ST. LOUIS – Tayshawn Comer led the University of Evansville men's basketball team with 22 points, but a game-high 31 points from Terence Harcum led Murray State to a 74-53 win in Thursday evening's Arch Madness contest inside the Enterprise Center.
Box Score
Joining Comer in double figures was Connor Turnbull who recorded 16 points. Comer was 5-of-17 from the field and converted 12 of his 13 free throw tries. Turnbull added three blocks and five boards. Josh Hughes led the way with nine caroms.
"We came into the game with a plan to keep Murray State out of the paint and keep them from getting points in transition and did a good job in the first half," UE head coach David Ragland said. "In the second half, the game got away from us a little bit and, unfortunately, we were not able to respond to their offensive fury. We continue to put down the right building blocks for this storied program. We adapted as the season moved along and showed the type of character that the people in our locker room have."
Tanner Cuff gave the Purple Aces a quick 2-0 lead while Murray State grabbed its first advantage with a triple. Connor Turnbull knocked down his first field goal to put UE back in front. Another triple gave the Racers a 6-4 edge before Tayshawn Comer's first basket of the evening knotted the score at 6-6.
Murray State made the first significant run of the game, scoring the next seven points to go up 13-6 just over five minutes into the game. Turnbull ended the stretch with a layup at the 12:18 mark. UE missed three shots while turning it over twice while MSU opened the advantage. After another triple saw the Racers take a 16-8 lead, Evansville responded with seven in a row to make it a 1-point game inside of nine minutes remaining.
Following a Turnbull layup, Josh Hughes connected from downtown. Comer completed the run with a drive to the basket. Over the next four minutes, Murray State slowly took its largest lead, utilizing a 15-5 run to go up by 11 as the half entered its final five minutes. Trailing by a 33-23 margin with 3:09 on the clock, UE grabbed some momentum, cutting the gap to four inside the final minute. Four Comer points were followed by Gabiel Pozzato's first tallies of the night to make it a 33-29 game. At the buzzer, a layup by the Racers sent them to the break with a 35-29 lead.
Out of halftime, Murray State scored the first eight points to take their largest advantage of 14 points – 43-29. Comer's 3-point play got UE back on track with 14:45 remaining. Evansville opened the half missing its first seven shots while turning the ball over twice. Pozzato and Turnbull converted 3-pointers over the next sequence to cut the deficit to nine points at 49-41.
As the minutes ticked away, Murray State took control. Going on a 20-4 run, the Racers pushed their lead to 60-45 with 4:30 remaining. From there, MSU cruised to the 74-53 triumph. Murray State out-shot the Aces by a 47.3%-34.7% margin while completing the game with a 36-28 edge on the boards.
