BOX SCORE
EVANSVILLE, IN -- The Morehead State men's basketball team led for all 40 minutes over the SIUE Cougars, picking up a 78-63 victory in the OVC Tournament quarterfinals at the Ford Center Thursday night.
The third-seeded Eagles improved to 24-8 in 2023-24, just one shy of tying the school record for wins in a season.
Riley Minix secured his 10th consecutive double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds to give him an OVC-best 19 double-doubles. In addition to Minix's solid outing, the Eagles were led by Jordan Lathon, who had 17 points and four assists, and by Kalil Thomas, who added 15 points. Eddie Ricks III came off the bench to provide his team 11 points.
The Morehead State offense was very productive from three point land, knocking down 10 threes on 30 attempts. Thomas was the most prolific shooter for the Eagles, draining four treys in the contest. Thomas now needs just three more triples to break Maze Stallworth's single-season program record of 95 three-pointers.
Morehead State forced 14 SIUE turnovers while committing just nine themselves in Thursday's game.
Thelwell dished out five assists and became the third Eagle ever to record 200+ assists in a season. He needs only four more to set the MSU single-season record.
How It Happened
MSU raced out a 10-2 lead. SIUE cut the lead back to a 15-12 advantage, but Morehead State went on a 7-0 run with 8:36 left in the first half to increase its lead to 22-12. The Eagles then added three points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 34-21 advantage. Morehead State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down five shots to account for 15 of its 34 points.
Following intermission, Morehead State kept widening that lead, expanding it to 60-46 before going on a 5-0 run, finished off by Thomas' layup, to grow the lead to 65-46 with 4:16 to go in the contest. The Cougars narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Eagles still cruised the rest of the way for the 78-63 win. Morehead State got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 14 of its 44 total points.
Game Notes
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Riley Minix notched an impressive double-double for the Eagles with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
» Morehead State found success from beyond the arc, knocking down 10 treys in the game.
» The Eagles held the Cougars to only 36.2 percent shooting from the field.
» Morehead State never trailed on the way to a 78-63 victory.
» The Morehead State defense forced 14 turnovers.
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Riley Minix led the Eagles with a game-high 20 points.
» Morehead State got a game-high 10 rebounds from
Riley Minix.
Up Next
MSU moves into the OVC Tournament semifinals against UT Martin at 10:30 p.m. ET Friday in a game televised on ESPNU.
