Jackson's game-winner lifts Racers past GW
MBB: Murray State ends trip to Cayman Islands with dramatic win over Revolutionaries
Murray State won their final game in the Cayman Islands Classic, 96-95, over George Washington on Tuesday night. Here’s what you need to know:
With the win, the Racers improve to 5-3 overall on the season
Trailing by 1 with 6.1 seconds remaining, Javon Jackson dribbled the length of the floor and scored the game-winning bucket for Murray State
Jackson led the Racers with 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting
Three other Racers scored in double-figures: Roman Domon (15 points), Fred King (10 points) and Mathis Courbon (10 points)
Domon finished with career-highs in points (15) and rebounds (8)
Murray State will return home on Wednesday, and they’ll be back in action Tuesday night against Morehead State
Jackson’s game-winner ends a classic in the Cayman Islands
Trailing 95-94 with 6.1 seconds left, the Racers needed to go 94-feet to score and grab a win in the final game of the Cayman Islands Classic.
Enter Javon Jackson.
The senior guard capped off a 24-point performance with a dramatic layup with 1.2 seconds to go, as he sent the Racer Nation in attendance into a frenzy.
“We go through situations every day at shootaround and practice,” Jackson said. “We work on those situations just for moments like this. As soon as I got the ball, I knew I had to go make a play. It just so happened to be downhill. Thank God I made the layup.”
“We practice those situations because the margins are so small in this game of college basketball, especially when you’re playing opponents like George Washington,” Murray State Head Coach Ryan Miller added. “These things are going to happen quite a bit. It’s actually a play we used at Creighton, we call it ‘Drizzle’. Ironically, it’s the same play that we ran to beat (Assistant) Coach (Brendan) Mullins’ team at the buzzer at the US Virgin Islands during Thanksgiving, like three or four years ago, when he was coaching with his brother (at Southern Illinois). ‘Full court drizzle” we call it, and were able to get Javon open, and he was able to get downhill. The rest is kind of history.”
While this is still probably #TooSoon for Coach Mullins, here’s the Creighton play from November 22, 2021:
Yup, it’s literally the same play … and result!
All hands on deck for the Racers
Murray State needed to navigate some foul trouble throughout the night. JJ Traynor picked up three fouls in the first half, before ultimately fouling out. Fred King and Layne Taylor both needed to sit at times due to their foul issues. With Miller needing to play certain lineup combinations we haven’t seen yet this year, every player he put in the game put their mark on this victory.
“What a team win,” Miller said. “I mean everybody — all 11 guys, and then the coaching staff. Everybody contributed to this win as one of the greatest team victories (I’ve had). I’ve been coaching basketball 22 years, first year as a head coach, but I don’t know if I’ve been a part of a team that all 11 guys did something impactful to help a basketball team win, and that’s what we had tonight.”
Three of those 11 guys were the trio of Roman Doman, Mathis Courbon and Brayden Shorter. Those three combined for 34 points, knocking down 5-of-9 three pointers.
“They came off the bench and were big,” Jackson said. “Mathis came in and hit some shots. Brayden came in and hit some shots. Roman was huge. Everybody. This was definitely a team win, and we definitely needed it.”
Domon puts together a career night
Roman Doman has been remarkably consistent offensively in his first season with the Racers. In his first seven games at Murray State, the 6’9 freshman from France scored 14, 12, 11, 11, 9, 11 and 11 points. He put up another double-digit scoring performance against George Washington, this time scoring a career-best 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds, which is also a career-high. Domon did all that while playing more than 31 minutes, which was the most playing time he’s gotten in a game this year.
“Roman, obviously, we played him in long stretches,” Miller said. “He was just phenomenal. You can see the talent just oozes from him. Once he gets a little bit tougher and takes care of the ball a little better, watch out.”
Racers return home to welcome in an old friend
With a week between games, the Racers are off until next Tuesday when they host an old Ohio Valley Conference rival in Morehead State. The Eagles are coached by former Murray State Assistant Coach Jonathan Mattox, who worked under Steve Prohm from 2022-24.