West Virginia Too Much for Racers in NCAA First Round

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Photo - Jackson Van Kirk, MSU Athletics

The Murray State Racers took on the 18th ranked West Virginia Mountaineers Friday at the NCAA Tournament in the East Region and came away with an 85-68 defeat at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California. The No. 12 seed Racers (26-6) were looking for an upset over the No. 5 Mountaineers (25-10), but trailed by 11 points at the half and then were outscored 47-39 in the second half.

In their last games in the Blue and Gold of Murray State, Terrell Miller, Jr., and Jonathan Stark made their 55th consecutive start and end their MSU careers with 128 starts combined. On their final game of the season, after giving Racer Nation 26 wins, plus the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles, they bowed out in different ways. Miller set the Murray State rebound record for the NCAA Tournament when he pulled in 17, while adding a season-best 27 points. Miller hit 8-of-11 from the field and was 5-of-8 from the 3-point line and hit 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Stark, the OVC’s leading scorer for a second-straight season, came into the NCAA game averaging 21.8 points per game. West Virginia, one of the top defensive teams in the nation made it very difficult on him to score. Stark ended with nine points on 1-of-12 shooting including 1-of-10 from the 3-point line. He was perfect (6-of-6) from the free throw line and dished out four assists.

MSU’s second double-digit scorer was freshman Ja Morant who had 14 points.

Miller grabbed the first eight rebounds of the game for the Racers and they trailed 11-9 early, just after Morant’s three-point play gave MSU a 9-8 lead at the and then took their first lead at 11:56 mark. Stark, who was 0-of-8 to start the game, hit his first field goal at the 4:05 mark, but the Racers were down 27-20. Miller hit his second 3-pointer of the half with 1:02 left to cut the Mountaineers lead to 32-27, but the Racers went into the intermission behind 38-29.

In the second half, the Racers made a run when they cut the lead to 49-44 with 14:41 remaining on baskets by Miller, who hit three shots in a row and Shaq Buchanan. But the Racers never got any closer. WVU had a 9-0 run and then led 64-52 with 7:06 left.

(Courtesy MSU Athletics)

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