Prohm: Racer men can’t sulk over losing Belmont to Indiana State next Saturday | State of Murray

Murray State is two games behind first place with a 5-4 record, well within reach. However, it’s also a time of vulnerability after a memorable night on Tuesday, when the Racers enjoyed a great start against longtime Ohio Valley Conference rivals Belmont, who rushed off against Belmont, who joined Southern Illinois at 7 at the The top of The Valley score is -2.

Now the Racers (10-9 overall) welcome Indiana State to the CFSB Center on Saturday (5 p.m.), and while it’s not strictly a “must do,” Prohm cautioned Wednesday that his team needs to shake the cobwebs from his experience in Nashville .

“It doesn’t matter what league you’re talking about — SEC, Big12, ACC, Missouri Valley, American — in all of those leagues, if you sit around and sulk and lick your wounds, you’re going to lose the next one,” Prohm said Wednesday, Hours before Indiana State, who spent the first few weeks of the Valley game far from the field in first place, fell to 6-3 League game with a surprise loss to a Bradley team the Racers beat at Murray earlier this season.

“It’s a men’s league. We must react.”

Saturday would be a great time for a response after Murray State’s 80-65 loss to Belmont, which saw the Racers hold the explosive Bruins to just 11 points in the first nearly 12 minutes, a superb defensive display. Trouble is, Belmont quickly found his offensive footing after that, outscoring the Racers 23-9 to take a four-point lead at halftime.

Belmont then used his specialty, the 3-point shot, to build up to a 20-point lead in the second half. The Bruins, the best 3-point team in The Valley and one of the best in the nation, produced an outstanding 8-of-17 from long range in the second half and finished 12-of-17. f (41.7%, just the average). However, Prohm said he could see problems developing in the Racers’ previous game, an 81-64 win over Illinois-Chicago in which they dropped 11 bombs.

“We haven’t guarded the three-point line well in our last few games and that’s something we’ve done well all year so we have to focus on that,” Prohm said, looking at a different issue, There plagued his team all season and came back home Tuesday to play a full game.

“In the UIC game, we never completely eluded them and let them back in the game (Murray State led by as much as 19 points early in the second half, but UIC cut that lead to just 10 points late). This is our biggest growing pain. How do we become a consistent team for 40 minutes? Because these teams are so good that it’s about who is more consistent over a longer period of time and who can finish well.

“Our struggle is to pull together the toughness it takes to play thirty-five…thirty-seven…thirty-nine good minutes.”

To beat the Sycamores (13-7 overall) in front of a national ESPNI audience on Saturday, racers will need to find that toughness. Unlike the Racers, Indiana State is a team that has been together for much longer

Seven of the Sycamores players were on the team last season, in contrast to the Racers, who are only returning two, and many other teams in the conference. Indiana State is led by 6’5” guard Courvoisier McCauley, a transfer from DePaul who averages 16.6 ppg.

“(Indiana State head coach) Josh (Schertz) did a great job with this team,” Prohm said of Schertz, who is in his first season at Terre Haute after an outstanding run at NCAA Division 2 powerhouse Lincoln Memorial in Tennessee he was 337-69 in 13 seasons and led that program to 10 NCAA tournament appearances while being named Division 2 Coach of the Year four times.

“And he was able to bring some people back from the Lincoln Memorial, but he has a lot of people returning, and if you bring back a lot of people, whether you succeed or go through a building process (Indiana State was only 11-20 overall and 4-14 at The Valley last year), then you have a chance to be good. I spoke to (Drake head coach) Darren Devries (whose own team was considered preseason Valley favorites due to their own abundance of returnees) and he said, “Oh no! I picked Indiana State first just because they’re coming back with so many guys and how many games they played really well last year.”

Prohm is also issuing a call for Racer Nation to deliver Saturday with a large crowd, which should be supported by the Murray State students who returned this week.

“I know everyone is probably frustrated right now but this league is a beast. There are no easy nights and we need a big crowd for these. Let’s sell it out. Let’s not wait until February,” he said.