Racers add to win streak in front of 8,000-plus

Murray State kept its winning momentum going Saturday with an 85-81 win over Indiana State, the Racers pushing their home winning streak at the CFSB Center to 12.

The Racers are now 15-2 this season when reaching 80 points in a game.

The attendance of 8,083 — 12th all-time at the CFSB Center in its 28 seasons as the Racers’ home court — is MSU’s most-attended game in its four seasons in Missouri Valley Conference.

The Racers (16-3) have won their last 12 games overall and remained undefeated in The Valley at 8-0.

MSU hits the road next week for league games at Drake and Northern Iowa.

Led by 21 points from Javon Jackson, the Racers also saw Fred King score a double-double on 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Additionally, MSU got 13 points each from Mason Miller and Layne Taylor.

Jackson extended his streak of making a 3-pointer to 12 games, a season-best for the Racers, while Layne Taylor pushed his streak to six games.

Jackson has 23 career games of 20-point scoring and nine this season for the Racers and has scored at least 20 in the last four games.

King completed his fourth double-double for the Racers to make six for his career.

The Racers finished the first half on a 14-8 run to grab a 47-37 lead.

MSU fell behind for the first time in game with 10:14 left at 59-58 but responded with a 9-0 run fueled by five points from Jackson and a pair of free throws from Taylor to put the Racers in front by eight with 8:30 left.

Taylor’s 3-pointer pushed MSU to an 11-point lead with 7:00 remaining, and the Racers took care of finishing the game in front of the largest crowd at home since 2022.

The Racers are now 3-4 against the Sycamores as members of the MVC and are 6-11 overall in their all-time series. The teams will play at Terre Haute on Feb. 12.