Men's Basketball Rolls Past JSU for Eighth Consecutive Win

BOX SCORE

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- Junior guard DeVon Cooper and sophomore guard Ta'lon Cooper combined for 37 points - each registering a season-high - and the Morehead State men's basketball team scored a season-high for points in a half (50) as the Eagles never trailed in the contest and raced away to knock off Jacksonville State 85-66 on the road Thursday night for the program's eighth consecutive victory.

Senior forward James Baker (11) and junior guard Skyelar Potter (14) joined the Coopers in double figures as the Eagles moved to 12-6 overall and 9-2 in the OVC, equaling the best 11-game league mark since the 2009-10 team. Morehead State also completed its first regular-season sweep over the Gamecocks since the 2014-15 campaign and upped its winning streak to the longest since a nine-game success streak in 2010-11.

DeVon Cooper's 20 markers established his career-high. MSU, which led only 35-32 at the half, outpaced JSU 50-34 in the final half and shot 59 percent (16-of-27) in that period, including 7-of-10 from three-point range. The Eagles finished 12-of-22 from distance, a season-high 54 percent. While JSU shot 45 percent overall, MSU's top-rated OVC defense held the hosts to just 22 percent from outside the arc. The Eagles also committed a season-low 10 turnovers.

KEY MOMENTS

- JSU trimmed the Eagle lead to 50-46 with 13:26 remaining, but Ta'lon Cooper swished a three-ball at the 13;17 mark, and MSU never led the lead slip below seven the rest of the night.
- DeVon Cooper's three-pointer with 1:52 left gave the Eagles their largest lead at 82-58.
- The Eagles held the Gamecocks to only three made field goals in the final 6:09, and two of those came in the final 13 seconds.
- The Eagles led 10-2 early after freshman forward Johni Broome's bucket at 16:25.
- Ta'lon Cooper's layup at 13:17 of the half had the Eagles up 19-6. 
- With 3:05 left in the half, MSU only led 30-28. But junior guard Jaylen Sebree came up with a steal and a foul on JSU gave two free throws to DeVon Cooper, who sank them both.

KEY STATS

- The Eagles out-rebounded JSU 34-26. MSU leads the OVC in rebounding margin and had out-boarded 12 opponents now. The Eagles are 10-2 when they grab more rebounds.
- Ta'lon Cooper also had a season-best six assists, tying junior guard KJ Hunt for the team lead.
- MSU outscored the host team 19-12 at the free throw line, hitting 19 of 26 free tosses.The 19 made charity buckets marked the second-high free throw total this season.
- Sebree tied his career-high with nine points.
- Shooting 51 percent (27-of-53) for the game, it was the third game in the last five the Eagles hit better than 50 percent (and the sixth game overall in 2020-21).

UP NEXT

Morehead State will go for a season series sweep of Tennessee Tech Saturday at 2 p.m. ET in Cookeville, Tenn., TTU did not play tonight due to a postponement with Eastern Kentucky.