MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State (15-9, 11-5 NSIC) won in dominant fashion at home against the Wildcats of Wayne State (14-9, 8-9 NSIC), 83-53. Senior forward Kyreese Willingham ended the game with 28 points to become the 11^th player in program history to reach 1,500 career points. He ended the first half with 20 points.
 
It was a three-point barrage to start the game; Willingham kicked it off with a three from the top of the key, then the Wildcats responded with a three of their own to match. Justin Eagins followed it up with a deep three to give the Mavericks the lead back, followed by one from Harrison Braudis which put the team up 9-3 early. JJ Ferrin hit his second three of the game but Caden Kirkman made an easy layup inside on the other end to keep it a two-possession game.
 
After three scoreless minutes, Willingham made a nice move to get to the rim for an and-one layup to extend the lead to eight with 14:18 left in the half. Matt Noll for WSC made a nice reverse layup but Drew Daniel threw down a monster dunk on the other end. Willingham had a steal-and-score then Eagins nailed a jumper from three to put MSU up 21-10. With 10:54 remaining in the first half, Willingham made another and-one layup to become the 11^th player in program history to surpass 1,500 career points at Minnesota State.
 
Eagins put the Mavericks up 27-14 with 9:21 to play with his third three-pointer of the night. Will Opsahl found Willingham cutting to the rim for an easy bucket, then Ferrin followed that up with another three on the wing on the other end. Willingham willed in another shot inside to put the team up 13, then Eagins found Daniel with a hot pass inside for another Maverick score. He made another tough layup which forced a WSC timeout.
 
After the break, the Wildcats corralled a loose ball and found Ferrin for his fourth make from deep. Daniel grabbed an offensive board and immediately turned it into points to continue his dominant tear inside. Willingham sunk his second three of the game, then on the other end he fought through the defense for another score inside to give him 20 first-half points. When the clocks hit zero, Minnesota State led 43-24.
 
The Mavericks made 54.8% of their field goal attempts in the first 20 minutes. The team ended the half with six made three-pointers, as well. Minnesota State outrebounded the Wildcats by eight in the first. MSU held Wayne State to just eight first-half makes on defense.
 
Willingham led the team with 20 points, five rebounds, one steal and one block. Eagins ended the half with nine points and Daniel scored eight points making all four of his shot attempts.
Ferrin was the only Wildcat with more than four points in the first half. He scored 12 points in the first half of play on 4-7 three-point shooting. He also ended the period with three rebounds and a steal.
 
Willingham continued the scoring with a layup off an inbound pass from Braudis, but Ferrin hit another three on the other end in response. Willingham found Braudis for a layup next time down to put Minnesota State up by 20, which kicked off an 8-0 run for the home team. That run ended on a three-point make from Noah Erickson, but Opsahl sunk a three from the wing to counteract it.
 
Following a media timeout, David Harmon hit his first shot of the game with a fade away off the glass for two. Braudis scored his third bucket of the half with a driving layup to put Minnesota State up by 25. Kirkman scored his second basket of the game with a layup but Kai Smith for WSC scored back-to-back buckets, including a fastbreak dunk off a steal.
 
Both teams traded makes at the charity stripe before some nice swing passing led to a wide-open three for Opsahl in the corner to put MSU up 68-43 with 6:07 left in regulation. Willingham made his 10^th field goal of the game to keep it a 25-point game. Harmon made some free throws and a floater in the paint to give him eight points against his former team. Tyrell Stuttley and Dawson Rudolph hit the last shots of the game for Minnesota State as the Mavericks trounced the Wildcats 83-53.
 
Minnesota State shot 52.6% from the field (17-31 FG), 39.1% from deep (9-23 3P) and 82.4% from the free throw line (14-17 FT) in the win. The team dominated the paint, outscoring the Wildcats by 20 down low. MSU also took advantage of Wayne State's 13 turnovers, as the team scored 20 points from those takeaways. The Mavericks also outrebounded WSC 38-25 in the game.
 
Willingham led all scorers with 28 points. He shot 10-18 from the field and also had six rebounds, an assist, a steal and two blocked shots. Eagins was also rock-solid, as he tallied 12 points, four rebounds, seven assists and a steal in the win against his former team. Braudis ended with nine points and both Daniel and Harmon scored eight a-piece.
 
Wayne State shot just 34% from the floor (18-53 FG) but made 40.9% of its three-point attempts (9-22 3P). The team struggled to get going early and couldn't recover after it fell behind. Ferrin was the Wildcats' leading scorer with 18 points on 6-9 shooting from downtown.
 
The Mavericks are back in action on Saturday. The team will travel westward to Sioux Falls, S.D. to take on the Cougars of USF (12-10, 8-8 NSIC) on Saturday, February 8 at 3:30 p.m. in the Stewart Center. Minnesota State beat the Cougars by three at home in December, 82-79.