Perry Scores 26 – But Racers Fall To Salukis

Box Score The Murray State Racers saw their 20-game home winning streak end in a 63-57 loss to the Southern Illinois Salukis Thursday at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.

Rob Perry led the Racers by scoring 26 points for his fifth game this season of 20 or more, while Kenny White, Jr., added 13 points, all in the second half. Jamari Smith led MSU with nine rebounds and DJ Burns grabbed eight.

The Racers (7-6) and Salukis (10-4) are now each 2-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Trailing by 10 points with 5:25 remaining, the Racers rallied with a 7-0 run that cut the SIU lead to 54-51 at 3:23 on Perry’s third 3-pointer of the game. The Racers couldn’t get any closer.

In the first half, both teams were cold at the start combining for only 23 points in the first 12 minutes of play.

Perry hit the first 3-pointer of the game for MSU at 4:46 to give the Racers their first lead 16-15. MSU went ahead again by a point 23-22 when JaCobi Wood fed Burns for a layup at 1:43. SIU scored the last two baskets to grab a 26-23 advantage at the halftime intermission.

The Racers get back to action Sunday on New Year’s Day at the Ford Center against the Evansville Purple Aces. Tip time in Evansville is 1 p.m. Central Time. The Racers are back home (Jan. 4) to host the Bradley Braves.

Game Notes

The Racers’ 20-game win streak at the CFSB Center comes to a close with their first loss since (02-18-21) to Eastern Illinois.

MSU’s run marks the seventh-longest home streak in program history.

MSU’s longest win streak of 47 (1996-00) is still the gold standard at MSU.

This is SIU’s first win at MSU since 2015 and it snapped a 3-game run for the Racers.

This was Coach Steve Prohm’s first career loss to SIU, he’s now 2-1.

The score at halftime today was SIU in the lead 26-23. The last time MSU played a first half with both teams under 30 points was at Morehead State (2-12-22) when MSU trailed 28-24.

Today the Racers and Salukis combined for 49 first half points. The last time MSU played a first half with less than 50 combined points was at Missouri State (12-03-19) when there was 47 points scored as the Bears led the Racers 25-22.

Quincy Anderson’s chase to be a career 1,000-point scorer saw him get closer tonight. Anderson has 86 career games played combined with Murray State and Minnesota State and has 983 points.

Once he gets to 1,000, he’ll join teammates Jamari Smith, Brian Moore, Jr., and Rob Perry as 1,000-point players.

MSU’s game at Evansville Sunday makes the first time in 19 years in which the Racers play on New Year’s Day.

The last time MSU competed on January 1, was under Coach Tevester Anderson in 2022 at home against Middle Tennessee with MSU winning 76-64.

The game Sunday at the Ford Center marks the sixth time MSU has played on New Year’s Day since the first at home against Mississippi State in 1956 for Coach Cal Luther.

MSU is 2-3 all-time on New Year’s Day.

The game at the Ford Center marks the Racers’ first game there since they won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship in March 2022 over Morehead State 71-67.