CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – KJ Williams had a double-double 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead Murray State (8-8, 5-6) to a 77-60 win over Southeast Missouri (6-11, 4-7) Monday night at the Show Me Center.

SEMO led for only 1:59 of the contest as MSU drained 12 three-pointers and reached its Ohio Valley Conference leading .510 field goal percentage.

After DQ Nicholas' layup tied the game at 12-12 a little over six minutes into the contest, MSU went on a 13-5 run to build an eight-point advantage. DaQuan Smith knocked down a 3-pointer to cap the stretch giving the Racers a 25-17 lead with 7:57 left in the first half.

Nicholas cut MSU's lead to 29-24 with just under three minutes to go, but the Racers answered with seven-straight points to take a double-digit 36-24 lead at the intermission. Justice Hill buried a 3-pointer from the right corner as the buzzer sounded to end the opening stanza.

SEMO had eight turnovers and was outscored 18-3 from 3-point range and 11-0 in second chance points during the first half. The Redhawks hit only one 3-pointer on 12 first-half attempts.

The Redhawks had six empty possessions to start the second half. SEMO turned the ball over three times, had two shots blocked and missed another field goal. Meanwhile, MSU capitalized with an 11-3 run to blow the game open.

SEMO was able cut MSU's lead to 13 multiple times, but that was as close as it would get.

The Redhawks shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the field for the night and was much better from 3-point range shooting 63.6 percent (7-of-11) in the second half.

Eric Reed, Jr. topped SEMO with 12 points. Nicholas narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine boards. He has led the Redhawks in rebounding four-straight games. Chris Harris added 10 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line.

Williams, this week's OVC Player of the Week, shot 10-of-16 from the floor and buried 5-of-7 treys. Smith and Demond Robinson followed with 16 and 10 points, respectively. 

As a team, the Racers shot 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from downtown.

The Redhawks remain home to host Tennessee Tech Thursday.