Racers win exhibition opener at Xavier
MBB: Key free throws down the stretch help Murray State pick up the 75-70 win
Murray State beat Xavier, 75-70, Saturday afternoon in the Racers’ first of two October exhibition games. Here’s what you need to know:
Brayden Shorter’s three-pointer with 5:52 left in the first half tied the game at 21. The Racers would never trail again.
After Xavier tied the game at 64 with 1:33 remaining, Murray State’s final 11 points came at the free throw line.
Shorter and Fred King led the Racers with 15 points.
KJ Tenner (12 points), Mathis Courbon (11 points) and Roman Domon (10 points) were the other three Racers in double-figures.
JJ Traynor and Ben Shtolzberg sat out for precautionary reasons with minor injuries.
Murray State made 13-of-14 free throws in the final 3:11 to seal the win.
The Racers held Xavier to 36.1% from the field and 2-for-15 from three-point range.
Murray State will play their final exhibition game next Sunday, at home, at 4:00pm against Division II Northern State.
Call it just an exhibition if you want, but a win is a win
Today’s game may not count in the standings, but both teams played with a level of intensity, especially when it was tight down the stretch, that would make you think it was closer to March than Halloween.
The Racers had stretches where they struggled, followed by stretches where they looked elite. Sometimes the struggles and the eliteness were interwoven. The Racers ripped off a 14-0 run in the first half that gave them their first comfortable lead of the game. In the second half, the lead ballooned to as many as 13 before Xavier inevitably rallied. Murray State made just 4-of-20 shots from the field in the final 14:00 of the game, as they watched a 50-38 lead evaporate into a 64-64 tie. In the end, the Racers made all the free throws they needed down the stretch to get out of Cincinnati with a win.
“I just really appreciate Xavier for hosting us for an exhibition game where we were able to learn and grow so much today,” Murray State Head Coach Ryan Miller said after the game. “Thanks to Coach (Richard) Pitino and the staff and people here for hosting us. The best thing about what happened today, and I told the team after the game, is we came into a place that’s a Big East team, coached by a really good coach that’s had a lot of success, and we competed. Not only did we compete, we have a ton of room to grow and get better, so our ceiling is really, really high. We gave up too many offensive rebounds to them, fouled too much, didn’t shoot the ball great, but found a way to win. That’s what this program is about, and going to be about — compete and find ways to win.”
King’s presence in the middle helps lead Racers to win
Miller started Dylan Anderson at center against Xavier, saying in the pregame interview that he knew what he had in Fred King, but since Anderson didn’t get to play in The Bahamas, he wanted to give Anderson a chance to get some playing time with the starting group.
If Miller knew what he had in King, Xavier now knows what the Racers have as well.
Before King got into the game at the 13:00 mark of the first half, the Musketeers grabbed four quick offensive rebounds and were trying to attack the rim any chance they could. Once the 6’9, 267 pound senior was able to go to work in the paint, it changed the entire dynamic of the game. King finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes of action. Miller liked what he saw, but knows there’s more he can get out of his big man.
“We’ve just got to get him in shape — elite shape,” Miller said. “He is such an impactful player when he’s in condition and he’s running the court, and he’s not tired. So it is on us. He came to campus with 17% body fat. He’s got it down to 11. We’ve probably got to crank it down a couple more percentage off that body fat and get him down to 10 (percent). If we’re going to go where we want this program to go, it’s going to be a lot of Fred King taking us there. When he’s not fatigued, he is as good as any big man there is in the country. When he’s fatigued, there’s a significant drop off. We’ve got to work through that and make sure that doesn’t happen, and we’ve got to keep pushing him. When that little bird in his head goes, ‘I’m a little tired,’ he’s got to find a way to push through.”
Racers hit free throws down the stretch when it matters
For the first 27 minutes of the game, Murray State was, to be polite, dreadful from the free throw line. The Racers had made just 9-of-17 free throws, and their inability to convert at the line had allowed Xavier to hang around longer than they probably should have.
In the final 3:11, dreadful turned into pristine. The Racers made 13 of their final 14 attempts from the charity stripe, including KJ Tenner going 6-for-6 in the final 15 seconds to seal the win.
“I’m kind of getting mad at our guys,” Miller said with a smile. “Every day, I try to end the practice with pressure free throws to see if they can make it. (If they miss, we) give them a 10 sprint run, an eight sprint run, or a Vegas, which is 17 sidelines. I try to finish (practice) with some conditioning, but they keep making the dang free throws, and now I can’t condition them. We were a little tired out there, so I’ve got to figure something out. Give credit where credit’s due with our guys, they stepped up and made free throws down the stretch and ultimately decided the game.”
Next up: One more exhibition at home
The Racers will play their second and final exhibition game next Sunday, October 26th, at home against Division II Northern State — Ryan Miller’s alma mater. The game will tip-off at 4:00pm at the CFSB Center, and will be part of Murray State’s Racer Mania, presented by The Murray Bank. Doors open at 2:30, and Racer fans will get the chance to meet the Murray State women’s team and get pictures and autographs. After the men’s game, fans will get their chance to meet the men’s players.
Admission to Racer Mania is free, with seating being on a first-come, first-served basis. Parking for the event will also be free.