Murray State played their first home game of 2023 as they hosted Bradley on Wednesday night. After a slow start to the night, the Racers found their momentum and held off a tough Bradley team to pull off the 67-58 home win.
The Racers got off to a slow start as they struggled making shots and keeping up with the tempo of the visiting Braves. Bradley put up four unanswered early points to take a 4-0 lead which quickly turned into a 10-5 lead, as they put points on the board in their first four trips down the floor.
Sam Burns turned the deficit to 10-7 on a second chance jumper with 16:32 to play and scoring would go quiet for both teams until the 14:15 mark. He would finish the night with the lone double-double of the night across both teams with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead all scorers.
“Whatever the team needs me to do to when I’ll do,” Burns said. “Tonight was scoring and rebounding so that’s what I did. Coach stressed not being ‘chillaxed’ after the Evansville game and being ready and prepared for this Bradley game and he talked to me before the game and said this is the game he needed me without Jamari Smith, so I did what I had to do.”
The Braves continued their hot shooting throughout the half until Murray finally put the pressure on, resulting in a 6-0 run to cut the deficit 20-18. Murray didn’t take their first lead until the 5:51 mark when Burns sank a free throw to put the Racers up 24-23.
“This was a great win against a team we have a lot of respect for,” Murray State head coach Steve Prohm said. “It was a home game and we took care of business and after a tough little start just trying to get our feeling we were able to respond and finish the half well.”
From there it was all Murray State basketball in the opening half, as the Racers tempo picked up. This resulted in a 7-0 run capped off by a bucket in the paint, courtesy of Sam Murray II to put the home team up 31-23 with 3:16 to play in the half.
Murray closed out the half riding that momentum, holding a 34-27 lead.
The Racers continued to hold onto their slight edge through the opening minutes of the second half. That lead would jump to as much as nine and fall to as little as two by the 11:51 mark, but Murray held onto it nonetheless.
A highlight of the night came in the form of a reverse layup for Quincy Anderson when he hit his 1,000th collegiate point to put Murray State up 42-38 with 13:37 to play.
The intensity continued as Bradley reclaimed their lead by one point at two different points in the second half, but the tenacity of the home team prevailed to eventually get back up to a 13-point lead with 5:05 left to play.
The Braves stayed close, not letting that deficit build past 13 and cut it back down to just five points, but Murray State stayed focused on their home court to claim the 67-58 victory.
Next to the 16 points from Burns, Rob Perry had 10, alongside Brian Moore Jr. and JaCobi Wood. Anderson finished with seven, Kenny White Jr. had six, Murray had five, and Justin Morgan had three.
The Racers shot 43.1% from the field, 23.1% from behind the arc and 83.3% from the charity stripe.
Murray State will be back in action on Saturday, January 7 when they take a trip to Des Moines, Iowa to take on Drake. Their next game in the CFSB Center will be against UIC on Saturday, January 14 where they will honor Cameron Payne by retiring his jersey.
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