by Dax Larson
November 22, 2005
There are many times in people’s lives where they wish they had a second chance at something. Luckily for the Minnesota State men’s basketball team, there are second chances in basketball. The Mavericks scored 40 second-chance points to their opponents’ 20 this weekend in two games at the Pepsi Tip-Off. The Mavericks also scored more points off turnovers, scoring 47 points compared to 17 for their opponents. MSU played well on defense, holding its opponents to 111 points, the lowest two-game mark ever at the Pepsi Tip-Off.
“Defense is what we needed to key on,” said junior Tony Thomason. “Obviously, we did that. We hustled and rotated well.”
MSU showed a high level of consistency and energy this weekend in its first home games of the season. The Mavericks were able to outscore, outrebound and outplay their opponents with a team game which was absent from their season-opener against Winona last Tuesday. Junior Luke Anderson led the Mavericks with his sweet stroke which earned him top scorer and MVP honors for the tournament.
“He’s feeling it,” said head men’s basketball coach Matt Margenthaler. “Every shot he shoots he knows it’s going in and everyone in the gym knows it’s going in.”
Friday, MSU matched up against Glenville State in front of 3,682 spectators — the fourth largest crowd in Taylor Center history — and came away with a 97-70 win. The Mavericks started slow and were down 16-17 eight minutes into the first half. Margenthaler called a timeout to get his team back on track.
Coming out of the timeout, MSU went on a 9-0 run to take a 25-17 lead and never looked back. The Mavericks were only up nine at the half, but 55 second-half points helped them cruise to victory. MSU only gave up 10 turnovers and scored 30 points off Glenville’s 15 turnovers. Anderson led the Mavericks with 26 points and nine rebounds. Thomason was one assist away from his first double-double of his career with 13 points and nine assists. Thomason was the assist leader of the tournament and was voted best hustle.
“We played well and got it done,” junior Paris Kyles said. “It’s what we came for and it’s what we got — a victory.”
Saturday, MSU played stellar defense to keep Wayne State to 41 points — three points below the record for points allowed in a game in Pepsi-Tip-Off history. Again, MSU started slow and Margenthaler had to take a timeout five minutes into the game down 8-6. Four minutes later, MSU was up 16-8 and Wayne State was forced to take a timeout.
“We came out sluggish, slow, with no emotion or effort,” Thomason said. “He (Margenthaler) called the team out, he got in them.”
The Mavericks continued to dominate the half and capped it off with a steal and a ferocious dunk by Anderson . MSU outscored Wayne State 29-9 in the last 14:36 minutes of the half. The Mavericks continued to play well in the second half which enabled Margenthaler to see what his young bench could do.
“We got more people involved,” Margenthaler said. “We always talk about balance on our basketball team and we showed it.”
The 2-0 weekend improves the men’s basketball record to 2-1 on the season. Next weekend the Mavericks travel to South Dakota to play in the Wachs Classic and will face Southwest Minnesota State and Northern State.
Dax Larson is a Reporter staff writer
