JACKSONVILLE – The preseason favorite in the Ohio Valley Conference was too much for the Jacksonville State men's basketball team on Sunday, when Murray State earned an 84-57 win over the Gamecocks.
 
Senior Darion Rackley scored a career-high 28 points for the Gamecocks (8-10, 1-3 OVC), but the Racers (13-4, 3-0 OVC) used a big run that started late in the first half to pull away for the win.
 
Rackley, a guard from St. Louis, went 6-for-15 from the floor and 13-for-14 from the stripe to best his previous high of 27, which he's reached three times. He also went 3-for-8 from behind the arc to notch his fifth 20-point game of the season and the 14th of his career.
 
The Racers got 25 points and 11 rebounds from Jarvis Williams, while preseason OVC Player of the Year Cameron Payne scored 21 points and dished five assists.
 
Senior D.J. Felder was the only other Gamecock in double figures with 10 points.
 
The Racers scored the game's first six points and led by 10 in the first four minutes at 12-2. The Gamecocks started their comeback efforts, drawing to within three four times and as late as 27-24 with 6:53 left in the first half.
 
Murray State started its run from that point, scoring 10 in a row en route to a 37-10 spurt that finally ended with just under 14 minutes left in the game.
 
The Gamecocks wrap up a three-game homestand on Wednesday, when they host Southeast Missouri at 8 p.m. after the JSU women's game against the Redhawks at 5:30 p.m. Fans ages 18 and under and JSU students get in free.