MANKATO, Minn. – No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri State connected on 14 3-pointers and finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field to earn a 73-43 victory over No. 7 seed Southwest Minnesota State in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament inside Taylor Center on the campus of Minnesota State University.
 
SMSU, making its sixth appearance all-time in the NCAA tournament and first since 2018, ends its season with a 19-13 overall record. NWMSU, ranked No. 4 nationally, improves to 28-4 overall and will face Minnesota Duluth in the semifinals on Sunday night. The Bearcats, making their 11^th straight NCAA tournament appearance, have won national championships in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
 
SMSU, which defeated then-No. 1 ranked NWMSU earlier this season, 63-56, closed today's game shooting 38 percent (13 of 34), while making a season-low 13 field goals. SMSU's previous low for field goals made was 18 versus Maryville (Mo.) on Dec. 19. SMSU was also just 1 of 12 from 3-point range, tying a season-low for 3-pointers in a game.
 
Jake Phipps was the lone Mustang to score in double figures with 13 points on 4 of 6 shooting with five rebounds. Cliff Cofield, Mason Lund and Aeron Stevens each scored six points, while Dunwa Omot, Jakob Braaten and Kyle Luedtke all scored four points.
 
The Bearcats started the game on fire from long-range and never looked back in defeating the Mustangs for the second time in NCAA tournament play. NWMSU defeated SMSU in the 2017 NCAA regional final in Maryville, Mo.
 
NWMSU had four players scoring in double figures with Daniel Abreu scoring 17 points on 4 of 6 shooting with three 3-pointers. Mitch Mascari made four 3-pointers and closed with 16 points. The Bearcats finished shooting 50 percent (23 of 46) from the field, including 14 of 26 from 3-point range.
 
NWMSU hit three 3-pointers in the opening four minutes to build a 9-2 advantage. The lead moved to 14-4 before Braaten connected on SMSU's first field goal of the game with 14 minutes remaining.
 
The lead would move to 22-8 midway through the half before Luedtke and Phipps scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the deficit to 22-12. SMSU cut the deficit to eight points at 25-17 as Phipps converted a three-point play with Braaten following with a field goal at the 6:42 mark.
 
NWMSU, however countered with six straight points to regain a double-digit lead and would maintain a 31-20 lead after two free throws by Luedtke and one by Cofield with just under three minutes remaining in the half. The Bearcats would close the half making six free throws to build a 37-22 halftime lead.
 
NWMSU was red-hot from 3-point land in the opening 20 minutes, making 8 of 13 attempts, while making just 1 of 8 on two-point attempts.
 
SMSU closed the first half 0 for 7 on 3-pointers, while shooting 43 percent overall.  
 
The lead extended to 49-30 in the first five minutes of the second half before SMSU made a quick run to make the game interesting. SMSU held NWMSU scoreless for a four-minute stretch, while Omot and Stevens hit field goals, before Cofield hit a free throw to cut the deficit to 49-35 with 13 minutes left.
 
However, that was as close as the Mustangs would come, as NWMSU held SMSU scoreless for more than eight minutes—forcing six turnovers—and putting the game away with a 14-0 run to push the lead to 63-35 with 4:43 remaining. Lund stopped the run with SMSU's lone 3-pointer at the 4:24 mark.
 
Today's game was the final for SMSU seniors Cofield, Luedtke and Phipps.