WKU Men’s Basketball overcame poor first half shooting to take down Murray State in overtime 81-76 Saturday afternoon at Diddle Arena.
The Hilltoppers turned 31% shooting from the field and 0-10 shooting from three in the first half into 42% field goal and 38% three-point shooting in the second to take down the Racers.
In the 154th matchup between former Ohio Valley Conference Rivals, WKU outscored Murray State 14-9, including a 7-0 run in overtime to earn win 100 against the Racers.
Despite senior guard Babacar Faye leaving the game due to injury with seven minutes remaining in the second half, WKU outscored Murray State 26-13 the rest of the way. He exited the game with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Senior guard Don McHenry scored 29 points and grabbed five rebounds. Senior guard Tyrone Marshall Jr. recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Despite poor first half shooting, a 92% free throw shooting mark in the half kept the game close versus the Racers, knocking down 11-12.
Marshall Jr. grabbed seven of the team’s 25 rebounds, with the Racers only having 18. WKU also won the offensive rebound battle in the first half 9-2.
The Racers shot 46.7% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc in the first half, but their shooting suffered in the second half shooting only 28% from the field.
First Half
The Racers won the jump ball and scored on their initial possession. The Hilltoppers went on a 6-0 run in less than three minutes. A Murray State three helped spark a 15-0 run, going ahead 22-10. The Hilltoppers went nearly seven minutes without a point.
Murray State maintained a lead throughout the first half but could not pull away due to WKU knocking down their free throw attempts, with 11 made in the first. With 57.4 left in the first half, WKU went on a 6-0 run, cutting the lead to just four.
Second Half
The Hilltoppers opened the second half with an 11-0 run, taking the lead 49-42 with 15 minutes remaining in the game. The Racers regained the lead at the 10:56 mark, then went on a 6-0 run. An 8-0 run midway in the second by Murray State was answered by a 6-0 WKU run.
The Racers led 65-61 with five minutes remaining. WKU had made two of their last 10 field goals at the 3:15 mark and Murray State was one of their last seven. Following an inbound, the Hilltoppers forced Murray State to use their last timeout to avoid a five-second violation.
With the Racers in a 6:15 field-goal drought, McHenry made consecutive layups, tying the game. Murray State missed a lead-taking layup. With no timeouts, WKU pushed it up the floor where Marshall Jr. missed the game-winning three.
Overtime
Murray State won the jump ball, but McHenry opened scoring in the extra period with a layup. Tied at 71 with 1:54 remaining, the Racers went on a quick 3-0 run to go up 74-71, but Lander knocked down a layup to make it a one-point game. Off of a Racer jumper, McHenry knocked down a step-back three to give WKU the two-point lead, 76-74, with 37.2 seconds remaining.
The next Murray possession, WKU forced a turnover. McHenry made two free throws off of a foul. The Racers made a layup with nine seconds remaining. Senior guard Braxton Bayless knocked down 1-2 free throws, giving WKU a 79-76 lead.
The Racers dribbled down the court but threw the ball out of bounds on a bad pass. Free throws by freshman guard Khristian Lander sealed the victory for the Hilltoppers.
Sports Reporter Michael Givner Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
