MANKATO, Minn. – The Mavericks won their seventh game of the season at home Saturday afternoon to move back into fourth place in the NSIC. The team defeated Winona State (15-7, 10-6 NSIC) 76-52.
 
Kyreese Willingham led all scorers with 20 points on offense with four three-point makes. He also had four rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. Will Opsahl caught fire in the first half, scoring 12 straight points with four threes in five attempts.
 
Harrison Braudis started the scoring with a floater in the lane, then, a few minutes. Braudis and Caden Kirkman ran an excellent pick-and-roll to put the home team up by five, then Willingham lobbed the ball up to Kirkman, who had perfect touch on his layup attempt to push forward. On the next Maverick possession, Willingham swished a three from the wing to put MSU up 11-1, which forced a timeout call from the opposing bench. Willingham made a three to extend the lead, then had a huge block on the other end, which set up Justin Eagins for another three to put the Mavericks up 17-1.
 
It took the Warriors nearly six and a half minutes to make a field goal when Connor Drew sunk a three from the top of the key. After WSU made an and-one layup in transition, Tyler Mason made a wide-open three-pointer to cut the Maverick lead to seven with 12:40 left in the half. He hit another three from the opposite wing to put the score at 17-13.
 
It was at this point that Opsahl caught fire. On the other end, the ball swung around the key before Eagins found Opsahl for a three in the corner to put MSU back up by seven. He hit two more on the wing in response to a pair of makes from deep on the other, then pulled up for his fourth three of the half from way downtown to put the Mavericks up 29-20 with 7:43 in the half. Braudis got in on the action with a deep three to put the home team up by double digits.
 
David Harmon made a nice hustle tip-in out of a timeout, but Winona State muscled in a bucket on the other end to make up for it. Harmon went the distance after an Eagins steal gave MSU possession back to put the team up 12 with 2:25 remaining in the first half. He made a circus shot to extend the Maverick lead. Minnesota State went into halftime with a 38-25 lead.
 
Minnesota State shot 40% from the field and made 8-18 from beyond the arc in the first half. The team forced eight Warrior turnovers in those 20 minutes and scored eight points from those takeaways. The Mavericks outrebounded the Warriors 22-17 in the first half and grabbed six offensive boards. Opsahl led all scorers with 12 points in the first half on 4-5 shooting from deep. Both Harmon and Willingham ended the half with six points.
 
Winona State shot 29.2% from the field in the first half but kept it somewhat close thanks to five three-point makes. Mason had nine points to lead the Warriors in the first.
 
Eagins made a beautiful jump pass to find Kirkman inside for an easy layup on the Mavericks' second possession of the second half. After the Warriors scored their first bucket of the half, Willingham stopped on a dime for a jumper to put MSU up 42-27. Drew for WSU had a three-pointer drop after it bounced around the rim, but Willingham reached double digits with a tough basket inside in response. He hit his third shot from deep to put Minnesota State up by 15 to force a Winona State timeout.
 
Willingham powered in a layup inside off an inbound play, then Opsahl made a jumper from the block following a three from the Warriors. Willingham muscled off a defender and floated in a rainbow for his seventh make of the day. After some defensive back-and-forth, Braudis spun his way inside for a nice layup to extend the Maverick lead to 19. Then, Eagins drove in and found Willingham for another three-pointer to put MSU up 61-39 with eight minutes remaining in regulation.
 
After three minutes without a field goal, Kirkman put the Mavericks up by 24 with a layup after a nice post move to shake off the defender. Carson Schweim hit a three and Tyrell Stuttley threw down a monster dunk to close out the game. Minnesota State won 76-52 when it was all said and done.
 
The Mavericks shot the ball well, as the team made 43.1% of its attempts (28-65 FG) and went 11-27 from deep (40.7% 3P). MSU dominated the boards 42-31 and ended the game with nine steals and 16 forced turnovers.
 
Willingham led the way with 20 points on 8-21 shooting. He also had four rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal. Opsahl ended with 15 points, five rebounds and two steals. He shot 4-5 from beyond the arc. Kirkman contributed 11 points and seven boards to the Maverick attack. Braudis ended the game with nine points, seven rebounds and was tied for the team lead with three assists.
 
WSU struggled from the floor, as the Warriors made on 34.7% of their field goal attempts (17-49 FG). The away team struggled inside, allowing 28 points on the interior and losing the rebound battle. Mason led the team with 11 points as he made two threes. Isaiah Thompson was next up for the Warriors, as he ended with 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
Minnesota State is back in action next week with a home matchup against Wayne State (14-8, 8-8 NSIC). That game will take place on Thursday, February 6 at 5:30 p.m. The Mavericks are 35-6 against the Wildcats and have won the last six contests. MSU defeated WSC 64-61 in Wayne back in early December.