Men's Hoops Can't Overcome Hot-Shooting Murray State Squad, Falling on the Road Saturday

BOX SCORE

MURRAY, Ky. -- Morehead State men's basketball could not overcome a hot-shooting night from host Murray State as the Eagles dropped an 85-57 conference tilt at the CFSB Center Saturday evening.

The Eagles (12-14/6-8 OVC) saw the Racers hit 53 percent on the night and get 40 points in the paint too, as well as 16 fast-break points.

Freshman forward Tyzhaun Claude registered his fourth straight double-figure scoring game with 13 points and also had eight rebounds before fouling out. Senior Djimon Henson scored 11 for his 13th double-figure game in the last two months.

The Eagles' final homestand starts Thursday when Belmont visits for a 7 p.m. ET matchup.

KEY MOMENTS

- While the Eagles never led, junior guard Juice Thomas' layup with 13:34 left in the first half pulled his team to within 9-8. But a 7-0 Murray State run in the next 1:30 pushed the contest back to nearly double-digits.
- The Racers built an 18-point (31-13) lead with 7:13 left in the opening half.
- Henson nailed back-to-back triples though to make it 31-19.
- Senior guard Jordan Walker drained his lone three-ball with a second left in the half to set the score at 45-32.
- The Eagles trailed by only 10 (53-43) with 15:38 left in the game but a 14-3 Racer scoring flurry set the tone for the remainder of the night.

KEY STATS

- Morehead State shot 34 percent (20-of-59).
- Murray State out-rebounded the Eagles 41-33.

QUOTING COACH SPRADLIN

"We knew Murray State would come out with a lot of fire. I thought we would too. But we allowed them to play in transition and spread the floor. I thought our half-court defense was actually very good, and we did some nice things in our zone."

"I thought Tyzhaun did a nice job again tonight. But with a short-handed bench tonight and him in foul trouble, we just needed more from our bench tonight."

"It's a tough game when you are having trouble scoring and your best scorer (Jordan Walker) is struggling. We are going to put our heads together and get this right. If we can get him going again, I think you'll see the rest of the team pick it up too."