MARYVILLE, Mo. --- The Minnesota State men's basketball team punched its ticket to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen with a 74-70 win over Southwest Minnesota State Sunday evening in Maryville, Mo.
With the win, the Mavericks improve 24-9, while the Mustangs end their season with a 25-9 record. MSU will now take on Northern State in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. This will be MSU's first appearance in the NCAA Central Region Finals since 2013.
The first half proved to be close throughout as neither team led by more than four points as the lead changed hands seven times. A basket from SMSU's Carter Kirk gave the Mustangs a 24-22 lead with 10:04 to go in the half.
Four minutes later, the Mavericks took the lead after a jumper from senior
Charlie Brown put MSU up 32-31. Minnesota State would hold the lead into the final minute of the half, before SMSU's Ryan Bruggeman gave the Mustangs a 40-39 lead with 46 seconds left. On its next possession, MSU answered right back as Brown hit a jumper of his own to give the Mavericks a 41-40 halftime lead.
Brown led the Maverick offense in the first half 10 points, while senior
Chris Kendrix chipped in with nine points. Kendrix did most of his damage at the free throw line as he connected on 6-of-7 attempts. As a team, Minnesota State shot 46.9% from the field in the first half. The Mavericks also enjoyed a 21-12 advantage in rebounds.
Kirk led all scorers in the first half with 11 points and six rebounds. Bruggeman finished the first half with eight points and six assists as well. As a team, SMSU shot 14-of-28 (.500) from the field and 7-of-8 (.875) from the charity stripe.
A little more than five minutes into the second half, the Mavericks built their largest lead of the game as Brown and Kendrix connected from long range to put MSU up 54-46. SMSU managed to answer with an 8-0 run to knot up the score at 54-54, but Minnesota State answered right back with a 7-0 run to go up 61-54 with 9:35 to go.
Southwest Minnesota State was able to close the gap again as it knotted up the score at 64-64 with 2:56 remaining. Jumpers from Kendrix and freshman
Jamal Nixon put MSU back up by four and the Mavericks would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way as they connected on all six of their free throws in the final 1:12 to lock down the 74-70 win.
Seven Mavericks scored at least six points in the game, including Brown and Kendrix who led the way with 19 points each. Junior
Cole Harper added nine points as he connected on 3-of-5 attempts from long range, while junior
Carlos Anderson posted eight points and four rebounds. Sophomore
Kevin Krieger tallied seven points and seven rebounds as well.
As a team, MSU shot 47.3% from the field, to go along with a 15-of-18 (.833) performance from the free throw line. The Mavericks also enjoyed a 35-27 advantage in rebounds.
Kirk led all scorers with 23 points and nine rebounds, while Bruggeman added 12 points and 11 assists. As a team, SMSU shot 46.6% from the field, including a 7-of-31 (.226) showing from long range.
-30-
