Murray State Basketball: Unlikely heroes lead Racers to OT win over San Francisco

Bench players come up big in Murray State Basketball’s overtime win over San Francisco. 

Trae Hannibal and Jordan Skipper-Brown transferred to Murray State for the opportunity to contribute to a winning team. Thursday those two unlikely heroes helped carry the Racers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Murray State was a 92-87, overtime winner and play Saint Peter’s on Saturday.

Less than two minutes into Murray’s game with San Francisco, starting guard Carter Collins went down with an ankle injury and Hannibal replaced him. The 6’2 South Carolina transfer would go on to score 18 points and grab six rebounds.

His attacking-the-rack style was a needed weapon. Collins was down and star Racer guard Tevin Brown sat most of the first half with foul trouble. Brown finished the half with just two points but rebounded to score 15, second-half points.

Skipper-Brown saw increased playing time due to the foul trouble incurred by starting forward D.J. Burns. The Eastern Illinois transfer had no double-figure scoring games, nor double-digit rebounding games this season, until Thursday night.

He recorded a double-double (12 points and ten rebounds), including three, key free throws to secure the victory during the overtime’s final 14 seconds.

Murray State (31-2) has won 21 straight games and their surprising second-round opponent, Saint Peter’s was also an overtime winner. The fifteenth seeded Peacocks upset Kentucky 85-79. One of Saint Peter’s unlikely heroes was Doug Edert who contributed 20 points off the Peacock bench.

All of the odds had the Kentucky Wildcats as the next opponent but the massive upset has changed the outlook for the winner of this game, which is Murray State. The opportunity to make the Sweet 16 is in the Racers’ hands but the Peacocks will be a formidable foe. This mid-major matchup will be highly anticipated this weekend, with the winner making history.

Game time Saturday is set for 6:45 CDT.