The Murray State Racers became the sixth undefeated team in the OVC at 18-0 after winning the final game of the regular season at SEMO
The Murray State Racers made history Saturday by staking their claim as the sixth team in Ohio Valley Conference history to go through league play undefeated with a 70-68 win over the Southeast Missouri Redhawks at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Racers (28-2) became the first OVC undefeated team since the Cam Payne led team did it in the 2014-15 season at 16-0.
The Racers, who are now 11-1 this season away from home, set an OVC mark of the most wins by an undefeated team with 18.
Trailing 62-50 with 6:38 remaining, the Racers took the lead for good with 38 seconds on the clock on a 3-point basket by Justice Hill. When the clock ran out, the Racers had finished the game on a 20-6 run.
KJ Williams scored 23 points to lead the Racers on 10-of-21 from the field with eight rebounds, while Trae Hannibal came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points. Tevin Brown added 15 points and Justice Hill finished with 11 points.
MSU’s second half heroics were set up by a sub-par first half where the Racers shot 38 percent and hit just 3-of-11 from the 3-point line. SEMO shot 54 percent and led the Racers 37-32. MSU played better in the second half to shoot 47 percent from the field.
MSU heads into next week’s OVC Tournament as the No. 1 seed as the event is played at Evansville’s Ford Center for a fifth-straight year (March 2-5). The Racers will play in the first semifinal game Friday (March 4) at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. MSU will face either the 8th, 5th, or the 4th seed.
Game Notes
o MSU is now 66-21 all-time against SEMO and are 33-10 on the road.
o The Racers sweep the two-game season series with the Redhawks. They also defeated SEMO at home 106-81 (Dec. 30).
o When Trae Hannibal scores 10 points, the Racers are now 10-0. Hannibal played 28 minutes today vs SEMO and scored a career-high 20 points with five rebounds and two steals
o Brown has made a 3-pointer in 26 consecutive games. The last time he failed to make at least one three was against ETSU (Nov. 22).
o Brown continues to extend his record for made 3-point baskets in the OVC. After a 2-of-7 today, he has 342.
o McMahon’s outstanding success for the Racers now has him at 151-66 (.695) in seven seasons and 93-31 (.750) in OVC games. In his last five seasons, McMahon’s Racers are an incredible 118-35 (.771).
o McMahon and his staff are the first in the history of the program to have three seasons of 25 or more wins. The Racers were 26-6 in 2017-18 and 28-5 in 2018-19.
o Tonight’s game was McMahon’s sixth game as a head coach with his team ranked. He is 6-0. The Racers were No. 19 this week in the AP poll and 21 in the USA Today poll.
o Tonight’s game was MSU’s 45th all-time game as a ranked team.
o The Racers have the most wins of any team in the nation with 28.
o The Racers remain a part of a group of three teams that are undefeated in their conference. The others are: South Dakota State (Summit) and and Gonzaga (West Coast).
o The Racers began the day sharing the nation’s longest win streak with Gonzaga and South Dakota State. The Racers’ win streak is 18. Gonzaga plays at Saint Mary’s late Saturday. And SDSU was playing at UMKC Saturday afternoon.
o MSU’s longest program winning streak is also the OVC record of 25-straight by the 2014-15 team.