MURRAY, KY — For a team with so many new faces, Murray State looked surprisingly comfortable in its first game overseas.<\/p>\n
The Racers opened their four-game European tour Wednesday with a 95-64 win over Team Barcelona, controlling the game from the opening tip behind a disruptive defensive effort, an impressive debut from a few different backcourt members and contributions throughout the rotation.<\/p>\n
It didn’t take long to see what this year’s guards can bring to the floor.<\/p>\n
Transfers Kaden Magwood and Christian Jones each knocked down early three-pointers as Murray State found an offensive rhythm, but it was the defense that created separation. The Racers pressured the ball, forced difficult possessions and turned live-ball turnovers into transition opportunities, building a 44-24 halftime lead.<\/p>\n
That defensive identity has been a major focus for Murray State throughout the offseason, with new associate head coach Tony Barbee helping establish the standard on that end of the floor.<\/p>\n
“Everybody is here right now, which is the most important thing. Everyone is bought in,” Brigham Rogers said. “All the players, especially the ones who have been here all summer, they understand the importance of the culture that we’re trying to set from Coach Barbee and Coach Miller.”<\/p>\n
Roman Domon led the charge in the opening half with 14 points, attacking the basket while mixing in perimeter scoring as Murray State consistently generated quality looks on the offensive end.<\/p>\n
The Racers’ defensive effort continued to make an impact throughout the afternoon, creating extra possessions and allowing Murray State to control the pace against an experienced Team Barcelona squad.<\/p>\n
For Ryan Miller, the way his team played on both ends of the floor showed the identity he wants to build with this group.<\/p>\n
“We want to win the TSA battle, which is true shot attempts, more shots on goal than our opponent, and we were able to turn the ball over the way we did, to force them into 25 turnovers, 17 live ball turnovers, and then also get 26 assists to 12 turnovers, that’s Racer basketball. That is Racer basketball’s finest,” Miller said.<\/p>\n
Miller also said the performance was an encouraging first step considering the level of competition, with Team Barcelona featuring experienced players competing professionally throughout Spain.<\/p>\n
“These guys are seasoned vets. They play pro basketball in Spain whether it’s first division, second division, third division,” Miller said. “A put together team, and they’re all professional players, so it was good to see the first steps of our journey this year, this 26-27 journey.”<\/p>\n
Any hope of a Team Barcelona comeback disappeared almost immediately after the break.<\/p>\n
Ben Shtolzberg opened the second half with a pull-up jumper before Mathis Courbon and Brayden Shorter buried back-to-back three-pointers, helping spark a 15-0 run that put the game out of reach.<\/p>\n
Courbon was the offensive standout for the Racers, finishing with a game-high 21 points while knocking down all five of his three-point attempts. Magwood impressed in his Murray State debut with 13 points and six assists, showing the ability to impact the game as both a scorer and facilitator, while Jones added 10 points.<\/p>\n
With the outcome well in hand, Miller was able to go deep into his bench without seeing the energy drop. One of the afternoon’s biggest highlights came from freshman Mark Padjen, who buried a three before later delivering a perfectly timed alley-oop pass to Shon Tupuola for an emphatic finish.<\/p>\n
By the final buzzer, Murray State had built a lead as large as 41 points before closing out the 95-64 victory in its first exhibition of the European tour.<\/p>\n
The players said the performance was a good first step for a group still learning how to play together.<\/p>\n
“I felt great. It’s been a while since we played against someone besides ourselves,” Rogers said. “Coming to this new situation, I was really excited. I’m glad we can learn from it. I think it was really good for everyone, and I think we’re taking the right steps.”<\/p>\n
That defensive mindset was something Murray State carried throughout the game.<\/p>\n
“Our goal was just to punish them and bully them, and we did really good on the defensive end, and then that led to our offense,” Brayden Shorter said. “I think we really succeeded with that.”<\/p>\n
While the final score stood out, the biggest takeaway may have been how quickly Murray State’s new-look roster found a rhythm. The Racers defended with energy, shared the basketball and received contributions from veterans and newcomers alike, offering an encouraging first glimpse of what Ryan Miller’s group could become during the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n
Dave Winder caught up with Coach Miller and players after the game, and all of the previous quotes come from the Racer Report podcast.<\/p>\n
The Racers will now head to Mykonos, Greece, for the second stop of their European tour, with their next exhibition set for Saturday, Aug. 8.<\/p>\n
Murray State will face off with Maroussi BC, again it will be bright and early at 4 a.m. CT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MURRAY, KY — For a team with so many new faces, Murray State looked surprisingly comfortable in its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,2853,23057,26481,26482,396],"class_list":["post-66431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-college","tag-college-basketball","tag-college-sports","tag-msu","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}