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MOREHEAD, Ky.—College of Charleston expected a double-double from
Kenneth Faried. It was
Demonte Harper’s rebounding that caught them off guard.
Faried and Harper combined for a double double-double to lead Morehead State to a blowout win over College of Charleston, 69-49 in a non-conference game Sunday afternoon at Johnson Arena.
The win was Morehead State’s 22nd straight at home, moving the 9-6 Eagles into a tie for fifth place with Utah State in consecutive home wins. Only Kansas, Duke, Kentucky and Murray State have longer streaks.
College of Charleston, ranked 15th in the Mid-Major Top 25 and fresh off a dominating win at Tennessee, fell to 9-5. The 49 points scored by the Cougars equaled the fewest points MSU has allowed this season. The Eagles held Asbury and UT Martin to 49 as well.
“You think about that team and how good they are, to go to Tennessee and win by 13 and score 91 points on the road against an SEC school. Goudelock is averaging 24-plus a night, the sixth leading scorer in the country, and we hold him to seven,” MSU coach Donnie Tyndall said. “That’s a tribute to [assistant coach [Wade] O’Connor with the scouting report in getting us ready for this team and then our players getting the scout into the game.”
Harper’s double-double was a 28-point, 10-rebound effort that marked his second career double-double and the first of the points-rebounds variety. Harper had a 16-point, 12-assist double-double as a sophomore against Eastern Kentucky. It was also a career-high in rebounding for the MSU point guard. Faried finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds for the 70th double-double of his career.
The key to the MSU win centered around the Eagle defense, which held the Cougars’ leading scorer, Andrew Goudelock, to seven points. Goudelock entered the game averaging 24.1 points per game. Morehead State allowed just one player, Willis Hall, to score in double digits and dominated the rebounding 39-22. Hall, who scored 12 points, also led the Cougars with five rebounds.
The Eagles also held Charleston to 35.2 percent from the field, including a miserly 23.1 percent in the first half. The Cougars' biggest struggles came from long range, where MSU's perimeter defense allowed just 1-of-12 from beyond the arc. Morehead State shot 56.6 percent from the field for the game and 41.2 percent from 3-point distance.
MSU opened the game with a quick five points and led 5-0, but Charleston kept it close until the Eagles reeled off 11 unanswered points, nine of which came from Harper. Morehead State held that double-digit lead into halftime, taking a 33-16 lead into the locker room.
CofC got the lead down to eight early in the second half, taking advantage of a series of Eagle turnovers to score six straight. Morehead State quickly got the lead back to double digits, and then scored 16 points while holding the Cougars to just three in the same stretch, securing the win.
Harper and Faried were the only two Eagle players to score in double digits, but their classmate,
Sam Goodman, dished out five assists. Faried also reject a pair of shots and Harper registered four steals.
“Those three seniors gave great effort,” Tyndall said. “Kenneth does what he does on a nightly basis, which is dominate on the glass and on the front line and I think Demonte Harper took the challenge tonight of how much we talked about Goudelock and how talented he is and he rose up tonight and was the best guard on the floor, he simply was. Ten rebounds from your point guard is fantastic. And Sam Goodman gave great effort, he came up with some big offensive rebounds, was really active in our zone and came up with some deflections and steals. I was just proud of all three of those seniors stepping up in a big game.”
The Eagles will play their fourth straight home game Thursday, stepping back into Ohio Valley Conference play against Tennessee Tech at 7:45 p.m.
