An Isaiah Canaan and Ed Daniel-less Murray State team does not change things for the Racers this season.

They are still a team predicated on college basketball success, making Thursday’s home game for the Eastern men’s basketball team all the more difficult for Panthers’ coach Jay Spoonhour.

“Just because people don’t recognize their names doesn’t mean they’re not good,” Spoonhour said. “I had no doubt they were going to be equally as good this year. It was just a matter of how soon it happened.”

It did not take long for Murray State to click with a relatively pedestrian roster this season after losing nine players from last year’s team.

The Racers are 4-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with wins over both preseason favorites in the east and west divisions in Eastern Kentucky and Southeast Missouri.

Eastern, meanwhile, is 2-3 in conference play, coming off a 56-48 win over Jacksonville State, which ended a three-game losing streak.

But despite losing more than half of their roster last season, the Racers have not missed a beat this season, largely because of standout freshman guard Cameron Payne, Spoonhour said.

Payne has won the OVC Freshman of the Week four times this season. He is averaging 21 points per game in conference play to compliment 5.8 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game, second and 13 in the OVC, respectively.

“He is already among the best players in the league,” Spoonhour said. “And one day, he will be the best.”

Spoonhour added the Bartlett, Tenn., native is an integral part of Murray State’s offense, as he commands each play when on the court — always finding the open man and coming aggressive off ball screens.

Spoonhour said Payne shoots well enough from 3-point range that he has to be guarded close but when he is guarded too close he is able run around the defender and drive toward the basket.

In Spoonhour’s eyes, it is a matter of staying in front of Payne and making every shot attempt difficult for him.

“That’s easy to say, but hard to do,” Spoonhour said. “Everybody that has played them this year has tried to do that, but nobody can.”

With a handful of new players, perhaps one of the other few similarities to last season’s Murray State team is the taste left in the mouth of the six returning players that were on hand for Eastern’s 79-70 upset win in Lantz Arena on February 16, 2013.

While it is a different season, it still does influence the few returning players, Spoonhour said.

For Eastern’s four returning players in Sherman Blanford, Josh Piper, Alex Austin and Keenen Anderson, Spoonhour said they have the benefit of knowing they can do it.

But the same goes for Murray State, which could be in search of a revenge game.

“It helps the guys on Murray State because I’m sure it wasn’t a good time for them,” Spoonhour said. “They want it back.”

Tipoff is at 7 p.m. Thursday in Lantz Arena.

Anthony Catezone can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].