Halftime Report

Only one more half stands between Pittsburgh and the win they were favored to collect coming into this evening. A victory is still up for grabs for either team after one quarter, but Pittsburgh is up 41-39 over Murray State.

If Pittsburgh keeps playing like this, they'll bump their record up to 2-0 in no time. On the other hand, Murray State will have to make due with a 1-1 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who's Playing

Murray State Racers @ Pittsburgh Panthers

Current Records: Murray State 1-0, Pittsburgh 1-0

How To Watch

What to Know

The Murray State Racers will face off against the Pittsburgh Panthers at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday at Petersen Events Center. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Murray State is headed out to face Pittsburgh after opening their season at home and giving their fans just what they were looking for. Murray State simply couldn't be stopped on Monday as they easily beat Bethel (Tenn.) 113-37. With the Racers ahead 54-19 at the half, the game was all but over already.

Murray State was working as a unit and finished the game with 25 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Bethel (Tenn.) only posted three.

Meanwhile, one look at the score and it should come as no surprise that Pittsburgh was far and away the favorite against Radford on Monday. Pittsburgh took their contest with ease, bagging a 96-56 win over Radford.

Pittsburgh can attribute much of their success to Jaland Lowe, who went 6 for 11 en route to 21 points plus six assists and five rebounds, and Ishmael Leggett, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 12 rebounds. The dominant performance also gave Leggett a new career-high in field goal percentage (69.2%).

Murray State is hoping to beat the odds on Friday, as the experts think they're headed for a loss. They finished last season with a 13-16 record against the spread.

The disadvantage in the odds might be especially worrying for Murray State considering the team was a sub-par 5-11 as the underdog last season. A bettor who placed a $100 dollar bet on them to lose every one of the 31 games they played last year would have netted $699.16. On the other hand, Pittsburgh will play as the favorite, and the team was 18-3 as such last season.

Odds

Pittsburgh is a big 11.5-point favorite against Murray State, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Panthers as a 12.5-point favorite.


The over/under is 146.5 points.

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