Murray State (9-7 SU, 6-9 ATS, 4-2 MVC) travels to face Northern Iowa (8-8 SU, 7-8 ATS, 4-2 MVC) on Tuesday night at 8pmET at the McLeod Center.
Murray State is going to take some lumps in the MVC after moving from the OVC, but they will also have some success. Last season, they went 31-3 and 18-0 in the Ohio Valley and fell to another Cinderella in Saint Peter's in the second round. Coach Matt McMahon left for LSU and former coach Steve Prohm stepped back in to take over a team that lost a ton of talent. There have been ups and downs for the Racers, who lost two straight at Middle Tennessee State and SIU at home and then won two straight over Evansville and Bradley. On Saturday, they fell at Drake 82-64 as a 10-point dog.
Jacobi Wood, a 6-2 Belmont transfer, led the way with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting against Drake, but also turned the ball over four times. The Racers shot 45% from the field, but allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 48% and 11-of-27 (41%) from long range. They also were outrebounded by 12.
Overall, the Racers are averag ing 70.6 points per game on 44.7% shooting (31.2% 3pt). They are allowing 68.8 points per contest on 41.9% shooting and just 29.9% (45th) from long range. Wing Rob Perry, a Stetson transfer, averages 14.9 points to lead the Racers on 44.6% shooting and 38.6% from beyond the arc.