2021–22 Murray State Racers men's basketball team


The 2021–22 Murray State Racers men's basketball team represented Murray State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Racers, led by seventh-year head coach Matt McMahon, played their home games at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 31–3, 18–0 in OVC play to finish as regular season champions. As the No. 1 seed, they defeated Southeast Missouri State and Morehead State to win the OVC tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 7 seed in the East Region, where they defeated San Francisco in the first round before losing to Saint Peter's in the second round.

2021–22 Murray State Racers men's basketball
Ohio Valley regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Second Round
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 22
APNo. 20
Record31–3 (18–0 OVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Tim Kaine
  • Casey Long
  • Ronrico White
Home arenaCFSB Center
Seasons
2021–22 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 20 Murray State 18 0   1.000 31 3   .912
Belmont 15 3   .833 25 8   .758
Morehead State 13 5   .722 23 11   .676
Southeast Missouri State 8 9   .471 14 18   .438
Tennessee State 8 10   .444 14 18   .438
Austin Peay 8 10   .444 12 17   .414
Tennessee Tech 7 10   .412 11 21   .344
SIU Edwardsville 5 13   .278 11 21   .344
UT Martin 4 14   .222 8 22   .267
Eastern Illinois 3 15   .167 5 26   .161
2022 OVC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

On January 7, 2022, Murray State announced that the season was the last season for the team in the OVC as they will join the Missouri Valley Conference in July 2022.[1]

On March 21, head coach Matt McMahon left the school to take the head coaching job at LSU.[2] On March 28, the school named former Murray State and Iowa State head coach Steve Prohm the team's new head coach.[3] Prohm previously coached Murray State from 2006 to 2011 as an assistant and as head coach from 2011 to 2015.

Previous season

edit

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Racers finished the 2020–21 season 13–13, 10–10 in OVC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. In the OVC tournament, they were defeated by Jacksonville State in the quarterfinals.[4]

Roster

edit
2021–22 Murray State Racers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 KJ Williams 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Cleveland Central HS Cleveland, MS
G 1 DaQuan Smith 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Holly Springs HS Holly Springs, MS
G 2 Trae Hannibal 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So South Carolina Elliott, SC
G 4 Dionte Bostick 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr East Lake HS Clearwater, FL
G 10 Tevin Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Fairhope HS Fairhope, AL
F 11 Matt Smith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Independence HS Charlotte, NC
G 13 Carter Collins 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Davidson Chapel Hill, NC
G 14 Justice Hill 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Salt Lake CC Little Rock, AR
F 22 Elijah Farr 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Olney Central College Kansas City, MO
G 25 Rod Thomas 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Paducah Tilghman HS Paducah, KY
F 31 Jordan Skipper-Brown 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Eastern Illinois Little Rock, AR
F 32 Nicholas McMullen 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Ben L. Smith HS Greensboro, NC
G 33 Jackson Sivills 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr McCracken County HS Paducah, KY
F 55 DJ Burns 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Sophie B. Wright HS
Southern
New Orleans, LA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: December 22, 2021

Schedule and results

edit
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Cumberland W 109–77  1–0
CFSB Center (3,109)
Murray, KY
November 13, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Bellarmine W 78–59  2–0
CFSB Center (3,613)
Murray, KY
November 16, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Illinois State W 77–65  3–0
Redbird Arena (2,094)
Normal, IL
November 22, 2021*
4:30 pm, FloSports
vs. East Tennessee State
Naples Invitational First Round
L 58–66  3–1
Community School of Naples (317)
Naples, FL
November 23, 2021*
1:30 pm, FloSports
vs. Long Beach State
Naples Invitational Consolation 2nd Round
W 80–43  4–1
Community School of Naples (307)
Naples, FL
November 24, 2021*
1:30 pm, FloSports
vs. James Madison
Naples Invitational 5th place game
W 74–62  5–1
Community School of Naples (117)
Naples, FL
November 29, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Campbellsville W 98–61  6–1
CFSB Center (2,829)
Murray, KY
December 4, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Middle Tennessee W 93–87  7–1
CFSB Center (4,114)
Murray, KY
December 10, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Memphis W 74–72  8–1
FedExForum (13,607)
Memphis, TN
December 15, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Tennessee Wesleyan W 118–48  9–1
CFSB Center (3,515)
Murray, KY
December 18, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Chattanooga W 87–76  10–1
CFSB Center (3,791)
Murray, KY
December 22, 2021*
5:00 pm, SECN
at No. 12 Auburn L 58–71  10–2
Auburn Arena (9,121)
Auburn, AL
Ohio Valley regular season
December 30, 2021
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Southeast Missouri State W 106–81  11–2
(1–0)
CFSB Center (3,630)
Murray, KY
January 8, 2022
3:00 pm, ESPN+
at SIU Edwardsville W 74–69  12–2
(2–0)
First Community Arena (537)
Edwardsville, IL
January 13, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Tennessee State W 67–44  13–2
(3–0)
CFSB Center (3,313)
Murray, KY
January 15, 2022
4:00 pm, ESPN+
at Belmont W 82–60  14–2
(4–0)
Curb Event Center (2,432)
Nashville, TN
January 17, 2022
3:30 pm, ESPN+
at Eastern Illinois
Rescheduled from January 6
W 72–46  15–2
(5–0)
Lantz Arena (1,117)
Charleston, IL
January 20, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Eastern Illinois W 91–51  16–2
(6–0)
CFSB Center (3,820)
Murray, KY
January 22, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN+
UT Martin W 74–66  17–2
(7–0)
CFSB Center (4,722)
Murray, KY
January 24, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Tennessee Tech
Rescheduled from January 1
W 79–53  18–2
(8–0)
CFSB Center (3,524)
Murray, KY
January 27, 2022
7:30 pm, ESPN+
at Tennessee Tech W 80–75  19–2
(9–0)
Eblen Center (840)
Cookeville, TN
January 29, 2022
4:00 pm, ESPN+
Morehead State W 77–66  20–2
(10–0)
CFSB Center (5,529)
Murray, KY
February 3, 2022
4:30 pm, ESPN+
at Austin Peay W 65–53  21–2
(11–0)
Dunn Center (971)
Clarksville, TN
February 5, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN+
SIU Edwardsville W 79–59  22–2
(12–0)
CFSB Center (5,305)
Murray, KY
February 10, 2022
7:30 pm, ESPN+
No. 23 at Tennessee State W 73–62  23–2
(13–0)
Gentry Complex (4,567)
Nashville, TN
February 12, 2022
3:00 pm, ESPN+
No. 23 at Morehead State W 57–53  24–2
(14–0)
Ellis Johnson Arena (3,960)
Morehead, KY
February 17, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 21 Austin Peay W 91–56  25–2
(15–0)
CFSB Center (6,217)
Murray, KY
February 19, 2022
3:30 pm, ESPN+
No. 21 at UT Martin W 62–60  26–2
(16–0)
Skyhawk Arena (3,257)
Martin, TN
February 24, 2022
8:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 19 Belmont W 76–43  27–2
(17–0)
CFSB Center (8,041)
Murray, KY
February 26, 2022
4:00 pm, ESPN+
No. 19 at Southeast Missouri State W 70–68  28–2
(18–0)
Show Me Center (2,934)
Cape Girardeau, MO
Ohio Valley tournament
March 4, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPNU
(1) No. 22 vs. (4) Southeast Missouri State
Semifinals
W 88–74  29–2
Ford Center (4,160)
Evansville, IN
March 5, 2022
7:30 pm, ESPN2
(1) No. 22 vs. (3) Morehead State
Championship
W 71–67  30–2
Ford Center (6,491)
Evansville, IN
NCAA tournament
March 17, 2022*
8:40 pm, CBS
(7 E) No. 20 vs. (10 E) San Francisco
First Round
W 92–87 OT 31–2
Gainbridge Fieldhouse (16,828)
Indianapolis, IN
March 19, 2022*
6:45 pm, CBS
(7 E) No. 20 vs. (15 E) Saint Peter's
Second Round
L 60–70  31–3
Gainbridge Fieldhouse (17,838)
Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Source[5]

Rankings

edit
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
APRVRV23211922192220Not released
Coaches—^RVRVRV2421212219222022

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings.
^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Murray State University Joins The Missouri Valley Conference" (Press release). Missouri Valley Conference. January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  2. ^ Riley, Koki. "LSU basketball hires Murray State's Matt McMahon as new coach". The Daily Advertiser. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  3. ^ Jensen, Jared. "Prohm officially back with Racer basketball". The Paducah Sun. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  4. ^ "2021 OVC Men's Basketball Championship - First Round". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  5. ^ "2021-22 Men's Basketball Schedule". Murray State University Athletics. Retrieved December 22, 2021.