Morehead State's Men's Basketball team limited visiting Tennessee State to only five field goals and just 16 percent efficiency in the second half as the Eagles won their 18th consecutive home game with a 67-54 victory over the Tigers at Johnson Arena Monday night.
MSU (15-5/7-0 OVC) ran its 2021-22 winning streak to an OVC-best nine games and won the season series over TSU (8-12/3-5 OVC) for the second straight season. The Eagles held TSU to just 5-for-31 shooting in the final half after pulling ahead 41-32 at the intermission. One more win, and MSU will have back-to-back double-digit game winning streaks in the last two seasons after reeling off 12 straight in 2020-21.
Meanwhile, the home team shot 47 percent overall (25-of-53) after nailing 57 percent (15-of-26) in the first 20 minutes. While the Eagles held the Tigers to the low shooting percentage in the second half, MSU hit 10-of-27 itself. MSU outscored the Tigers 26-22 after halftime.
Second-year center Johni Broome registered his 13th double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and also had six blocks for the second consecutive game and for the seventh time this season.
Point guard Ta'Lon Cooper, who paces the whole league and ranks fourth nationally in assists, dished out 10 helpers tonight and nearly had a double-double with nine points. It's the fourth game this year where Cooper has recorded double-digit assists.
Guards Tray Hollowell (13) and Skyelar Potter (11) also reached double-figures in the scoring column, combining for five of the Eagles' six three-pointers.
The game turned late in the first half, in the final four minutes. Trailing 28-27 with 4:43 to go before the break, Potter drilled a three-pointer that ignited an 11-2 run. The Eagles went on to lead by as much as 16 (59-43) in the final half before TSU cut that margin to as low as seven (61-54) in the final two minutes.
TSU's Carlos Marshall, Jr., paced all players with 22 points, while Kassim Nicholson had another double-double, his sixth of the year, with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Morehead State opens another three-game road stretch on Thursday at Southeast Missouri. The 9 p.m. ET game is set to be nationally televised on ESPNU.
