Box Score
MANKATO, Minn. – No. 19 Southwest Minnesota State kept its one-game lead in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings with a huge 75-61 road victory over No. 15 Minnesota State, Mankato on Saturday night in Mankato.
SMSU entered the night with a one-game lead over both Minnesota State and Winona State. WSU defeated Bemidji State on Saturday to stay one game behind SMSU in the league standings.
The victory for SMSU, which is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Central Region rankings, was its 13th straight and improves its overall record to 23-5 and 15-3 in the NSIC.
Once again it was the defense that paved the way for SMSU as the Mustangs limited MSU to a season low 31.7 percent shooting in the game, including just 2 of 13 from three-point range. The 61 points scored by MSU was also a season low.
SMSU shot 43.3 percent in the game, including 46.7 percent in the second half.
It was also another balanced scoring effort for SMSU as Taylor Huseby and Ryan Krome each scored 14 points to lead the way for the Mustangs. Kevin Andrews added nine points, while Scott Roehl and DeAnthony Zanders each poured in eight points. Krome also tied a career-high with eight rebounds.
SMSU built a six-point halftime lead and pushed the lead to as many as 16 in the second half before holding on for the 14-point victory.
SMSU took its first lead of the game with 12:54 remaining at 11-9 on a field goal by Taylor Huseby and pushed the lead to 13-9 on another Huseby field goal.
MSU regained the lead at 15-14 with nine minutes left in the half but SMSU responded with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to extend the lead to 23-15 with 6:09 on the clock. Huseby was the offensive force in the opening 14 minutes for SMSU connecting on six field goals and scored 12 of the team's first 23 points.
MSU had its own answer and trimmed the SMSU lead to 26-24 with 2:30 left in the half but that was as close as the Mavericks would get for the remainder of the half as the Mustangs closed the half on a 6-2 run to take a 32-26 halftime lead.
MSU dominated the rebound margin in the first 20 minutes recording 26 rebounds, including 13 offensive rebounds, compared to SMSU's 17 total rebounds.
SMSU shot 40 percent in the opening half, including 6 of 8 from the free throw line. MSU was limited to just 33.3 percent shooting in the half and was just 5 of 10 from the foul line.
SMSU started the second half strong pushing the lead to 41-30 with 14:38 left on three straight free throw by Nick Dale. The Mustangs continued to pour it on and took its largest lead of the night at 52-36 with 9:55 remaining in the game. Leading 47-36, SMSU's Kevin Andrews drilled a three-pointer and then a lay-up to give the Mustangs the 16-point lead.
MSU put together one final push and scored 10 of the next 11 points to cut the deficit to 53-46 with 6:37 remaining in the contest. Zanders then came through with possibly the biggest basket of the game as he drilled a three-pointer with 6:13 left to push the lead back to 10 and SMSU never looked back to earn its 10th road victory of the season.
MSU finished with a 46-40 rebound advantage, becoming just the fourth team to outrebound SMSU this season.
Travis Nelson led the Mavericks with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Southwest Minnesota State will continue its two-game road trip on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at Wayne State College. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. at WSC's Rice Auditorium.
