KJ Williams scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half as No. 19 Murray State steamrolled Belmont 76-43 in Ohio Valley Conference play Thursday in Murray, Ky.
Tevin Brown added 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals as the Racers (27-2, 17-0 OVC) won their 17th consecutive game and clinched the OVC regular-season title. Murray State will look to post the sixth unbeaten conference record in OVC history when it closes the regular season at Southeast Missouri State on Saturday.
The Racers beat second-place Belmont (24-6, 14-3) by an average of 27.5 points in this season’s two matchups.
Will Richard had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Bruins, who had a 10-game winning streak snapped Thursday.
Murray State shot 56.4 percent, including 8 of 19 from 3-point range, while increasing its home winning streak to 16 games dating back to last season. The Racers owned a 40-22 advantage on the boards.
The Bruins shot just 32.1 percent and were a porous 5 of 26 from behind the arc.
Murray State led 35-17 at halftime and continued to pour it on in the second half.
The lead was 49-24 after Justice Hill’s basket with 14:04 left. Belmont moved within 20 four before Williams sparked a 13-0 burst.
He scored on a layup with 9:32 to play and added two 3-pointers in a 40-second span to boost the lead to 61-33. DJ Burns added two free throws and Daquan Smith buried a 3-pointer to make it 66-33 with 7:17 left.
The Racers’ lead topped out at 34 points.
Brown had 13 points and six rebounds in the first half as Murray State owned the 18-point halftime lead.
The Racers led by five before rattling off nine straight points to take a 29-15 lead with 2:47 remaining. Williams capped the run with a 3-pointer.
Belmont was just 7 of 28 from the field (25 percent) and 1 of 13 from 3-point range in the half. Murray State was 14 of 26 (53.8 percent), including 5 of 10 from behind the arc.
–Field Level Media