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Murray State stays perfect with win over Eastern Illinois

Sat 28th, January 2012

Murray, KY (Sports Network) - Isaiah Canaan and Donte Poole scored 18 points apiece and No. 11 Murray State remained the only unbeaten team in Division I with a 73-58 win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday.

The Racers (21-0, 9-0 Ohio Valley) extended the best start in program history with another double-digit win. The margin of victory was just more than their average of 14.5 points entering the game.

Murray State coach Steve Prohm praised Eastern Illinois as a disciplined team on both ends of the floor and was happy to get away with a win.

"We came out and got off to a good start," said Prohm. "And the second half, I was really pleased with our effort. The guys were really good in transition."

Joey Miller had 17 points to lead Eastern Illinois (9-11, 2-6) while Alfonzo McKinnie scored 13.

The Panthers have lost five games in a row since beating Tennessee-Martin on January 12th and fell to 0-17 all-time against ranked teams, including 0-14 on the road.

Murray State pushed its lead to 35-10 in the all-time series, which includes a 73-40 win on December 30.

After taking a 36-25 lead into the locker room at halftime, Murray State put the game away with a 15-2 run. Canaan and Poole scored five points apiece in the surge, with Canaan's layup ending it for a 51-27 lead.

Later, the margin reached as high as 26 points three separate times before EIU trimmed it beneath 20 in the final minutes.

Murray State shot 51 percent in the game to EIU's 42.6 percent. The Racers were 7-for-16 on three-pointers but only 14-for-22 from the foul line.

Game Notes

Murray State has already clinched its 25th straight winning season, which is tied with Connecticut for the fourth-best streak in the nation behind only Syracuse, Kansas and Arizona. The Racers' previous best start to a season was 16-0 in 1935-36 and their previous long winning streak was 17 games in the 2009-10 season. They have won 16 in a row at home since losing to EIU on January 20 last year.