Box Score Mankato, Minn. --- Speared by all five starters scoring double-digits – including a career-high 17 points by senior Taylor Morrow – the 15^th-ranked Minnesota State men’s basketball team earned a 95-79 home victory of Minnesota Duluth Saturday evening in front of a season-high 1,937 fans in the Taylor Center.

The win – coupled with Augustana beating Winona State, 95-90 in overtime – gives Minnesota State a two-game lead in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference heading into next Friday’s tilt with the Warriors.

The Mavericks raced out to a 28-14 start six minutes and 57 seconds into the game as they hit on eight of their first ten shots, prompting a UMD timeout. 

The Bulldogs answered out of the timeout with an 11-0 run to cut the MSU lead to three forcing the Mavericks to take a timeout of their own.

MSU then closed the first half scoring 18 of the next 29 points to open a 46-36 halftime edge and never look back. 

Following the break, UMD would cut the deficit to nine at 52-43 but MSU pushed it back to double-digits and never looked back opening a lead as large as 18 on five different occasions.

“I was really pleased with the way we started the game,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler. “Its is always a good thing when all five of your starters reach double-figures, but we had production from our bench tonight too and that really helped us.”

The Mavericks were led in scoring by 21 points by senior wing Jefferson Mason, his seventh 20-plus point game in the last ten games. Mason also finished with a game-high nine rebounds. 

Morrow added 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting including 2-of-4 from the three-point line.

Senior Marcus Hill recorded his second-career double-double as he finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Redshirt freshman Connor O'Brien and senior Joe Drapcho – who earned his first start of the season in the victory – each added 11 points.

Minnesota State finished the night hitting 58.2 percent of its shots, while UMD was equally as hot as it on 57.6 percent of its opportunities. The Mavericks finished the night connecting on 24-of-31 free throws while the Bulldogs made 7-of-9 free throw attempts.

MSU won the battle of the boards, 31-22 and scored 13 second-chance points off nine offensive rebounds.

Minnesota State (15-2, 11-2 NSIC) host Winona State Friday at 8 p.m

To view the game stats, click HERE

To listen to Coach Margenthaler's post game show, click HERE