BOX SCORE (HTML) | BOX SCORE (PDF)
MARTIN, Tenn.— Morehead State men’s basketball used a big run and tenacious defense Saturday night to rally for a 77-64 win in the regular season finale at UT Martin.
MSU trailed 33-31 at the half but outscored the hosts Skyhawks 46-31 in the final 20 minutes.
The Eagles improved to 22-9 and finished 13-5 in the OVC. With the win, MSU secured the second seed for the upcoming OVC Tournament and one of the all-important double byes straight into the semifinals. MSU will play its first game Friday night at 10 p.m. EST in Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. The opponent will be determined by the seedings and the first and second round winners.
Kenneth Faried finished with 24 points and 18 rebounds, his 82nd career double-double. He also moved into 13th on the NCAA all-time rebounding list (for all players), passing former Houston star Elvin Hayes. He now has 1,607 boards. Terrance Hill finished with 15 points, and Sam Goodman scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, one short of his career high.
“I was proud of our team. I don’t care what the records are, when you go on the road it’s hard to win, no matter where you are. To beat a great team like UTM by double digits on their home court is a testament to our hard work in the second half,” said coach Donnie Tyndall. “We missed seven or eight layups in the first half, but at halftime we talked about relaxing. If you make a turnover or miss a shot, don’t worry I told them. I thought we settled down and kept our composure. We were more efficient and more aggressive in the second half.”
The first half saw the Eagles build two 13-point leads, including being up 22-9 with 11:56 left after a Hill jumper in the lane. But the Skyhawks went on a 19-4 run, capped by a fastbreak dunk from Reuben Clayton, as the hosts erased the deficit and took their first lead, 28-26, with 2:06 left.
Sam Goodman hit a layup and Hill dropped in a triple to lift the Eagles back out 31-28, but the Skyhawks scored the final five to take a 33-31 lead into the locker room.
MSU had just a 48-46 lead with 9:39 left in the final, but a 17-6 run, capped by a Faried layup at 5:05, propelled MSU out to a 15-point lead, 65-50. UTM cut the lead to 69-61 at the 2:21 mark, but the Eagles outscored them 8-3 down the stretch.
Benzor Simmons scored 18 points, including 8-of-8 at the free throw line, to lead the Skyhawks. Terrance Smith had 16, Mike Liabo notched 14, and Troy King totaled 10.
MSU out-rebounded UTM, 40-24.
