BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Morehead State men's basketball hung with in-state foe Western Kentucky for a half Monday night in both team's 2026-27 season openers, but the host Hilltoppers used a barrage of three-pointers late in the first period and second half to pull away and hand MSU a 83-58 defeat at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Junior guard
Chase Dawson led the Eagles with 13 points, while sophomore
Clayton Parker got to doubles as well with 12. All 13 Eagles saw action in the season opener.
The Eagles held a couple of early leads, including 7-6 after falling behind 6-0. WKU edged ahead 21-17, but a bucket by
Vince Dawson III had MSU within two (21-19) with 9:41 left in the first half. However, the 'Toppers used an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to distance themselves. MSU was never able to cut the deficit below six the rest of the half and trailed 38-28 at the break.
WKU hit four of its first five triples in the second stanza and eventually built its cushion to 20+ by the second media timeout. WKU outscored MSU 45-30 in the final 20 minutes.
The Eagles finished the night shooting 36 percent (21-of-58) but was limited on its three-point accuracy, hitting just 22 percent. WKU out-rebounded MSU 43-35.
Tayvion Tangiora led the Eagles with seven boards.
Tegan Moore led the home team with 17 points as four WKU players scored 10+. WKU shot 44 percent and drained 10 three-balls.
Morehead State had 13 turnovers but just three in the second half.
MSU opens its home schedule on Thursday when first-time opponent Virginia University-Lynchburg comes to Johnson Arena for a 5:15 p.m. ET tip-off.
