MOREHEAD, Ky. – Seniors Jordan Walker and Djimon Henson both scored team-highs of 21 points to lead four in double figures as the Morehead State men’s basketball team scored a 90-74 victory over Southeast Missouri Thursday at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles, who tied a season high with 11 three-pointers and 23 assists, improved to 9-2 at home and to 10-12 overall and 4-5 in the OVC. SEMO was left still searching for its first conference win at 0-9.
Morehead State shot 51 percent (31-of-61) for the night and hit 11 of 24 triples. MSU also drained 17 of its 20 free throws and only turned the ball over seven times – the sixth time this season the OVC leader in fewest turnovers per game had less than 10 floor miscues.
The Eagles also got 15 points (on 7-of-8 field goals) from freshman Tyzhaun Claude and 13 from sophomore Malik Riddle.
In scoring his 21, Walker also moved to No. 18 on MSU’s career scoring chart. His 1,386 points passed former Eagle big man Kyle Umberger (1998-01).
The Eagles will look to even their OVC mark Saturday when UT Martin visits for a 3 p.m. ET battle.
KEY MOMENTS
– A bucket by Henson in the paint with 14:35 left in the first half ignited a 17-0 run. Trailing 11-10, the Eagles found themselves with a 27-11 cushion at 10:38.
– Junior James Baker completed a beautiful alley-oop dunk on a fast break assist from freshman Ta’lon Cooper at the 9:27 mark of the opening half.
– Walker’s dunk at 8:29 gave the Eagles their largest first-half advantage at 33-14.
– MSU held a 48-36 halftime lead.
– Sophomore LJ Bryan notched a layup with 12:37 left in the game for the Eagles’ biggest lead of the last 20 minutes (65-47).
KEY STATS
– Cooper dished out a career-high seven assists and only had one turnover in 31 minutes.
– Junior guard Juice Thomas tallied six assists and no turnovers.
– Henson was a perfect 5-of-5 on three-point attempts.
– Morehead State, which averages about 34 points in the paint per outing, had 38 down low tonight.
– Henson also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds as the Eagles won the battle on the glass, 37-27.
– Alex Caldwell scored 22 points in the second half for SEMO and had a game-high 29.
QUOTING COACH SPRADLIN
“It was important for us to have a fast start. We came out, got a stop right away and then we got Jordan going. We executed terrifically here tonight. We had been lacking in that area in the last four games.”
“Great balance tonight. That’s what good teams have. We haven’t shot it well this year, but I told our team we can be a good shooting team. It was the execution tonight. We got the inside-out game going.”
“Juice and Ta’lon combined for 13 assists and one turnover. That’s incredible. We track those things, and Juice probably had two or three more assists that we just didn’t make the basket.”
“I thought LJ and Tyzhaun were tremendous down low, but our guards did a nice job of getting them the ball too. They worked hard for baskets tonight.”