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No. 19 Murray State stays perfect, downs EKU

Jan 5, 2012 - 7:22 AM Murray, KY (Sports Network) - Donte Poole scored 22 points as No. 19 Murray State downed Eastern Kentucky, 76-67 on Wednesday.

Ed Daniel finished with 16 points to go with five rebounds, while Isaiah Canaan contributed 16 points for the Racers, (15-0, 3-0 OVC) who remain perfect on the season. Stacy Wilson donated 13 points and Latreze Mushatt chipped in with 10 rebounds for Murray State.

"I thought we competed hard for a majority of the game," Racers head coach Steve Prohm said. "It was tough at times when we were with four guards. We just haven't repped it enough. Sometimes we were stagnant offensively.

Jaron Jones netted a game-high 23 points to go with six rebounds for the Colonels (9-7, 3-1) and D'Mitri Riggs scored 16 points. Eric Stutz contributed 12 rebounds to go with four points for Eastern Kentucky.

Eastern Kentucky kept it close early, leading 15-14 halfway through the opening 20 minutes of play, but Murray State roared back with an 11-2 run to go ahead, 25-17 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the half thanks to a jumper from Stacy Wilson.

Jeff Allgood answered with a trey for Eastern Kentucky to make it 25-20, but the Racers scored the next five points to push the lead to 30-20 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half.

Murray State took a 44-33 lead into the locker room on a Canaan deuce.

The Racers kept the Colonels at bay through the early stages of the second half, as they led 49-35 with 15:41 to go.

A pair of free throws by Riggs and Jones pulled Eastern Kentucky to within 54-50 with just under nine minutes to go, and a jumper Riggs with 4:08 left got the Colonels within two, but the Racers scored the next four points to push their lead back to 62-56 with 3:34 to go.

A pair of free throws by Jones with 1:27 to play in regulation made things interesting late, pulling Eastern Kentucky to within 65-62, but they were unable to get any closer, as Canaan, Poole and Daniel all sank a pair of free throws to help Murray State remain undefeated.

Game Notes

Murray State owns a 98-60 series advantage over Eastern Kentucky, which includes victories in each of the past seven meetings...With his 16-point performance, Canaan now has 1,012 points in his collegiate career and became just the 38th player in Murray State program history to reach the plateau...Murray State shot 48 percent overall, while Eastern Kentucky shot 44 percent from the floor...Eastern Kentucky outrebounded Murray State, 35-26...Murray State recorded 24 points off 13 Eastern Kentucky turnovers.