"We are excited to announce our 2018-19 schedule, featuring 16 home games at the CFSB Center again this season," Murray State head coach Matt McMahon said. "We look forward to playing in front of our great fans with the incredible atmosphere and tradition we have at Murray State."
Every season, McMahon seeks to challenge his team with great competition and bring quality opponents into the CFSB Center. Throw in another big season of Ohio Valley Conference games, and this schedule checks all of the boxes.
"Last season was the OVC's second highest RPI ranking since 2000 and I expect the league to be very strong again this year," McMahon added. "So we wanted a challenging non-conference schedule to prepare our team for league play. With the defending SEC champions (Auburn), defending CUSA champions (Middle Tennessee), defending Horizon tournament champions (Wright State), along with Alabama and three Missouri Valley programs, we will certainly be tested throughout the months of November and December."
"We also look forward to honoring Coach Tevester Anderson when Jackson State visits the CFSB Center on Dec. 15," McMahon said. "Coach T helped lead the Racers to four of our 16 NCAA Tournament appearances (two as head coach and two as associate head coach under Mark Gottfried) and he also took Jackson State to the NCAA Tournament during his ten year run there as head coach."
November starts with an exhibition game (Nov. 5) against Brescia, before Wright State comes to the CFSB Center for the regular season opener (Nov. 10). MSU's four-game home stand to start the season continues with Spalding (Nov. 16) and Missouri State (Nov. 24). The Racers close out the month with a road game at Alabama (Nov. 26).
Seven games are included in December with a home contest (Dec. 1) against Prairie View A&M. The Racers hit the road for a pair of regional rival clashes at Middle Tennessee (Dec. 8) and at Southern Illinois (Dec. 12). After returning home to play Jackson State (Dec. 15), the Racers host the Evansville Purple Aces (Dec. 18) and hit the road for Auburn (Dec. 22). MSU hosts Bethel (Dec. 29) for the final game of 2018.
OVC play begins in 2019 with Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky visiting the CFSB Center (Jan. 3 & 5) when the Racers begin their quest for back-to-back regular season titles after taking it last season with a record of 16-2. A four-game road swing has MSU visiting UT Martin (Jan. 10), SE Missouri (Jan. 12), Eastern Illinois (Jan. 17) and SIUE (Jan. 19). MSU finishes the month at home with Belmont (Jan. 24) and Tennessee State (Jan. 26) and a road game at Jacksonville State (Jan. 31).
The first game of February is at Tennessee Tech (Feb. 2). MSU hopes to make a drive for their 26th OVC title with a home week with EIU and SIUE (Feb. 7 & 9) and a road week at Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 14 & 16). The Racers have home games with UTM (Feb. 21) and SEMO (Feb. 23) and the final road game of the season at Morehead State (Feb. 28). The Racer seniors play their final regular season home game against APSU (March 2).
The Racers won the OVC Tournament last season and will try for the prize again (March 6-9) at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The Racers have won the OVC tournament 16 times and have been to the NCAA Tournament the same number.
The Racers will play their 21st season at the CFSB Center in the 2018-19 season. MSU has one of the best home court advantages in the game and are 245-44 (.847) overall and 146-27 (.843) in OVC play. MSU enters the season winners of nine in a row at home since their loss to Auburn last December.
