Wayne, Neb. --- The tenth-ranked Minnesota State men’s basketball team earned a 75-62 victory over Wayne State Saturday evening behind a career-high 20 points by senior guard Joe Drapcho.

Drapco finished the night 7-of-7 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from the three-point line.

The game started slow as MSU held a 3-0 lead three minutes and thirty seconds into the game.  Both teams would heat up offensively as they traded baskets en route to a 1-19 lead with 8:50 remaining in the half.

The Mavericks then embarked on a 20-8 run to close out the first half, opening a 39-27 halftime edge.

The run featured five different Mavericks in the scoring column, including ten points from senior wing Jefferson Mason.  Mason led the Mavericks in scoring in the first half with 12 points while Drapcho added 11.  Drapcho and Mason were both perfect from the floor in the first half making four and five field goals respectively.

“I was really happy with how we finished the first half,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler.  “Our depth really came through tonight.  We had a lot of guys on our bench play a lot of minutes and they stepped in and played fantastic.”

The Mavericks tickled the twine at a 68.2 percent clip in the first half, including a healthy 5-of-10 effort from downtown.  Minnesota State passed out 12 assists in the first half – with eight different players distributing them.  The Mavericks forced nine turnovers in the first half turning the miscues into 12 points.

Wayne State started the second half with a 9-2 run to cut the Maverick lead to 41-36 with 17 minutes left before MSU’s redshirt freshman combo of forward Connor O'Brien and Jimmy Whitehead ended the spurt. 

O’Brien gathered a steal and tipped it the ball out to Whitehead who went coast-to-coast and converted a nifty lay-up in traffic to push a three-possession advantage for the Mavericks.

Wayne State cut the Maverick lead to five several times in the final second half but the Mavericks answered every WSC run with a bucket of their own to extend the lead into double-digits in the final five minutes and not look back.

Joining Drapcho in double figures was Mason who finished with 18 points and a team-high six rebounds.  Senior guard Marcus Hill passed out five helpers to lead the Mavericks.

Minnesota State finished the night shooting 65.9 percent from the floor, a season-high, including 50 percent from the three-point line (7-of-14).

The Mavericks (19-2, 15-2 NSIC) host St. Cloud State Friday at 8 p.m.

To view the stats, click HERE

To listen to the postgame show, click HERE