MURRAY, Ky. ? Following a 21-point deficit in the second half to Wichita State, the Indiana State men's basketball team faced a 17-point deficit in the first half to Murray State on Saturday in Murray, Ky. However, the result was same for the second game in the row as the Sycamores (14-13, 8-8 MVC) came from behind to earn a 79-62 win over the Racers (16-11, 12-6 OVC) in the O'Reilly's/ESPNU BracketBusters series. The win increased ISU's winning streak to four games in a row and evens their mark in BracketBuster play to 2-2 all time.
The Racers jumped out to an early 10-4 lead after Danero Thomas connected from three-point range. The Sycamores then came right back on a layup by Harry Marshall to cut the lead to 10-6 with 16:27 left on the clock. However, those would be the last points for ISU over the next two minutes and the Racers jumped out to a 17-6 lead. The MSU lead would eventually grow to 21-7, before a three-pointer by Aaron Carter cut the lead to 21-10 in favor of the Racers.
Murray State then went on to score the next six points to jump out to their biggest lead of the game at 27-10, after a layup by Ray George with 12:24 left. However, the Sycamores came right back thanks to back-to-back jumpers by Jay Tunnell and a couple of threes from Carter to cut the lead to 29-20 at the 8:32 mark. Murray State answered and with a jumper by Bruce Carter to end a three minute drought and make the score 31-20, before a jumper by Marico Stinson cut the lead back to nine points at 31-22.
From there, it was all Sycamores as they finished the half on a blistering 18-6 run to take the lead at halftime. After Murray State went back up by 11 after a Marvin Williams jumper, Marshall connected on a free throw and Tunnell hit a jumper to cut the lead to eight points at 33-25 with 5:40 remaining in the half. Stinson followed with a three pointer and Tunnell hit another jumper to cut the lead to 33-30, before a layup by Bruce Carter put the Racers back up by five. ISU then scored the next 10 points, with a Stinson three giving the Sycamores their first lead of the game at 37-35 while Carter added five points in the streak, to take a 40-35 lead. Two free throws from Kevin Thomas ended the scoring in the half and cut the ISU lead to 40-37 heading into the locker room at halftime.
The Racers came out of the locker room on a roll, as they out-scored the Sycamores 9-2 to take a 46-42 lead three minutes into the half. ISU quickly closed the gap on jumpers from Todd McCoy and Isiah Martin to tie the game at 46-46, before a layup by Martin put ISU up 48-46 at the 15:09 mark. Murray State came back and went back up by five points at 53-48, before a layup by Adam Arnold cut the Racers' lead to three at 53-50.
MSU held onto that lead until the 8:21 mark, when a free throw by Marshall broke a 56-56 tie and put ISU up 57-56. McCoy quickly followed with a layup to put the Sycamores up 59-56 and two free throws by Moore later put ISU up by six at 63-57 with 6:05 left to play. The Racers answered with a three-pointer by Carter to cut the lead to 63-60 in favor of the Sycamores, before ISU went on a 9-0 run to take a 12-point advantage at 72-60. Marshall then hit four-straight free throws to extend the lead to 76-60 and a three-pointer by Tunnell put the game out of reach at 79-60. MSU then got a late jumper by Jewaun Long with 17 seconds left to send the game to its final at 79-62.
Four Sycamores finished the game in double figures, with Marshall leading the way with 16 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Tunnell had a solid game with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Carter tied his career high with 14 points, all of which came in the first half. Stinson rounded out the double-digit scoring for ISU with 12 points, including two makes from beyond the arc. Bruce Carter led all scorers with 21 points for Murray State, but it was not enough as the Racers suffered just their second loss of the season at home.
The Sycamores resume Missouri Valley Conference play on Wednesday, February 27, when they head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to take on the Northern Iowa Panthers. Tip off is set for 8:05 p.m. EST at the McLeod Center.
