SAN ANTONIO - No. 23 Midwestern State dominated the second half of play to improve to 8-0 with a 66-52 win over Incarnate Word Wednesday night at McDermott Center.

"We knew it would be tough coming here," MSU coach Nelson Haggerty said. "Our guys definitely got it going in the second half."

Senior guard Michael Loyd came alive to score 13 of his game-high 15 points in the second half after the Mustangs trailed for the first time this season at intermission at 30-27.

"We know Mike is capable of that," Haggerty said. He played a complete game and he did a marvelous job of getting to his spots and making some buckets."

Loyd, who added four assists and three steals with no turnovers in 28 minutes, ignited an 11-0 run early in the second half with a hanging jumper in the lane.

Loyd then found JaMichael Rivers for a 3-pointer from the right wing before David Terrell and Loyd had back-to-back transition buckets.

Terrell capped the run with a leaner in the paint to give MSU a 44-39 lead with 13:11 left to play. The Mustangs wouldn't trail again.

Darrell Southworth answered with a trey and Shaun Umeh converted a layup to pull the Cardinals even at 44-44.

But Loyd triggered another 9-0 run with a traditional three-point play and culminated with a another Loyd jumper in the lane as the Mustangs led 53-44.

Senior forward Darrick Thomas added a strong performance with nine points and six rebounds in 24 minutes.

"It doesn't show up necessarily in the stats, but all of his points seemed big," Haggerty said. "And he did a really job on (UIW senior forward) Chris Johnson."

Johnson would finish with 12 points and nine rebounds, but was pressured into five turnovers. Umeh paced the Cardinals with 13 points and five rebounds.

Junior forward JaMichael Rivers had 14 points and five rebounds for the Mustangs while Terrell finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

Midwestern State, who is 3-0 in LSC play for the first time since 2000-01, returns to the dome to take on Texas A&M-Kingsville Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Incarnate Word fell to 6-4 and 2-3.