MURRAY – Western didn’t score into the double-digits until seven minutes into the game, and by that time Murray Sate had gained a 20 point advantage en route to a 89-61 blowout victory Saturday night.

Early foul trouble by senior guard Orlando Mendez-Valdez and junior forward Jeremey Evans limited Western’s options

The Racers scored 48 points in the paint, 17 points on fast break oppurtunities, and out-rebounded the Toppers 39-27.

The Toppers were down by nearly a 20-point margin much of the contest, before Murray State increased the lead to 32 points in the waning moments of the game before reaching the final score. The Toppers went into halftime down 44-23 on 9-for-25 shooting.

Senior guard A.J. Slaughter led the Toppers in scoring with 15 points in his return to action after sitting out the last two games due to eligibility issues.

For Murray State, forward Ivan Aska led all scorers with 20 points, while also grabbing six boards.

“We haven’t gone on the road and played hard enough to win a game yet,” coach Ken McDonald said. “I thought we had gotten over some things in the last three weeks in terms of understanding how hard we’d have to play each and every night to give ourselves a chance, but this is another reality check.”

The Toppers return home Wednesday to face Southern Illinois at 7 p.m. in E.A. Diddle Arena.

Reach Chris Acree at sports@chherald.com