Racers humbled by Samford in OVC action
Staff Report
Murray Ledger & Times
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Entering Wednesday's battle with Samford, the Murray State Racers were arguably the hottest team in the Ohio Valley Conference.
But past performances didn't matter on this night.
For the third straight year, the Bulldogs' methodical Princeton-style offense reeked havoc on a frustrated Racer squad, sending MSU to its first league loss in a 61-50 decision at Seibert Hall.
Murray State head coach Mick Cronin recognized Samford's efforts, but insisted his team's play had more to do with its approach to the game than its opponent.
Entering Wednesday's play, the Racers had easily defeated their first three OVC opponents, winning those contests by a combined score of 263-163. Cronin claimed those victories gave his squad a false sense of security.
“We were going to go down no matter who we played,” said Cronin during a post-game interview on the Racer Radio Network. “Our guys were overconfident due to prior wins. Samford played harder than we did, and I give them all the credit. But we were overconfident. You could just tell that it was going to happen.”
With the loss, the Racers (5-3, 3-1 OVC) slipped into a second-place tie with Jacksonville State, which defeated Southeast Missouri State 82-72 last night. Tennessee Tech (7-2, 3-0), which did not play on Wednesday, leads the conference by one-half game over Murray and JSU.
Last night in Birmingham, Samford (5-4, 2-1) used the same formula that has helped it remain undefeated against the Racers since joining the OVC in 2003-04 - hitting 3-point shots and forcing MSU into a half-court game.
The Bulldogs shot a scorching 50 percent (12-of-24) from behind the arc, as starting center Travis Peterson and starting guard Randall Gulina were both 4-of-6 from long range. Samford used a 58.3-percent shooting effort in the first half to build a 34-29 lead at the halftime break and closed the contest shooting 54.5 percent (24-of-44) from the floor.
Meanwhile, the Racers struggled with the slow pace of the game, following a 50-percent shooting effort in the first half with only a 34.8-percent effort in the second half to finish the night at 42.9 percent (21-of-49). That total included a paltry 3-of-17 effort from 3-point range.
The 50 points marked Murray State's lowest offensive output of the season. The Racers have failed to score less than 75 points on one other occasion this season - in a 64-53 loss to Tennessee on Nov. 30 in Nashville.
Murray overcame an early eight-point deficit and appeared ready to exorcise its demons against the Bulldogs by building as much as an eight-point advantage (27-19) with 3:35 left in the first half. But Samford rallied behind the 3-point shooting of Gulina and Ryan Woolsey to take the five-point halftime lead.
The Racers tried to cut into the Bulldogs' cushion in the second half, slicing their deficit to two on an Issian Redding 3-pointer and cutting it to three points on two more occasions. But that's as close as MSU would come, as Samford extended to a 13-point edge on two different occasions before closing out the win.
“Discipline is what it's all about, and we played with a lack of it tonight,” Cronin noted. “Samford was calling plays and executing their offense with discipline, and my team's breaking down. Š We missed numerous assignments both offensively and defensively. And I take responsibility for that.”
The loss overshadowed a career-high point total for center Pearson Griffith, who tossed in 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. However, the 6-foot-10 senior came up short in two critical categories. Entering last night's play, Griffith was leading the league in blocked shots per game (3.6) and was averaging 5.1 rebounds per outing, but finished the evening with just one block and one rebound.
The Racers, the OVC's top rebounding team, barely won the battle of the boards (27-26) over the conference's worst rebounders.
“We got good looks at the basket, but you've got to be able to win when you miss shots,” Cronin explained. “The only way to do that is to get rebounds. The score has been in our favor the last three games because we've dominated the glass. But we did not rebound the ball tonight in any way, shape or form of what we're capable of doing.”
The Racers will take the remainder of this week off to observe the Christmas holiday before beginning an extended six-game homestand on Dec. 28 against regional rival Southern Illinois. Murray will also host Rice on Dec. 30 before returning to OVC play on Jan. 5 against Tennessee State.
Story created Dec 22, 2005 - 11:50:04 EST.
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