The Morehead State men's basketball team knocked down 90 percent of its free-throw attempts on Thursday night (Jan. 16) at MSU’s Johnson Arena en route to an 80-67 victory over Ohio Valley Conference opponent Southeast Missouri.
"Hats off to our guys for getting this win," Head Coach Sean Woods said. "We needed this one badly after the way we played against Eastern Kentucky (on Saturday). We showed great character, a lot of poise and were resilient as a group."
Morehead State, which entered the evening fourth in the nation with 537 free-throw attempts, has now connected on 76 of its last 82 from the charity stripe (93 percent). MSU improved its season average at the foul line from .665 to .677.
"I'm happy with our improved free-throw shooting," Woods said. "We've been working on them a lot in practice. We're getting the right guys to the foul line, and our mental toughness has been better in recent games. Let's hope it continues."
The Eagles, who have won four of their last five games, improve to 12-7 overall, 3-1 in league play and 6-2 at home. The Redhawks, who have dropped seven of their past nine tilts, slip to 9-9 overall, 1-4 in conference action and 2-7 on the road.
MSU has now won 10 of its last 11 affairs against SEMO and improves to 25-17 in the all-time series. The Redhawks and Murray State were picked to win the OVC's West Division by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
Sophomore Brent Arrington led Morehead State with 20 points on 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, while senior Drew Kelly added 16 on 5-of-5 from the same spot. Junior Angelo Warner contributed 14 points and senior Chad Posthumus tallied nine.
Posthumus, who began the night second in the nation with 12.2 rebounds per game, yanked down a game-best 16 in just 23 minutes. It was his 15th double-figure rebounding performance this season and his 21st at the Division I level.
"Those rebounds are why Chad is here," Woods said. "He did his job tonight. He was pretty active, especially in the first half. Nine points and 16 rebounds is a solid effort in just 23 minutes. We need him to continue to put up numbers like that."
Morehead State posted a 38-31 advantage on the glass, including 8-5 on the offensive end. The Eagles, who continue to pace the conference in rebounds per contest, have only been outrebounded once in 19 contests this season.
Morehead State registered 19 assists and eight steals while only committing 12 turnovers. The Eagles drilled 23-of-55 from the field (42 percent), 8-of-24 from three-point range (33 percent) and 26-of-29 from the free-throw stripe.
Junior Kareem Storey dished out a game-high seven assists for MSU, while Arrington handed out five helpers and Warner was credited with four.
SEMO junior Jarekious Bradley and senior Tyler Stone combined for 43 points on 16-of-32 from the floor. Bradley finished with a game-best 28 points, six rebounds and four assists. Stone chipped in with 15 points, seven boards and four helpers.
"Southeast Missouri is a very good team, with two very talented players," Woods said. "It's a long trip from Cape Girardeau here, and we took advantage of our conditioning down the stretch. It's good for us to get back in the win column at home."
Southeast Missouri jumped out to an 11-0 advantage just three minutes in. The Redhawks also drilled 18-of-29 (62 percent) from the field after intermission. Morehead State manufactured a 31-11 run to end the first half. The Eagles allowed just three points over the final 9:44 of the opening stanza.
Morehead State has now won 81 percent (66-15) of its home games over the last six seasons.
The Eagles wrap up their three-game homestand on Saturday (Jan. 18) when UT Martin visits at 2 p.m. The contest will be followed by an MSU vs. UTM women's game at approximately 4:15 p.m. Both games will be shown live on OVCDigitalNetwork.com.
