MURRAY, KY. — (ESPN CLARKSVILLE) Round One of the men’s basketball portion of the 2017-18 Heritage Bank Battle of the Border went to archrival Murray State, which held off Austin Peay State University men’s basketball in an 84-63 decision at the CFSB Center, Thursday.

The loss drops the Governors to 14-11, 9-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Racers improve to 19-5, 11-2 in the league, to remain in second place.

The Governors got good looks and were able to capitalize, especially in close, during the first half—Austin Peay hit 52 percent from the floor in the first half, with junior Zach Glotta scoring eight in the opening 20 minutes. However, 10 Governor turnovers gave the Racers myriad first-half opportunities; even though the hosts missed their final six shots, the Racers took a 10-point lead, 38-28, into the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, the Governors began attacking the rim on the offensive end, driving into the lane time and again to either draw a foul or get a high-percentage look. By the 13:35 mark of the second half, the Governors were in the bonus, and would get 16 free-throw attempts in all over the final 20 minutes. With 14:01 to go, freshman Terry Taylor sank a jumper to get the Govs back within four points.

Unfortunately, Austin Peay could not slow down a Murray State offense that went from solid to unstoppable in the second half. The Racers shot 72.7 percent (16-of-22) over the final 20 minutes, hitting 10 of their final 12 shots and closing the game on a 21-9 run to fend off the Governors.
The Difference

Rather than an in-depth stat, tonight’s difference was simple. Austin Peay shot a respectable 44.2 percent from the floor, while Murray State, thanks to the aforementioned second-half fireworks, hit 59.3 percent (32-of-54) from the field for the contest.

“They’re a good team. We were out of whack because Murray State made us be out of whack. It’s a credit to them. Murray’s competing for a title; they’ve got good players and they’re well-coached and they’re physical and we just backed down from their physicality,” said APSU Head Coach Matt Figger.