BASKETBALL Middle Tennessee (5-8) @ Murray State (3-9, 1-1), 3PM, Saturday, December 30, 2023

[SpaceRaider]

MURRAY STATE

Location: Murray, KY
Enrollment: 9,458
Conference: Missouri Valley
Arena: CFSB Center (8,600)
Website: goracers.com Twitter: @RacersHoops

Colors: Navy Blue & Gold Nickname: Racers
Head Coach: Steve Prohm Record at School: 121-44 (6th Season) Career Record: 218-139 (12h Season)
2022-23 Record: 17-15, 11-9 22-23 Finish: 7th MVC 22-23 Postseason: MVC Quarterfinals
Starters R/L: 2/3 Letterwinners R/L: 7/7
Game Program
Roster: Racers
All-Time Series vs. MSU: Racers lead 107-38

Television: ESPN+» (PxP) Todd Hamilton (Analyst) Rob Cross

Radio: Classic Hits 93.3 - 95.1 - WGNS 101.9 FM/1450 AM/100.5FM

• LIVE STATS
• LISTEN LIVE
• WATCH LIVE
• FULL SCHEDULE
• ROSTER
• MATCHUP HISTORY
• GAME NOTES

 

[SpaceRaider]

Back To The Bank - Racers Host Blue Raiders Saturday - Murray State University Athletics

Murray State University Athletics

goracers.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

ROSTER​

#	Player	Pos.	Listed	Year	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FG%	3PT%

24	JaCobi Wood	G	6-2	Jr.	36.3	10.6	4.3	4.6	1.5	0.1	41.3	34.3
14	Brian Moore Jr.	G	6-1	Jr.	23.5	8.2	1.7	1.5	0.7	0.2	45.8	37.5
2	Rob Perry	G	6-4	Sr.	35.2	14.4	4.8	1.8	0.8	0.2	43.2	34.4
25	Shawn Walker Jr.*	G	6-4	Sr.	27.7	8.5	2.4	1.9	0.7	0.1	43.7	39.8
23	Nick Ellington*	F	6-7	Jr.	17.4	7.3	4.4	0.5	0.6	1.0	52.0
10	Quincy Anderson	G	6-4	Sr.	18.6	7.0	3.0	0.7	0.6	0.1	43.6	39.2
44	Malek Abdelgowad	F	6-10	Jr.
11	Justin Morgan	G	6-6	So.	10.3	2.5	1.9	0.2	0.2	0.2	33.3	27.3
22	Sam Murray II	F	6-9	So.	6.4	1.7	1.9	0.3	0.1	0.5	35.7	0.0
4	Patrick Chew	G	6-3	R-Fr.
33	Lawrent Rice	G	6-3	Fr.
0	John McCrear	F	6-8	Fr.
13	Alden Applewhite*	F	6-7	Jr.	17.5	7.7	2.9	1.2	0.7	0.1	44.8	31.1

 

[SpaceRaider]

a preview excerpt:

THE OUTLOOK​

Murray State showed what it could do last season with no experience or continuity in arguably the best mid-major league in America. Now with an experienced roster, Prohm has his eyes set on contending for a Valley title.

With one of the best backcourts — and perhaps the deepest — in the conference, the Racers will be a tough matchup on a nightly basis for opposing Valley squads. If they can find meaningful frontcourt production, they’re a dark horse to capture the auto-bid to the Dance.

Valley coaches voted Murray State the toughest place to play last season, and with an 11-2 homecourt record, it’s not difficult to see why. Prohm gives his program’s fanbase all the credit.

“We led the league in home attendance, and our fanbase deserves credit,” the coach gushed. “In a basketball league, we led the league in attendance, that’s huge. This league is a tough place to win, so we need to win our home games and need to take care of business at home. It’s critical for us.”

Murray State should be able to continue its success at home with a more experienced roster, and there’s reason to believe it will improve its consistency on the road in 2023-24.

 

[SpaceRaider]

31.9%

 

[MTTim]

Doesn't look good for the boys in blue. I would guess it will be over five minutes after tip.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Doesn't look good for the boys in blue. I would guess it will be over five minutes after tip.

NET: Murray is 269, and MT is 305

DI Men's Basketball Rankings - NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings | NCAA.com

Get NCAA college basketball rankings from the Associated Press, USA Today Coaches poll and the NCAA NET Rankings.

www.ncaa.com

 

[Brew_Raider]

Interesting watching Steve Prohm struggle in his second stint with the Racers. It kind of parallels what I think would happen if we brought Kermit back for a second time here.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Unlike MT, Murray’s home record is reflective of their house being a historically tough place for visiting opponents, even in their off years.

Series record since Dec. 7, 1929
MTSU - 39
Murray - 106

Yikes!

 

[SpaceRaider]

Blue Raiders, Racers renew rivalry - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

MURRAY, Ky. – Middle Tennessee men's basketball meets Murray State for the 146th time Saturday as the Blue Raiders take on the Racers in a nonconference clash. Tipoff

goblueraiders.com

 

[SpaceRaider]

Column: MTSU has serious issues to address before conference play | Sidelines

mtsusidelines.com

 

[MTFAN61]

Column: MTSU has serious issues to address before conference play | Sidelines

mtsusidelines.com

Just read the Calvin White article laying out some of the problems associated with MT men's basketball this year. The top take away after reading about our problems is that it's a pretty darn long article.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

Racers vs Middle Tennessee State ( Game #13 ) Game Thread

Racers vs Middle Tennessee State ( Game #13 ) Game Thread

www.racerfans.com

 

[OliverLBaltz]

Interesting KenPom splits here:

MT overall rank: 263
Offensive rank: 324
Defensive rank: 146

Murray State overall: 231
Offensive: 124
Defensive: 325

Just ironic that the offensive and defensive ratings are that close and just swapped.

Racers are on their own disappointing season as it’s been tough for them to find footing since McMahon left for LSU. Not that much was expected (picked 7th in the MVC preseason poll as well as the Almanac), but a six game losing streak, losing 9 of their last 10, and only two total wins against D1 opponents is always going to be far below standard for that program.

Call me crazy, I def say this knowing I may look very stupid later, but I got a feeling MTSU is going to compete and win today. I say that knowing Murray State has a strong home reputation the same way we do/did. Nick’s results have been pretty ugly there as well (85-52 in 2019-20 and 93-87 in 2021-2022).

But… I think Jordan moving into the starting lineup was a positive step and long overdue. I am at least hoping it was a direct product of allowing Porter to have the career night he did in Utah last week.

Jordan and King combined for 1-10 from 3. I don’t suspect that will happen again. Think the whole team will benefit from the holiday break as hopefully they got to take a mental break from the constant disappointment this season has brought.

But mostly, I just think Murray State is really bad. Clearly one of the worst defensive teams in the country. I know Middle is one of the worst offensive teams in the country, but again I am hoping Jordan’s move to the starting lineup will at least elevate them from outrageously bad to just pretty bad.

Racers are a good but nothing special offensive team. Shooting splits aren’t great but they are superb at taking care of the ball. If the Raiders defend with energy and try to reestablish that defensive identity of forcing turnovers they built the last two years, I think they got a good chance to snap their 3-game losing streak.

 

[SpaceRaider]

6-6" Justin Morgan is getting the start over 6-1" Brian Moore.

 

[SpaceRaider]

at under 12 minute media timeout

MT 19
MSU 11

Team Comparison

STATISTIC	MT	msu
FG%	50%	21%
FGs	8-16	3-14
3FG%	33%	50%
3FGs	2-6	2-4
FT%	100%	75%
FTs	1-1	3-4
TOs	3	3
PtsOffTO	2	2
TotReb	12	7
DefReb	9	5
Off Reb	3	2
2ndChPts	4	2
BenchPts	5	3
PtsPaint	10	2
FstBkPt	0	1
Blocks	1	1
Steals	0	2
Assts	2	2
Times Tied:	4
Time Tied:	3:15
Lead Chg:	3
LeadTime	3:26	1:54

 

[ewglenn]

We’re a terrible team without Cam. They need to go ahead and start over. Nick has got to go.

 

[ewglenn]

It’s time to hit X with our displeasure

 

[OliverLBaltz]

What ever happened to a good old fashioned pick and roll?

 

[ewglenn]

1 of 7 from the free throw line… come on

 

[Hop45]

We suck.........

 

[MTFAN61]

Looks like we might break 50 tonight!

 

[TrueBlue147]

Their terrible defense vs our terrible offense. I guess our terrible offense is worser....

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

Smh. We bad.

 

[SpaceRaider]

The team appears to have packed it in.

 

[ewglenn]

Nick shouldn’t be allowed on the bus back to the Boro after that crapshow.

 

[MTFAN61]

CNM has to feel pretty lonely right now. He's not only lost any fan support, but he's lost his team as well.

 

[Scomo64]

It’s time to hit X with our displeasure

View embedded media

We were pretty good when he took over, until he ran all the players off.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Don't remember when two revenue sports have had coaching changes in the same academic year. This could be the year.

 

[Hop45]

We were pretty good when he took over, until he ran all the players off.

Troll. Players were gone before he was hired. If you're gonna trash the guy, at least come with facts. Had nothing when he got here, but no better after 6 years. Time for a change.

 

[MTFAN61]

It’s time to hit X with our displeasure

View embedded media

One way of exuding some thoughts on fan displeasure, be it minimal is to start an early fan forum on coaches we would like to see interviewed at end of year.
Any thoughts on a quality yet affordable replacement coach to bring here?

 

[MT01]

Troll. Players were gone before he was hired. If you're gonna trash the guy, at least come with facts. Had nothing when he got here, but no better after 6 years. Time for a change.

4-9 against one of the easiest non-conf schedules I’ve ever seen.

Thanks McPhee for setting our MBB program back a decade.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Second half woes fell Blue Raiders at Racers - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

MURRAY, Ky. — Middle Tennessee men's basketball raced out to a hot start but could not sustain it on Saturday afternoon at the CFSB Center, falling to Murray State

goblueraiders.com

 

[ewglenn]

One way of exuding some thoughts on fan displeasure, be it minimal is to start an early fan forum on coaches we would like to see interviewed at end of year.
Any thoughts on a quality yet affordable replacement coach to bring here?

Two I would be interested in would be Justin Gray at WCU and Griff Aldrich at Longwood. Gray is 39 years old and has completely turned their program around. They’ve progressively gotten better with him there and should be the favorite right now in the SOCON. He is currently making 256k a year.

Aldrich is 47 years old and has completely built their program. They’ve progressively gotten better with him there, he took them to their first NCAA appearance and is the favorite right now in the Big South. He is currently making 150k a year.

Either of those coaches have turned around places that are historically difficult to win. They are young and cheap. That should be what we’re looking for moving forward.

 

[BRaiderDave]

What are we paying McDevitt?

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Insanity.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

What are we paying McDevitt?

Too much.

First	Last	Department
Nicholas	McDevitt	Athletic Director
Title Head Coach Salary 575,000.00

LINK: MTSU Salary Database