MURRAY, Ky. –Illinois State got 15 points and nine rebounds from Dusan Mahorcic in his season debut for the Redbirds, but it was not enough to overcome a solid shooting effort from the OVC favorite Murray State Racers, in a 76-65 loss on Saturday afternoon.
Mahorcic made 6-of-8 field goals, while pulling down nine rebounds and dishing out two assists Antonio Reeves went 6-of-13 from the field for a team-high 16 points while adding a rebound, assist, steal, and blocked shot. DJ Horne also reached double-figure scoring with 11 points while adding four rebounds. Howard Fleming Jr. scored seven points with five rebounds in the losing effort.
Illinois State led early, pushing out to a five-point lead with 14:37 to play in the opening half on a Mahorcic dunk; however, a 18-7 Murray State run pushed the Racers into a lead they would not give up for the remainder of the game. The margin reached its first half high of 16 points before a Reeves three-pointer and a Mahorcic lay-up fueled a half-ending 5-2 run close the gap to 13 heading into the break.
The second half margin was 14 early in the half before the Redbirds rolled out nine straight points on an Emon Washington three-pointer, a Reeves jumper, and two straight Horne lay-ups to close the gap to five. After Murray State regrouped and pushed the margin back to 16, the Redbirds used the next five and a half minutes to run out a 13-4 run and close the gap to just five with 4:24 to play in the contest. The Racers – who have now won their last 23 games at home – fought back and closed the game on a 9-4 run to give the contest its 76-65 final score.
The Redbirds made 25-of-62 shots (40.3%) in the loss while converting on a season-low 21.7 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-23) and 47.6 (10-of-21) from the charity stripe. Murray State converted on half of their 58 shots in the contest while making 9-of-21 (42.9%) from the three-point line and 9-of-13 (69.2%) on its free throws.
Illinois State will take the week off for final exams before returning to the court on Saturday, December 12 when the team travels to Muncie, Indiana, to take on the Ball State Cardinals in a 6 p.m. (CT) tip-off at Worthen Arena.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
