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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Morehead State men’s basketball, led by junior Kenneth Faried’s 23 points and a season high 21 rebounds, won its 11th straight game Thursday night, defeating host Tennessee State 65-50 at the Gentry Center. The Eagles improved to 15-6 and 9-1 in the OVC.
The 11-game winning streak is second in the nation only behind Siena’s 12-game unbeaten string. The Eagles also held their fourth consecutive opponent to less than 55 total points.
Faried, the nation’s leading rebounder at more than 13 per game, registered his second career “20-20” game and tallied his seventh straight double-double as well as his fourth consecutive 20-point effort.
“Kenneth was a man among boys tonight. He asked me after the game how many rebounds he had gotten because 20 is always his goal. I actually didn’t know but when I looked at the stats, I told him he had pulled down 21. He just smiled. He is such a great player and a great person,” said head coach Donnie Tyndall.
“Our kids our playing hard at both ends of the floor, but I think our defense has been absolutely exceptional in the last four or five games.”
The Eagles also got a 19-point performance from senior Maze Stallworth and 10 from Nashville native Demonte Harper. Stallworth just missed a double-double himself with nine boards as the Eagles won that battle on the glass, 45-32.
The Eagles led 28-22 at the break overcoming a sluggish first half shooting effort by hitting 10-of-12 from the free throw line. MSU managed to shoot only a season low 23 percent (8-of-35) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, and MSU was only 2-of-9 from behind the arc.
“The last two or three times we’ve played here, we always seem to start slow. It’s like we are about a half-step behind, but I thought we forced a couple turnovers in our press, got a layup or two and started getting the ball into Kenneth and that kind of got us going.”
The Eagles finished the game shooting 38 percent and fashioned a 62 percent showing in the final 20 minutes.
The Tigers opened the game on a 6-0 run as the Eagles missed their first five shots, but Stallworth spurred an Eagle rally with a pair of three-pointers to give MSU a 12-9 lead. The Eagles would go on to lead by as many as eight (28-20) in the first half.
MSU opened the second half pulling out to a 40-24 lead before the Tigers scored the next seven to diminish the Eagle lead down to 40-31. The Tigers actually cut the Eagle lead down as low as four, but MSU pulled away again, leading 52-40 with 7:56 remaining after a Harper fast break three-point play.
The Tigers were paced by 10 point apiece from Jaquan Nobles and Darius Cox, and the Tigers shot 36 percent for the game.
The Eagles travel to Austin Peay on Saturday for an 8:30 p.m. tipoff.
