2020–21 Murray State Racers men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Murray State Racers men's basketball team represented Murray State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Racers, led by sixth-year head coach Matt McMahon, played their home games at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference.

2020–21 Murray State Racers men's basketball
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	13–13 (10–10 OVC)
Head coach	Matt McMahon (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Shane Nichols Tim Kaine Casey Long
Home arena	CFSB Center
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Belmont	18	–	2		.900			26	–	4		.867
Morehead State †	17	–	3		.850			23	–	8		.742
Eastern Kentucky	15	–	5		.750			22	–	7		.759
Jacksonville State	13	–	6		.684			18	–	9		.667
Austin Peay	10	–	10		.500			14	–	13		.519
Murray State	10	–	10		.500			13	–	13		.500
Southeast Missouri State	9	–	11		.450			11	–	16		.407
SIU Edwardsville	7	–	12		.368			9	–	17		.346
Eastern Illinois	6	–	14		.300			9	–	18		.333
UT Martin	6	–	14		.300			8	–	16		.333
Tennessee Tech	5	–	15		.250			5	–	22		.185
Tennessee State	3	–	17		.150			4	–	19		.174
† 2021 OVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Racers finished the 2019–20 season 23–9, 15–3 in OVC play to finish in a tie for the OVC regular season championship. They defeated Austin Peay in the semifinals of the OVC tournament to advance to the championship game where they lost to Belmont. With 23 wins, they were a candidate for a postseason bid. However, all postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1][2]

Roster

2020–21 Murray State Racers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Demond Robinson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 255 lb (116 kg) So Lee HS Montgomery, AL G 1 DaQuan Smith 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS So Holly Springs HS Holly Springs, MS G 2 Chico Carter Jr. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Cardinal Newman HS Columbia, SC G 4 Dionte Bostick 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr East Lake HS Clearwater, FL G 10 Tevin Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Fairhope HS Fairhope, AL F 11 Matt Smith 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Fr Independence HS Charlotte, NC F 13 Devin Gilmore 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Madison-Ridgeland Picayune, MS G 14 Justice Hill 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Little Rock Christian HS Salt Lake CC Little Rock, AR G 22 Brion Whitley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Riverview HS Sarasota, FL F 23 KJ Williams 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Cleveland Central HS Cleveland, MS F 24 Ja'Queze Kirby 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Jeff Davis HS Hazlehurst, GA G 25 Rod Thomas 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Paducah Tilghman HS Paducah, KY F 32 Nicholas McMullen 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Ben L. Smith HS Greensboro, NC G 33 Jackson Sivills 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr McCracken County HS Paducah, KY	Head coach Matt McMahon (Appalachian State) Assistant coach(es) Shane Nichols (Wofford) Tim Kaine (Winthrop) Casey Long (Chattanooga) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 6, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 29, 2020* 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Greenville	W 173–95	1–0	CFSB Center  Murray, KY
Regular season
Dec 2, 2020* 6:30 pm		at Middle Tennessee	L 61–78	1–1	Murphy Center  Murfreesboro, TN
Dec 5, 2020* 5:00 pm, ESPN+		Illinois State	W 76–65	2–1	CFSB Center (1,290) Murray, KY
Dec 8, 2020 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Austin Peay	W 87–57	3–1 (1–0)	CFSB Center (1,290) Murray, KY
Dec 11, 2020* 6:30 pm, ESPN3		at Southern Illinois	L 66–70	3–2	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Dec 15, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Transylvania	W 90–49	4–2	CFSB Center  Murray, KY
Dec 21, 2020* 5:00 pm, ESPNU		at Austin Peay	L 70–74	4–3 (1–1)	Dunn Center (502) Clarksville, TN
Dec 30, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPNU		at Belmont	L 55–68	4–4 (1–2)	Curb Event Center (756) Nashville, TN
Jan 2, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Morehead State	L 56–61	4–5 (1–3)	CFSB Center (872) Murray, KY
Jan 7, 2021* 7:30 pm		at Eastern Illinois	L 68–74	4–6 (1–4)	Lantz Arena (ESPN+) Charleston, IL
Jan 16, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at UT Martin	W 79–57	5–6 (2–4)	Skyhawk Arena (231) Martin, TN
Jan 21, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Jacksonville State	L 82–85	5–7 (2–5)	CFSB Center (1,290) Murray, KY
Jan 23, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Tennessee Tech	W 72–63	6–7 (3–5)	CFSB Center (1,290) Murray, KY
Jan 28, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Tennessee State	W 73–53	7–7 (4–5)	CFSB Center (1,290) Murray, KY
Jan 30, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Belmont	L 71–72	7–8 (4–6)	CFSB Center (1,290) Murray, KY
Feb 1, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Southeast Missouri State	W 77–60	8–8 (5–6)	Show Me Center (690) Cape Girardeau, MO
Feb 4, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Morehead State	L 56–66	8–9 (5–7)	Ellis Johnson Arena (765) Morehead, KY
Feb 6, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Kentucky	W 76–64	9–9 (6–7)	McBrayer Arena (887) Richmond, KY
Feb 11, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Southeast Missouri State	W 80–60	10–9 (7–7)	CFSB Center (1,252) Murray, KY
Feb 13, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+		UT Martin	W 84–55	11–9 (8–7)	CFSB Center (1,257) Murray, KY
Feb 15, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at SIU Edwardsville	W 86–57	12–9 (9–7)	First Community Arena (17) Edwardsville, IL
Feb 18, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Eastern Illinois	L 59–68	12–10 (9–8)	CFSB Center (1,260) Murray, KY
Feb 20, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+		SIU Edwardsville	W 89–62	13–10 (10–8)	CFSB Center (1,290) Murray, KY
Feb 25, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Jacksonville State	L 74–87	13–11 (10–9)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (725) Jacksonville, AL
Feb 27, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN+		at Tennessee Tech	L 61–71	13–12 (10–10)	Eblen Center (920) Cookeville, TN
Ohio Valley Conference tournament
March 4, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPNU	(5)	vs. (4) Jacksonville State Semifinals	L 65–68 ^OT	13–13	Ford Center (645) Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

1. Myerberg, Paul. "ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 among major college basketball tournaments cancelled amid coronavirus". USA TODAY. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
2. "NCAA cancels March Madness tournaments, all other winter and spring championships". NBC News. Retrieved December 6, 2020.