No. 23 Murray State nearly stumbled Thursday night in its first game as a ranked team in seven years.
But KJ Williams wouldn’t allow the Racers to lose at Tennessee State, scoring 31 of his career-high 39 points in the second half of a 73-62 victory. The decision extended the team’s winning streak to 13 games.
Murray State will try to take another step toward a final Ohio Valley Conference title on Saturday when it takes on Morehead State at Morehead, Ky.
The Racers (23-2, 13-0 OVC) trailed Tennessee State 36-29 at halftime before Williams erupted. He scored all but 13 of their second-half points, connecting on 15 of 22 field goals for the game and sinking 7 of 9 foul shots.
“I was just pretty much carrying the team,” Williams said. “I saw we were struggling a little bit. We have a couple of teammates who are banged up, so I just put the team on my back and took over.”
Tevin Brown managed just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting over 37 minutes for Murray State.
The Racers haven’t lost since a 71-58 setback at Auburn on Dec. 22. Their other loss occurred in November to East Tennessee State in a tournament at Naples, Fla.
They have been one of the country’s top offensive teams, averaging 80.9 points per game and sinking 48.3 percent of their field goal attempts.
But coach Matt McMahon wasn’t thinking about those gaudy numbers after surviving at Tennessee State, only his team’s perseverance.
“That’s as tough and as hard-nosed a win as I’ve seen in a long time,” he said. “You can’t say enough of KJ’s performance. It’s one of the all-time great performances in Murray State history.”
This is the Racers’ last season in the OVC. They are joining the Missouri Valley Conference next season.
Meanwhile, Morehead State (19-7, 11-2) just missed out on a chance to make Saturday’s game a showdown for first-place when it failed to hold a seven-point halftime lead in a 48-47 loss at Belmont on Thursday night.
The Eagles endured two droughts of nearly five minutes without a point and made only 5 of 24 shots in the second half. They still had a chance to get a last stop and win the game, but the Belmont’s Grayson Murphy converted a floater in the lane with five seconds left.
Morehead State has one of the nation’s top freshmen in 6-foot-10 Johni Broome, who leads the team in scoring (16.7), rebounding (10.7) and blocked shots (97). Despite hitting just 5 of 14 shots at Belmont, Broome supplied 15 points, 13 boards and six blocks.
The Eagles also get double-figure scoring on the perimeter from Tray Hollowell (11.2) and Skyelar Potter (11.0). They have combined to sink 120 3-pointers.
Morehead State has built itself around defense. It has allowed opponents to hit just 41.2 percent from the field and score only 63.3 points per game.
The teams played on Jan. 29 at Murray, Ky. with the Racers grabbing a 77-63 win behind Williams’ 21 points and nine rebounds.
–Field Level Media