Richardson, MSU Roll Past Cameron, 94-65
Midwestern State looked every bit the part of the No. 1 seed in the Lone Star Conference tournament Thursday night, cruising to a 94-65 win over Cameron in the final quarterfinal game of the day.
Paced by South Division Player of the Year Nolan Richardson, the Mustangs rolled to the 29-point win, which is the sixth largest margin of victory in LSC tourney play and the most since 2005-06.
Richardson, a native of nearby Tulsa, scored 27 points and hit five 3-point attempts. The grandson of his namesake and former University of Arkansas head coach, Richardson eclipsed the 1,000-point total earlier in the game. Senior point guard Earl Rabb had another productive night, dishing out 10 assists, grabbing eight rebounds and scoring seven points. Late in the game, Rabb, a second-team All-LSC pick, connected on his first 3-point attempt of his career.
Traginski Grigsby provided a spark off the bench, scoring 15 points, while Craig Green scored 12 and Anthony Moore added 11 points and five assists. All 11 MSU players found the scoring column.
MSU (22-6) certainly didn't hurt its post-season chances. The Mustangs rank fourth in the South Central Region after winning 19 of their last 21 games, dating back to December.
Midwestern advances to Saturday semifinal round to face Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Mustangs swept the Javelinas in the regular season.
Cameron's season ends with a 14-14 record. The No. 4 seed in the North Division, Cameron was led by guard Dave Smith, who scored 28 points, thanks to six 3-pointers. Kallan Glasgow scored 10 points and had six boards.
The Mustangs jumped right out of the gate, grabbing a 7-0 lead and led 21-10 in the first five minutes. MSU cruised to a 51-26 halftime lead and never looked back.
Midwestern State Notes
The Mustangs improve to 22-6 overall with their largest win in the Lone Star Conference Championship Tournament since the Feb. 27, 2007 when they defeated Southwestern Oklahoma, 90-67... Every Mustang that played Thursday night scored, led by Nolan Richardson with 27 points... Earl Rabb, a senior from Fort Worth in his second season with the Mustangs, attempted his first career three-point basket with 3:07 remaining in the contest, and he nailed it... MSU enjoyed its largest halftime lead of the season, up by 26 at the break (51-25)... Richardson, a senior from Tulsa, Okla., became the 34th person in MSU school history to join the 1,000th-point club when he scored his 12th point of the contest... Head Coach Jeff Ray, in his 12th season at the helm of the Mustangs, improved to 11-2 in the LSC postseason tournament, including a 6-0 mark in the first round... MSU advances to play Texas A&M-Kingsville in the semifinal round on Saturday, March 7 at 2:30 p.m.
Cameron Notes
- This is only Cameron's sixth appearance in the Lone Star Conference tournament. This is their first trip to the tournament in this millennium, as the team's last appearance was in 1998.
- The Aggies have never made a championship appearance. They have a 2-6 tournament record, having lost four of their first round games.
- In one season, first year head coach Wade Alexander has led the team to the LSC Tournament, a .500 season and a record of 14-14. This is a major improvement after the team went 6-21 just last season and the first winning regular season since 2004-2005.
- The matchup against Midwestern earlier this season resulted in a 56-85 loss for the Aggies.
- This is the first time for Cameron and Midwestern to meet in the LSC Tournament.
- Earlier this season Dave Smith broke the record for three-pointers made in a season. He broke the previous record of 80 and ends the season with 99.
- Last LSC tournament win was is 92-93 season against Texas A&M-Commerce.
- The margin of victory in LSC men's tournament history has reached more than 25 points only nine occasions, including a 62-87 Cameron loss in 97-98 against Commerce.
- Dave Smith hit four threes in four straight possessions. He was 6-10 from three-point range, his third highest of the season. He hit eight against Southwestern on 1/14 and 10 against ECU on 2\28.
- The 29-point margin of victory was the largest since 2005-06, and the sixth largest in tournament history.
Midwestern State Post Game Quotes
Head Coach Jeff Ray
General Comments...
"We've been up here, sitting around the hotel, our kids were ready to play. It's almost like you're going stir crazy the last couple days. I have to give them credit; they were really ready to play. We got off to just a great start. Nolan really got off and hit some shots, Earl made some good assists and we ran the floor. I'm just proud of the kids and how they were ready to play."
Earl Rabb
On his performance...
"My goal coming in is to always find my teammates. That's always number one. We get off to a start like that and I don't think there is no stopping us. Like coach said, we were just ready to play off the top. If we can stay like that, I don't think anybody can beat us."
Nolan Richardson
On playing close to home...
"I'm glad, my family is just right around the corner to see me play and keep winning. It's great for me."
Cameron University Quotes
Wade Alexander, Cameron Coach
"Midwestern State came out ready to play. I think we might have been to a little to nervous. We got a little sloppy and maybe we hit the panic button."
"There is not a 25-pointer out there that we could hit to get back in the game. We couldn't get what we wanted to do or establish our offense."
"We played together. We played some defense. We practiced hard every day. We don't let up. We go full speed before every game. That's how we were got here."
About the future of Cameron basketball
"Coming to this tournament gives us a foundation to build on. They did what we asked them to do this year."
Dave Smith, Cameron guard
"I rolled my ankle in the second half. It was hurting, but I was just going on heart."
On Midwestern State
"They're good. They came out and play hard. They have great players.
They came out on fire. If we would've come out and shot the ball well, we could've come at them better."
