It’s a 3-0 start in the Ohio Valley Conference for the Murray State Racers, after they won their 11th straight game Sunday in an 84-57 victory over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in Jacksonville, Ala., at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Racers (13-4, 3-0 OVC) play their OVC home opener Thursday against Belmont at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
Jarvis Williams had a double-double with 25 points and 12 rebounds and Cameron Payne tossed in 21 points with Jeffery Moss adding 15.
Leading 43-30 at the half, the Racers put the game away at the start of the second half with a 19-4 run to go in front 62-34 with 14:30 remaining. The run was punctuated by a three-quarter court alley-oop from Payne to Williams.
The Racers finished the game shooting 54 percent on 34-of-57 shots and they held JSU to 32 percent on 19-of-60. MSU 6-of-15 from the 3-point line for 40 percent and the Gamecocks were 5-of-23 for 22 percent.
Game Notes
With the win, the Racers push their win streak to 11 and tied with Stephen F. Austin for third-best in the nation. Virginia and Kentucky have each won 14 straight. MSU’s top winning streak came in the 2011-12 season when they were the final undefeated team at 23-0.
After the weekend, the OVC West Division is winning the battle against the OVC East. The first two seasons the OVC used the divisional format, the East Division won. The East was 5-5 against the West this week and lead the season series 11-6.
The Racers’ trio of Cameron Payne, Jeffery Moss and Jarvis Williams continue to make a run at the MSU 1000-Point Club. After today’s win, Payne has 884, Williams 777 and Moss 769.
Since a loss at Xavier (Nov. 24), the Racers have won five straight away from home with wins over: Evansville, Southern Illinois, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State. MSU is 6-1 and have their next challenge in the swing through Central Illinois to play at Eastern Illinois (Jan. 22) and SIUE (Jan. 24).
The Racers will be glad to get back to the CFSB Center Thursday for their OVC home opener. MSU hosts the Belmont Bruins at 8 p.m. and ESPNU will televise it. Dr. Jerry Punch will have the play-by-play and Adrian Branch provides analysis. Murray State leads the all-time series with Belmont 6-3 and is 5-0 at home. The two have split the four games they’ve played as OVC members.
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