WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Wendell Mulkey was too much for Midwestern State Saturday night as the junior guard directed Texas A&M-Kingsville to an 82-72 win at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.

"He did an exceptional job leading their offense tonight," MSU coach Jeff Ray said. "We had a hard time handling him."

Mulkey dished out 15 assists as the Javelinas shot 65.4 percent from the field in the second half as the Mustangs were unable to maintain their 42-35 halftime advantage.

The Javelinas used a 13-2 surge in the last five minutes of the contest after Jeremy Ford canned a fastbreak 3-pointer to pull the Mustangs within 66-65.

But Texas A&M-Kingsville converted a pair of steals into layups to kickstart the run featured back-to-back treys by Naquawn Lee and Adan Montalvo.

Midwestern State used a big first half by junior forward Trajinski Grigsby to build a 42-30 advantage at the 1:41 mark.

Grigsby scored 14 first-half points including 6-of-10 shooting from the field with a pair of 3's while pulling down seven rebounds.

That would be all Grigsby would get as he finished the game with 14 points and nine rebounds to tie for team-high honors with Nolan Richardson IV, who also had 14 points and six assists.

Jeremy Ford also added 11 points including three 3-pointers.

Texas A&M-Kingsville, which improved to 13-4 on the season and 2-0 in Lone Star Conference North Division play, placed four players in double figures as Lee, Clyde Johnson and Reggie Love each had 17 while Juan Lanauze added 10.

Midwestern State, which fell to 8-8 and 0-2, travels to West Texas A&M on Wednesday before returning to Ligon Coliseum next Saturday to face Abilene Christian.