Box Score

KINGSVILLE, Texas - No. 9 Midwestern State got tough to deal its second straight opponent its worst lost of the season Saturday with a 71-50 Lone Star Conference win over Texas A&M-Kingsville at Steinke Center.
 
The Mustangs improved to 20-2 on the season and to 13-2 in league to set up a crucial battle with rival Tarleton State Monday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
"This is just a testament to the guys and how they have worked, but there's still a lot of work to be done," MSU coach Nelson Haggerty said. "We did a great job swarming and attacking the basketball. We knew if we guarded the initial ball screen well, we could defend the rest of their offense. We really turned it up defensively."
 
The loss was the Hoggies' worst at home since losing by 21 to Tarleton State at the end of the 2009-10 campaign.
 
The Mustangs second-half blitz covered a sloppy first half as MSU committed 13 turnovers allowing Texas A&M-Kingsville to hang within 28-25 at halftime.
 
"We were able to make some tough baskets inside in the first half, but we just turned ball over too much," Haggerty said. "And that was from our primary ball handlers. That's just so uncharacteristic of them. They did a much better job in the second half of getting us into our offense."
 
The Mustangs broke open a tight game with an extended 18-5 run highlighted a consecutive treys by Kevin Grayer, Derrell Gibbs and DeJuan Plummer in a stretch ignited by six points from David Terrell including a pair of dunks. MSU pushed the advantage to 46-33 on Plummer's 3-pointer with 12:40 to play.
 
The Mustangs pulled away by capping the Hoggies to 34.8 percent shooting from the field in the second and a 3-for-14 showing from the arc for the game.
 
Terrell led the way with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting as 11 different Mustangs hit the scoring column.
 
Junior guard JaMichael Rivers splashed three treys to finish with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists while junior Kevin Grayer notched a season-high with 10 points and four rebounds connecting on a pair of 3s.
 
Ryan Layssard had 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the Javelinas as TAMUK fell to 11-14 on the season and to 6-10 in LSC play.
 
The Mustangs play host to No. 5 Tarleton State Monday under the dome. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. or 25 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game which begins at 6.