Big Second-Half Helps Mustangs Past Kingsville
After an easy first-round game, No. 1 seed Midwestern State had a tougher time in Saturday's semifinal against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
But as he's done all season, LSC leading scorer and Player of the Year Nolan Richardson guided the Mustangs in the second half as MSU battled past the Javelinas for a 76-62 win.
Midwestern advances to Sunday's championship game against Southwestern Oklahoma, who upset UCO, the No. 1 seed of the North, in the first game of the day.
With his grandfather, former Arkansas head coach Nolan Richardson, in attendance, the senior guard from Tulsa scored 25 points and hit four 3-pointers. Richardson scored 27 in MSU's first-round game against Cameron in a 29-point blowout that was never close.
But against Kingsville, MSU used a 15-2 run in the second half that put enough distance between the two squads.
Second-team All-LSC point guard Earl Rabb had another stat-filled game with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Anthony Moore came off the bench to score 11 points.
The anticipated point guard matchup between Rabb and Kingsville's Wendell Mulkey never materialized. Mulkey suffered a shoulder injury early in the game and although he retuned for a moment in the first half, the pain was too severe and he never got back on the floor.
But the Javelinas kept the game close, especially early in the second half. Trailing 34-30 at halftime, Kingsville scored the first six points of the second half to grab a two-point lead and force an MSU timeout.
But the Mustangs came back with a 13-3 run, keyed by six points from Rabb and two buckets by Moore.
A key moment in the second half occurred with MSU leading by nine with 6:22 to play. The Mustangs went on a fast-break, but Anthony Moore missed two short layups and then Traginski Grigsby missed two putbacks as well before Rabb grabbed the rebound and pitched it back to Richardson, who not only drilled a 3, but drew a foul as well. MSU went up by 13 and never looked back.
MSU beat Kingsville for the third time this season, including a 21-point victory in the regular-season finale just a week ago. However, the Mustangs needed overtime to edge the Javelinas the first time down in Kingsville. Again, it was a four-point play from Richardson in the final seconds of regulation that sent the game into overtime.
But in the third game between the two teams, Kingsville again didn't have enough firepower, especially without Mulkey. A&M-Kingsville stayed close, thanks to 16 points from Robert Williams and 11 by Adam Montalvo.
The Javelinas still have an outside shot to make the regional tournament, ranked eighth in the South Central region, but would need MSU to beat Southwestern Oklahoma, who could gain an automatic berth to next week's regional with a win Sunday.
Midwestern State Notes
- The Mustangs clinch their fourth trip to the LSC Tournament championship. In their previous three championship trips, MSU has claimed the title.
- Midwestern is now 13-5 in LSC tournament appearances
- This is the 30th meeting between MSU and TAMUK, with the series record belonging to Midwestern at 19-11. This is the first time the two teams have met in the LSC Tournament, but the third time this season with MSU coming out on top in all three contests.
- Of their nine LSC tournament appearances, MSU has seen semifinal action six times and have a 4-2 record in semifinal games.
- Nolan Richardson's 4-point play with 5:46 started a 10-2 run for MSU. This was his 4th four-point play of the year. He had one against Kingsville earlier this season to send the team into overtime and an eventual win.
- This was Richardson's 16th 20-point game of the season.
- Richardson tallied four treys and is five away from being the third player in MSU history to reach 100 three-pointers in a season. This is Richardson's 10th game with at least four three-pointers.
- This is MSU's fifth-consecutive double-digit win.
- Anthony Moore tallied his third-consecutive double-digit game off the bench.
- Head coach Jeff Ray is now 12-2 in LSC tournament action.
Texas A&M-Kingsville Notes
- The loss to MSU puts the Javelinas just short of their 20-win season. They finish with a 19-10 record, the third time for head coach Pete Peterson to have a 19-win season.
- Kingsville is now 20-25 all-time in the LSC Tournament. This is their 27th appearance in the tournament.
- This was the Javelina's 19th semifinal appearance. Their semifinal record is now 7-12.
- Adan Montalvo tallied double-digits eight games, with the loss to MSU being the first game this season that he has scored double-digits and the team has not won.
- Wendell Mulkey added three more assists to bring his season total to 153.
Texas A&M-Kingsville
Quotes
Pete Peterson
Texas A&M-Kingsville Coach
"Midwestern State is a fine team. They are well coached. We didn't shoot the ball very well tonight. We had to use some lineups that we hadn't used all season long when Wendell went down."
On Mulkey's injury
"Sometimes when a guy goes down they see an injury and every one
stands around with a shocked look their face. We had to get it back
together. It affected us mentally."
On Nolan Richardson IV
"He banged down some shots. He is the toughest player in the league to guard. We ran a bunch of players and tried a lot of things but not much of anything worked."
About the title game matchup
"Both programs have great coaches and great players. They are different teams. Midwestern has a little more depth. SWOSU may have the edge on playing with the most emotion."
About Bartlesville
"City of Bartlesville have been tremendous. It was first-class. This is a great experience. The guys we have back here will be wanting to get back to this place. The interaction with the Kids yesterday at the school was a very neat experience. We learned a lot about our team here. No complains, couldn't be any better."
Wendell Mulkey
"Shoulder went out early in the second half. I heard something pop in it. I had never had any problems before with it.
Robert Williams
"We made a few mistakes that hurt us."
On the hard foul
"I didn't give up any free buckets."
Midwestern State
Quotes
Jeff Ray
Midwestern State Coach
"I think they did a lot of things we expected them to do. Our kids battled. They had a few runs, we had a few runs. We did a good job protecting the ball and getting to the free throw line. It got to be very physical. I think our kids kept their composure. These kids have great character not to react back at them. That's not the way we play."
"We have won 20 of our last 22 teams. Our team gets along, they
play, they share the ball well. A lot of kids can start, but they
each know what their role is. It's tough to juggle all the minutes.
You can only put five on the floor at one time."
About the matchup with SWOSU
"Our goal was to reach the championship game. We'll play whoever is there. Makes no difference to us. They are obviously playing well."
On Anthony Moore
"One of the strengths of the team is that once somebody struggles, somebody steps up. That's what happened tonight. He hit some big shots, I probably embarrassed him about what I said."
Nolan Richardson
On four-point play
"Earl did a good job finding me. I just let it go."
We wanted UCO, but we'll take we get.
Earl Rabb
"I think we can get better and are getting better and better. I think we'll get better on defense. We can get to it that way."
"One of our goals was to win the conference championship. This is a big goal for us. We are not satisfied with where we are not."
Anthony Moore
"I've got to be ready when coach calls on me. It's not about minutes; its about winning."
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