Box Score

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Southwest Minnesota State had its season come to an end tonight as Minnesota State earned a 74-70 victory in the semifinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament at Bearcat Arena hosted by Northwest Missouri State.
 
Minnesota State, the No. 8 seed will advance to the region championship game on Tuesday versus No. 2 seed Northern State starting at 7 p.m.
 
SMSU, which shot just 23 percent (7 of 31) from 3-point range—its second lowest of the season—ends the season at 25-9 overall.
 
Carter Kirk scored a game-high 23 points on 9 of 10 shooting and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Taylor Schafer came off the bench to score 13 points, while Ryan Bruggeman recorded his second straight double-double with 12 points and 11 assists.
 
SMSU finished the night shooting 47 percent (27 of 58) from the field and was outrebounded 35-27.
 
It was the final game for SMSU seniors KJ Davis, Kirk and Turner Moen. Kirk closed his career ranking first in team history in field goal pct., games played, fifth in field goals made and 10^th in points. Moen is now first in games played, fourth in steals, sixth in 3-point field goal pct., and eighth in assists. Davis closed his two-year career ranking ninth in team history in free throw pct.
 
MSU (24-9) shot 47 percent in the game and was led by Chris Kendrix and Charlie Brown, who both scored 19 points.
 
Four of SMSU's first seven made field goals came from long range, including a pair from Michael Lee that gave SMSU a 19-15 lead with 12 minutes and five seconds remaining in the opening half.
 
The game was tied at 22 before Kirk scored back-to-back field goals to give SMSU a four-point lead midway through the half. Kirk made his first four shots of the game in the opening 11 minutes.
 
Schafer would later connect on a 3-pointer to give SMSU a 31-28 lead with 7:14 remaining, but MSU answered with a 6-0 run to regain the lead, which it maintain until the final minute of the half.
 
Bruggeman connected on back-to-back jumpers to in the final 1:15 of the half to give SMSU a 40-39 advantage, but MSU would close the half with a field goal to take a 41-40 halftime lead.
 
SMSU shot 50 percent in the opening half with Kirk pacing the team with 11 points and six rebounds. MSU shot 47 percent from the field and held a 21-12 rebounds advantage which helped lead to a 10-3 advantage in second chance points.
 
SMSU regained the lead early in the second half at 42-41, but MSU rallied with a 13-4 run to build a 54-46 lead with 14:43 remaining.
 
The Mustangs had their own response and scored eight straight points—capped by a 3-pointer from Nick Dufault—to tie the game at 54 with 12:14 left in the game.
 
MSU came right back with a 7-0 run to make the score 61-54, before a KJ Davis jumped ended the run with 8:55 remaining.
 
MSU maintained a 64-58 lead with 8:12 left, before SMSU stepped on the defense and held MSU scoreless for the next five and a half minutes, and rallied to tie the game at 64 after a Kirk layup with 2:56 left.
 
MSU regained the lead at 66-64 with 2:36 on the clock and pushed the lead to 68-64 with two minutes remaining, but a Schafer jumper cut the deficit to 68-66.
 
Following a pair of free throws by MSU, Bruggeman scored with 1:04 remaining to trim the MSU lead to 70-68. SMSU got the stop it needed on the ensuing MSU possession and had a chance to tie or regain the lead moments later. SMSU went for the lead with 34 seconds remaining, but Lee's 3-pointer missed and MSU was able to secure the rebound.
 
MSU made four free throws in the final 17 seconds to seal the victory and defeat SMSU for the second time this season in three tries.