Boxscore

MURRAY, Ky. -- A four-minute flurry by Murray State's Racers early in the second half showed why they lead the Ohio Valley Conference. A 15-1 run by MSU (21-7) was too much for the University of Evansville (14-13) to overcome here Saturday night, and Murray State beat the Aces 72-47 in a Sears BracketBusters game.
 
The Aces finished the first half with an 11-3 run, and Denver Holmes hit the first basket of the second half to bring Evansville to within two at 30-28.  But the Racers scored 15 of the next 16 points to go up 45-29 on Edward Daniel's rebound basket with 15 minutes to play.

The Aces couldn't get closer than 11 points, and Murray State scored the final 13 points of the game to make the final margin more lopsided than it truly was.

Colt Ryan led Evansville with 13 points and Denver Holmes added 10. B.J. Jenkins' 16 points led the balanced Murray State attack.

"Our guys battled to stay close at halftime, and we thought we were in position to stay with them in the second half, but we didn't have an answer," said coach Marty Simmons.  "Our guys have been resilient all season, and now we have to get ready for Drake Wednesday and Senior Day on Saturday."

Evansville has two regular season games remaining, Wednesday night at Drake and Saturday at home against Illinois State in the final men's game ever at Roberts Stadium.  Game time Saturday is at 2:05 CST.  Currently sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference, Evansville can finish anywhere from fourth to seventh in the final MVC standings.  The top six finishers go directly to the State Farm MVC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday, March 4 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis.