Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State junior guard Marcus Hill tied his season and career-high with 22 points as Minnesota State earned a 88-76 wire-to-wire victory over rival St. Cloud State Saturday evening in front of 3,148 fans in the Taylor Center.

Hill, who finished 6-of-6 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from downtown and 6-of-6 from the line, kept Minnesota State’s perfect season in tact and helped the Mavericks tie the school record for the longest winning streak in program history at 16 games.

“I thought again our bench was amazing tonight,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler.  “Marcus came off the bench and gave us a huge spark.  We are really starting to play together now.  Now we have to continue it on the road next weekend.”

The first half set the tone for the physical, punishing game as the Mavericks opened a 41-34 lead at the break.  The Mavericks – who opened the game on a 7-0 run – led the entire first half thanks in part to 12 points from Hill.  Hill was perfect in the first half, hitting all three of his field goal attempts – including two threes – and all four of his free throw attempts.

The Mavericks finished the half shooting 50 percent from the floor, while limiting SCSU to just 43.8 percent.

The second half was much like the first, physical, as the Huskies closed the Maverick lead to six at 66-60 with 7:42 remaining before MSU used an 8-0 run – highlighted by a fast-break highlight reel dunk by senior Jermain Davis - to push the lead back into double-digits and the Mavericks never looked back.

Joining Hill in the scoring column was senior wing Jefferson Masonwho had 18 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and 9-of-10 from the line.  Davis added 14 points while Nelson finished with 11.

St. Cloud State won the battle of the boards, outrebounding MSU, 45-27, including 20-4 on the offensive end of the glass.  The Mavericks forced 16 Husky turnovers and turned them into 26 points and finished the night passing out 18 assists to SCSU’s nine.

The Mavericks shot 51.9 percent for the game from the floor while SCSU shot just 42.2, including an icy 40.6 percent in the second half.