Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team falls to unbeaten Murray State

~ Southeast led by six points at halftime, but the unbeaten Racers stormed back for an 81-73 victory

MURRAY, Ky. -- The Murray State basketball machine keeps rolling along.

Not even digging an 11-point second-half hole against surging Southeast Missouri State could derail the Racers.

MSU solidified its status as the nation's only undefeated Division I men's team Thursday night, rallying past the Redhawks 81-73.

An announced crowd of 8,369 at 8,600-seat CFSB Arena and a national television audience on ESPNU saw the Racers improve to 22-0 overall and 10-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play with their 18th consecutive home-court victory.

Southeast Missouri State’s Leon Powell takes a shot over Murray State’s Brandon Garrett during the first half Thursday in Murray, Ky. (Fred Lynch)

"Very fortunate to get out of here with a win," MSU coach Steve Prohm said. "Credit SEMO. They're a very good team."

The Racers, ranked ninth and 10th in the two major national polls, now have the OVC's all-time longest winning streak of 22 in row. They had previously shared the record with former league member Western Kentucky.

"I congratulate Murray State. They have an outstanding team, they really do," said Southeast coach Dickey Nutt, whose squad lost for just the third time in its past 11 games. "I thought we played well. It was a great college basketball game."

Southeast (12-10, 7-3), second in the 11-team OVC, led most of the first half, three times by 11 points, and was up 39-33 at the break.

"I thought we played good the first half. The second half we didn't play good enough to win," Southeast senior forward Leon Powell said.

Southeast Missouri State’s Corey Wilford shoots over Murray State’s Zay Jackson during the first half Thursday in Murray, Ky. (Fred Lynch)

The Redhawks, cheered on by a couple hundred of their fans, built another 11-point advantage early in the final period.

"They came ready to play. They put our backs to the wall," Prohm said.

Then Isaiah Canaan took over.

Canaan, the OVC's No. 2 scorer and probably the leading contender for the league's player of the year award, exploded for 16 points over the first nine minutes of the second half.

"I knew he was going to come along sooner or later," MSU senior guard Jewuan Long said.

Southeast Missouri State coach Dickey Nutt shouts instructions to his players during the second half.

Canaan fueled a massive 24-2 MSU run that spanned a little more than six minutes and erased a 46-35 deficit. His fourth 3-pointer of the half, with just over 11 minutes left, capped the flurry and gave the Racers a 59-48 lead.

The Racers stayed in control the rest of the way and hit 6 of 6 free throws to ice the win after Southeast cut a 12-point deficit to six points three times in the final 41 seconds.

"Isaiah Canaan is a special player," Nutt said. "Special players step up in special games. He did that."

Canaan, who entered the night averaging nearly 19 points, finished with 32 despite being held scoreless for the game's first 16 minutes. He had 24 second-half points.

Canaan, among the nation's top 3-point shooter at 41 percent, made 6 of 11 from beyond the arc -- several from well beyond the arc.

"I played good ‘D' on him the first half," Southeast junior guard Corey Wilford said. "The second half his confidence level went up. He started pulling up from near half court."

Said a smiling Canaan: "I never know where I'm shooting from. I'm just grateful they started falling."

Southeast played a strong first half, getting 12 points off the bench from Wilford after junior guard Marland Smith got into foul trouble.

"It hurt us," Nutt said of Smith's foul problems. "But Corey came on and gave us a special night."

The Redhawks shot 51.5 percent in the opening 20 minutes, committed just five turnovers and outrebounded MSU 16-15.

But MSU picked up its defense and aggressiveness in the second half. The Racers outrebounded Southeast 28-18 in the period and the Redhawks shot 39.3 percent.

"The second half they played with a high level of urgency on the defensive end," Prohm said.

Senior guard Marcus Brister led Southeast with 17 points, two off his career high. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Wilford, a junior college transfer, scored a career-high 15 points.

Sophomore forward Tyler Stone had 13 points and seven rebounds.

Powell recorded 12 points, six rebounds and four blocks before limping off the court with two minutes left. He said it was just a cramp.

Powell had the game's highlight-reel play with a monster one-handed follow dunk early in the second half.

Smith, Southeast's second-leading scorer who had reached double figures in 12 straight games, scored only six points. He played just 22 minutes due to the foul trouble.

Southeast finished shooting 45.9 percent and had only 10 turnovers.

MSU shot 40.4 percent but hit 8 of 21 3-pointers compared to 3 of 14 for Southeast. The Racers made 27 of 35 free throws, 12 attempts coming in the final 1:12. The Redhawks were 14 of 23 from the line.

"I thought we left it all on the floor," Nutt said. "For 27 minutes we controlled the game. After that we weren't able to match their scoring."

The Redhawks, despite entering the night having lost eight of the past nine meetings with MSU, had dealt the Racers their last regular-season OVC loss, 64-57 at the Show Me Center a year ago.

"We wanted to pay them back," Long said.

The Redhawks will get a chance to return the favor when MSU visits the Show Me Center on Feb. 15.

Brister said he hopes MSU is still undefeated by then, the implication being that he wants the Redhawks to hand the Racers their first loss.

"We're cheering for them," he said.

In the meantime, Southeast returns to action Saturday, hosting third-place Tennessee State (14-10, 7-4) in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

Noteworthy

* Southeast junior guard Nick Niemczyk missed his fourth straight game due to lingering symptoms from a concussion, although he was on the bench in uniform. Nutt said the status of Niemczyk for Saturday is up in the air.