MURRAY, Ky. – Indiana State men's basketball fell to Murray State on Tuesday night, 85-75, despite trailing by only four points with less than 4:30 to play in the game. The Sycamores move to 13-17, 7-12 MVC while Murray State improved to 15-15, 9-10 MVC.
 
The Sycamores made its first three baskets all at the rim, with Aaron Gray and Camp Wagner finding K'mani Doughty and Markus Harding, respectively, with two nice passes at the rim. It was the Sycamores who led at the first timeout at 12:58, 16-12, starting 7-of-11 from the field. Four-of-five starters all got into the scoring column (Gray, Wagner, Harding, and Samage Teel).
 
The teams went back-and-forth on baskets, climbing the score up to 24-23 in favor of the Sycamores with 8:36 on the clock. Teel converted the conventional and-one at the basket and drained a three-pointer at the top of the key in the next possession. With 7:42 on the clock, Doughty finished a layup drawing the foul, marking is perfect 4-for-4 start from the field in the game. He made the free throw to put Indiana State up 28-25.
 
Murray State took its first lead since the 16:18 mark on a pair of a layup at the 5:12 mark after the Sycamores failed to score in the last 2:30 of play, but Jaden Daughtry broke the drought with a finish off the glass.
 
At the final media timeout of the half at 3:49, the Sycamores led by one, 33-32, before Gray knocked down two free throws coming out of the timeout.
 
Daughtry drained a triple off the right wing to cap an 8-0 Sycamore run that put the Trees up 38-32 with just over three minutes to play.
 
Two free throws with five seconds in the half brought Murray State within a point, as Indiana State led 40-39 at the halftime break.
 
The Sycamores shot 51.9% from the field (14-for-27), 40.0% (4-for-10) from deep, and 80.0% (8-for-10) from the line. Murray State shot 38.7% (12-for-31) from the field, 30.0% (3-for-10) from three, and 70.6% (12-for-17) from the line. MSU grabbed 22 rebounds in the half, nine on the offensive glass, leading to seven second-chance points.
 
Doughty opened the half with a three from the wing to remain perfect from the floor, 5-for-5, with two threes. A couple of possessions later, Harding drained a three-pointer to claim the Sycamores' largest lead of the game so far, 46-39, with 17:47 on the clock.
 
Bruno Alocen repeated the same two possessions later for his first points of the game, then Teel drove the lane and finished with a reverse layup. MSU followed with a layup, but Indiana State hung on to a six-point, 51-45 lead at the 15:48 media timeout.
 
Both teams combined to shoot 0-for-8 from the field in the next two minutes of the game, but seven free throw attempts were made as the Sycamores still led 54-49 with 13:45 left in the game.
 
The Racers took a 9-0 lead forcing the Coach Graves to call a timeout at the 11:40 mark with the Racers leading 58-54, their largest lead of the game.
 
Through this point in the half, the Sycamores knocked down 3-of-6 from deep but only 1-of-7 from inside the arc versus the Racers going 7-for-13 from the field.
 
Gray ended the scoring drought for Indiana State finishing an alley op layup from Harding, catching and twisting his body in-air to make the layup. He was fouled and made the ensuing free throw. Teel found Gray under the basket in the next possession to cut the deficit to three, 62-59 at the 10:05 mark.
 
MSU slowly grew their lead up to eight points, 69-61, with 6:56 remaining in the game.
 
A layup by Teel, a pair of free throws by Gray, and a Daughtry layup brought the Sycamores within four, 75-71, with 4:23 in the game.
 
The Racers climbed to a seven-point, 80-73 lead with just over two minutes to play and held that advantage through the rest of the game. Indiana State scored only four points in the remaining time, while MSU scored 10 points (eight from the free throw line) to take the 85-75 victory.
 
Aaron Gray led the Sycamores in scoring with 16 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and 6-for-7 from the line, pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. Both K'mani Doughty and Jaden Daughtry scored 15 points. Doughty finished 6-of-7 from the field with a pair of threes and four steals. Daughtry's 15 points came from a 5-for-8 effort, also grabbing five rebounds. Samage Teel scored 13 points with four rebounds and five assists.
 
News & Notes

• The Sycamores dropped their third-straight game but are hoping to get back on track on Sunday for the final game of the 2024-25 regular season before heading into the MVC Tournament in St. Louis.
• Indiana State finished 16-for-19 from the line, 84.2%, marking the sixth time in the last seven games finishing better than 80.0%.
• The Sycamores committed eight turnovers, tying for the season low.
• The Sycamore defense held Murray State to only seven assists, the most since holding UHSP to four on December 21.
• Aaron Gray led the Sycamores in scoring on Tuesday night, only the second time this season to lead the team in points.
• Markus Harding scored nine points, his most since January 25 versus UNI.
• Samage Teel has scored 5+ assists in six of the last eight games.
• Indiana State is now 2-11 on the season when recording 79 or fewer points (11-6 when scoring 80+)
• Indiana State finished with 27 rebounds, only the third time since the start of MVC play to record 29 or fewer rebounds.
• Indiana State shot better from the field (44.8% versus 44.4%) but were outscored at the free throw line by 16 makes.
  • The Trees committed 24 fouls, the most since recording 27 at Valparaiso on January 8.
  • Those fouls led to 41 free throw attempts by MSU, the most since that same night against Valpo (43).
• The Racers finished with 15 second-chance points versus the Sycamores' one.
• The 14 offensive rebounds by MSU ties for the most this season by a Sycamore opponent (Iona, 11/30/24). The team grabbed 43 total rebounds, the most since Bradley also recorded 43 on January 15.

 
Up Next
Indiana State hosts Southern Illinois on Sunday, March 2 at 1 p.m. ET. Sunday is Senior Day where Indiana State will recognize K'mani Doughty, Aaron Gray, Samage Teel, and manager Zach Miller. Pregame recognition will occur before the game shortly after 12:30 p.m.
 
Fans are encouraged to stick around after the conclusion of the game as Director of Athletics Nathan Christensen and head coach Matthew Graves will address the crowd.
 
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