter Bulldogs advanced into the second round in the West region with a 77-59 win over UTEP, the region's #12 seed and will face upset winner, Murray State on Sunday. The Bulldogs roared out of half time, going on a 22-4 run. Shelvin Mack, on fire from outside, canned 7 of 9 3-pointers for a game high 25 points.