BOX SCORE (PDF)
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Morehead State men's basketball ramped up the pressure and got hot from the floor in the second half, but it was too much Missouri in the first half as the Eagles ultimately fell 75-61 Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
MSU (4-9) was held without a three-pointer in the first half as managed to hit 7-for-26, while the Tigers (9-3) nailed seven triples on their home floor to build a hefty lead. However the Eagles did not go away quietly, cutting Mizzou's lead to less than double digits in the final 20-minute period. MSU also outscored the Tigers 39-30 in the second stanza.
"I was really encouraged by the fight our team showed today," said head coach
Preston Spradlin. "We got great open looks in the first half and just couldn't make them. I thought our guys, for the most part, battled tough and I was encouraged by several things today."
Senior point guard A. J. Hicks registered a team-best 18 points - his ninth double-digit effort of the year. Senior forward
Lamontray Harris put together his Ohio Valley Conference-leading sixth double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Junior guard
Jordan Walker reached double figures for the team-best 10th time in 2018-19 with 12 points.
MSU trailed 45-22 at the halftime break, but an aggressive game plan and efficient shot selection led to a tighter contest in the final half. The Eagles used a 10-0 run over a three-minute span to cut the Tiger lead to 56-46 at the 9:39 mark. Later, Hicks drilled a step-back triple to cut the deficit to single-digits (59-51) at the 8:00 point.
With the deficit still at 10 (63-53), the hosts quickly used a 6-0 run over a 45-second span to push it back out to 69-53 with less than five minutes remaining. MSU cut it back to 11 one more time before the final margin.
The Eagles finished shooting at 40 percent but nailed 54 percent (13-of-24) in the final half. Mark Smith led all players with 22 points, while Jordan Geist had 20 for the Tigers.
The Eagles are off for a few days before opening OVC play at Murray State on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
