Austin Peay Governors Basketball lose to Murray State at the Dunn Center Saturday night

January 7, 2012 |

APSU Sports: Austin Peay Men’s Basketball

Clarksville, TN – Isaiah Canaan scored 27 of his game-high 35 points in the first half to spark No. 18/19 Murray State to a 87-75 Ohio Valley Conference victory, Saturday night, in Dave Aaron Arena.

The victory improved Murray State to 16-0 overall and 4-0 in the OVC. They are just one of three unbeatens at the Division I level.

Josh Terry goes up and under for 2 of his 16 points Saturday night against the Murray State Racers. Terry led the Governors in scoring.

After Austin Peay opened the game with a Melvin Baker bucket Canaan hit the first of seven first-half three pointers to give Murray State the lead. When Josh Terry responded with another Govs two pointer, that proved to be APSU’s last lead.

Canaan then went on a 12-2 run of his own, scoring the Racers first 16 points to give the visitors a 16-6 lead. A Ed Daniel dunk ended Canaan personal run to give Murray State an 18-6 lead. The Racers would extend that advantage to 17 points, 34-17, with 8:39 left before the Governors began to chip away.

A Justin Blake three pointer got the Govs started followed by a John Fraley dunk. A Herdie Lawrence banked in three pointer cut it to 11, 36-25, with 6:29 remaining. Then Baker had a tip in and layup and all of a sudden it was a seven-point game, 36-29 with 4:46 left.

The Govs continued their comeback late into the half and had it all the way down to one point, 40-39, with 1:46 left. But Canaan knocked down another three while APSU could answer only with one free throw.

Then with two seconds left on the clock Canaan finished his extraordinary half with a step-back jumper that gave Murray State a 45-40 lead into halftime. Cannan finished the half 10-of-11 from the field. No other Racer had more than five points.

With Canaan drawing APSU’s defensive attention, Donte Poole connected on a pair of consecutive three pointers five minutes into the second half to the Racers a 12-point lead.

Again Austin Peay came back, but could never get the game tied let along the lead. TyShwan Edmondson hit back-to-back buckets, one a three pointer to take make it a two-point game, 57-55, with 13:55 remaining. But Canaan drew a foul and connected on a pair of free throws.

APSU would make it a three-point game three other times, the last being with 5:55 remaining after Terry knocked down a jumper. But the Govs could not keep the Racers off the free-throw line down the stretch. Murray State made 11-of-12 free throws over the final 5:26 to put the game away.

In addition to Canaan’s 35, Daniel finished with a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Poole finished with 13 points. The Racers connected on 30-of-55 (54.5 percent) from the floor, including 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from three-point territory.

Terry led the Govs with 16 points before fouling out. He also had four steals. Baker added 14 points while John Fraley had 10 points and nine rebounds. Fraley left the game late in the first half after being kicked in head after scrambling for a loose ball. The 6-8 senior, who missed nine games earlier in the season with a concussion, returned in the second half.

The Govs inside trio of Baker, Fraley and Will Triggs combined for 14 of 23 (60.8 percent) from the floor while their perimeter performers combined for 15 of 44 (34.1 percent).

The Copies in a Flash APSU Player of the Game was John Fraley.

Post Game Notes

For the fourth time this season, Josh Terry (16 points) led the Governors in scoring. It was his third-straight double-figure scoring game and his 10th this season.

The Governors shot 40 percent (6-of-15) from three point range, it is the first time the Governors has shot 40 percent or better from behind the arc since December 12th against Rochester.

Despite the loss the Governors tied a season-best with only 10 turnovers. The Govs turned the Racers’ 11 turnovers into 21 points.

The Governors out rebounded the Racers 34-32, and fall to 1-4 this season in games where they have had the rebounding edge.

Austin Peay has opened Ohio Valley Conference play 0-3 for the first time since the 1992-93 season, which was head coach Dave Loos’ third season at APSU. The 1992-93 team opened OVC play at 0-8.

Murray State opened the game with 18-6 run over the first 5:39. Isaiah Cannon hit 10 of 11 shots, including 7-of-7 three-pointers.

The Govs, however, were able to close the gap with a 19-4 run spanning more than seven minutes to make it 40-39 at the 1:46 mark.

Neither team showed much depth in the game, as both teams combined for 22 points off the bench. The Govs had 16 bench points (led by Will Triggs with eight), while the Racers had only six (all from Zay Jackson).

Game Quotes

“The best thing was, we played hard. We got behind and we were able to play hard, fight back and get back into it. On the flip side, we’ve got some guys that are too impatient. They wanted to come down and shoot it on one or two passes. (When that happens) you’re going to spend the whole night on defense. When you’re facing a guy like (Isaiah) Cannon, you don’t want spend any more time on defense than you have to.” stated head coach Dave Loos.

Loos went on to say, “We had some success in the first half when we took our time and got it instead. That’s not what we did later in the game. I don’t know how else to describe it. We were just too impatient on offense. (Murray State) was very aggressive, defensively, and they force you into trying to do something quick. We played into it.”

“This is obviously a very good team. With the way Cannon performed in the first half, you’d have to say they’re among the best teams I’ve seen them have. Murray State is really playing well. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an individual shoot it like Cannon did in the first half. Memphis made 11 of 12 from three when we were over there – but that was as a team. He was 10 for 11 on his own, at the half.” said Loos. “The full court press is a risk-reward thing. We were forced into doing that to try and change the tempo. I don’t like to do it as much as we did tonight, but that’s what we had to do.”

Next Game

Two weeks later, Govs and Colonels to hook up for second time One thing for sure, Austin Peay’s basketball team will not need to be reminded of what happen in the OVC opener at Eastern Kentucky. It should be fresh on their minds–the Govs had an OVC-opening win within their grasp–a late 10-point lead with four minutes left to only watch EKU end the contest on a 17-5 run.

In fact, the Govs committed four turnovers in the final 2:29 to aid the Colonels comeback. EKU, 3-1 in the OVC, proved it was for real against Murray State by trailing by only three in Murray with less two minutes left. Guard Jaron Jones had 23 points against the Racers.

Photo Gallery

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Box Score

Murray State vs Austin Peay
1/7/12 -7:00pm at Clarksville, TN (Dunn Center)

Murray State 87

Austin Peay 75

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