Mankato, Minn. – Senior center Travis Nelson and junior wing Jefferson Mason each scored 16 point as the Minnesota State men’s basketball team earned a 105-55 victory over Minnesota, Crookston Friday night in front of 1,402 in the Taylor Center.
The Mavericks opened the game with an 18-7 run and never looked back en route to a 53-23 halftime advantage. Nelson paced the Mavericks with 14 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting.
“We came out and established ourselves defensively to start the game,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler. “When we do that, we will be successful. We have to forget about this win now and get ready for MSU Moorhead tomorrow night.”
The second half played much like the first as the Mavericks opened its biggest lead of 52 points, at 100-48 with 4:52 remaining.
Nelson finished the night connecting on 7-of-9 shots for 16 points, while Mason connected on all four of his field goals and was 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
In all, seven Mavericks finished in double digits. Junior guard Cameron Hodges scored a season-high 13 points, while fellow junior Marcus Hill added 11. Senior guard Jermain Davis and sophomores Stephen Kirschbaum and Taylor Morrow each added 10 points.
Senior guard Jesse Clark finished with four points and five assists in 15 minutes of action. The five assists for Clark pushed him over the 500 career assists mark, becoming just the second Maverick in school history to have more than 500 assists. He joins Gene Glynn (1976-80) as the only Mavericks to have 500 assists as Clark finished with 760 helpers in his career.
The Mavericks finished the night shooting a scorching 62.1 percent from the floor including a red-hot 66.7 percent (18-of-27) in the opening half. The 62.1 percent from the field marked the 12th-highest shooting percentage in school history.
The Mavericks owned the battle of the boards, 40-28 and forced 17 UMC turnovers and turned them in to 27 points. MSU outscored the Golden Eagles, 25-0 in transition.
Minnesota State 20-1 (13-1) hosts MSU Moorhead Saturday night at 8 p.m.
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