MANKATO, Minn. -- No. 22 Minnesota State, Mankato pulled away from the Mavericks late in the first half and used 59 percent shooting the second half to cruise to an 85-57 North Central Conference win Saturday at the Taylor Center.
The loss, the fifth straight for UNO, dropped the Mavericks to 13-14 overall and 2-7 in the NCC, while MSU improved to 19-5 and 7-2 in the league.
"I thought we did a good job of keeping Luke Anderson out of it early, but some of their other players stepped up and made some key baskets," UNO coach
Derrin Hansen said.
Anderson, the NCC's leading scorer, was held to just six points the first half and UNO kept pace, trailing by 12-10 seven minutes into the game as
Zac Robinson hit the first of his four three-pointers. But MSU's Jake Morrow scored five straight points and the Mavericks went scoreless for almost five minutes as MSU built a nine-point lead.
Quantel Murphy's layup with 4:47 left in the half, cutting the MSU lead to 26-18, was as close as UNO could get. Morrow, who finished with 17 points, hit the final shot with 11 seconds left after a Maverick turnover, to give MSU a 39-25 halftime lead.
"They got some quick transition baskets on us early in the second half, and that was big," Hansen said.
Minnesota State held UNO without a field goal for nearly five minutes, scoring the first 12 points, to open the second half and by that time had built a 51-25 bulge. MSU shot 59.4 percent the second half and Anderson six of seven shots to finish with 20 to lead the team.
Robinson led UNO with 14 points, hitting four of 10 from behind the arc and
Ryan Curtis added 12. Senior guard
Calvin Kapels was held to just four points before injuring his ankle in the second half. The Mavericks shot 33.9 percent from the field for the game.
UNO's next game is Saturday at Minnesota Duluth at 3 p.m.
