MOREHEAD, Ky. — Morehead State men’s basketball held visiting IUPUI to just one field goal in the final 13 minutes of the first half and used a 15-0 run to end the half en route to gutting out a 56-51 victory over the Jaguars Wednesday at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles, who ended a four-game losing skid, improved to 5-4 overall and won for the second straight year over IUPUI. The Jaguars dipped to 2-7.
While Morehead State had a tough night shooting the ball itself, the Eagles made the going tough for the Jaguars. MSU held IUPUI to just 5-of-25 (20 percent) in the opening 20 minutes.
Senior guard Jordan Walker scored a team-high 12 points. With his third point, he joined an elite club in Morehead State history, becoming just the fifth player in program history to have 1,200 career points, 200 assists and 100 steals. For good measure, he also added a game-best six assists. Sophomore forward LJ Bryan helped the Eagles win the rebounding battle with a career-high 11 caroms.
Morehead State is back on the road Saturday when the Eagles tangle with Illinois State in Normal, Ill., at 7 p.m. ET.
KEY MOMENTS
– Grant Weatherford’s layup with 13:23 left in the first half gave IUPUI an 11-7 lead, but that was the final field goal the Jags connected on all half.
– Junior forward James Baker sank a jumper in the paint with 6:23 left in the half that sparked the 15-0 scoring flurry.
– Morehead State went on to lead 24-12 at the half.
– IUPUI crept back to within 38-36 with 12:08 left but Walker scored eight straight points (two three-pointers) in a four-minute span.
KEY STATS
– IUPUI managed just 35 percent (21-of-60) from the field.
– Junior guard Justin Thomas scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and collected three steals.
– Bryan just missed his first double-double with eight points to go along with his 11 boards.
– MSU blocked eight shots.
QUOTING COACH SPRADLIN
“Defense was the key tonight. I thought we did a really nice job guarding them. We rebounded the ball well too. We had a tough night getting shots to fall, but we when you play as hard as we did on defense, I’ll take that. We have a nice home-court advantage here. I want to thank our fans.”Print Friendly Version