JACKSONVILLE – Darian Adams led Jacksonville State to an historic 87-74 win Thursday at Pete Mathews Coliseum, completing the regular-season sweep of Murray State for the first time in school history.
 
The senior netted a career-high 30 points, becoming the first Gamecock to accomplish the feat since 2019, and helped help Ray Harper become the winningest head coach in Jax State's Division I history with his 96th win.
 
"I didn't even know about it," Harper said of his record-breaking victory. "But we've had some great kids here over these past five seasons. We were picked 12th in the league when I got here and we won the championship. We wanted to be a team others couldn't overlook, and I think we've done that. It's all about our guys learning, getting better and taking the next step. They're why we're competitive."
 
The milestone win was the second-largest against Murray State (13-11, 10-9 OVC): the largest a 20-point win in 2018-19. The Gamecocks (16-8, 12-6 OVC) came close to that mark, leading by as many as 19 points halfway through the second period.
 
After scoring 16 points, including a 4-point play moments before halftime, Adams tacked on another 14 in the second and fueled three separate runs of five or more points. The Montgomery, Ala., native was a ridiculous 7-for-9 from 3-point range, and capped off a 9-0 run when he and Demaree King hit a trifecta of treys in less than a minute to push JSU's lead to 13 midway through the final period.
 
The Gamecocks ended the night 13-for-24 from beyond the arc for a season-best 54.2 percentage from long range.
 
Despite shooting nearly 20 percent better in the second half than the first, the Racers never recovered from the barrage of 3-pointers. MSU only briefly shortened its deficit to single digits with less than four minutes to play. Adams put Jax State back ahead by 10 just seconds later with a breakaway layup.
 
"I thought we were good at times," Harper said. "I thought we executed well and had good ball movement, but we didn't defend well in the second half. We'll have to watch film and see where our breakdowns were, but we can be better."
 
The Gamecocks dominated inside to outscore Murray State 34-18 in the paint. Brandon Huffman tallied 15 points, while Kayne Henry snuck in 15 from the wing. Both each grabbed seven rebounds to pace the team.
 
Demaree King was the fourth double-digit scorer for JSU, going 5-for-8 from the field with three 3-pointers.
 
For the Racers, Tevin Brown led Matt McMahon's squad with 22 points. Despite MSU leading the all-time series 24-5, four of the last nine meetings have been in the Gamecocks' favor.
 
The win secures the No. 4 seed for Jacksonville State in the Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championships regardless of the outcome of the season finale Saturday.
 
The final home game of the season is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. when the Gamecocks host Austin Peay. Senior Night recognition will precede the evening tipoff. Darian Adams, Brandon Huffman, Kayne Henry and Martin Roub will each be recognized prior to the game.
 
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