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WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Fifth-ranked Midwestern State and 19th-ranked Washburn University took the floor on Sunday evening in the NCAA Division II semi-finals, with the Mustangs galloping away late for a 72-63 win and the chance to play for a regional championship.
Midwestern State was looking to advance to its third consecutive regional final, while Washburn was hoping to extend a seven-game winning streak and keep its season alive.
The top-seeded Mustangs started out quick with a 6-0 run before the Ichabods jumped on the board with a couple of free throws by junior Bobby Chipman. The six points were Midwestern's largest margin of the half.
Washburn took its first lead of the game at the 10:38 mark on a Jared Henry layup off a steal to make it 16-15 Ichabods.
Late in the first half, Midwestern used a 6-0 run over a 2:53 second time span to increase their lead to 33-26.
Ichabod junior Martin Mitchell drained a trey to cut it back to a four point game at the intermission, 33-29.
The lead changed hand six times and was tied twice in the first half.
Midwestern was led by senior Michael Loyd's nine first half points, while Washburn was paced by Mitchell and Will McNeill's six points.
McNeill, the Ichabod's leading scorer at 20.1 points per game, heated up for Washburn in the second half, connecting on seven of 11 shots from the field and one of two from the free throw line for 16 points.
The Mustangs' David Terrell picked up his fourth foul of the contest with 11:19 remaining in the game, but the rest of the defense picked up the slack.
Senior Keonte Logan, a Wichita Falls native, connected on a three pointer at the 10:23 mark to give Midwestern a six point advantage at 56-50.
Logan and McNeill collided right in front of the scorer's table at the 6:13 and Logan briefly had to exit the game before returning.
Terrell, playing with four fouls, reentered the game with 5:52 remaining and made his presence felt immediately, clearing out a path for a Jeff Grayer lay in to give the Mustangs a three point lead.
On the next possession, Midwestern extended its lead to five with a steal and layup from Loyd, part of a 6-0 run over 2:30.
Loyd's alley-oop pass to Terrell for a slam with 1:21 left got the tense home crowd to their feet and give Midwestern a 65-59 lead.
The Mustangs ended the game on a 9-4 run to put away the Ichabods.
The Mustangs were led by Loyd's 21 points on six of 13 shooting from the field and eight of ten from the charity stripe, while Darrick Thomas added nine points for Midwestern State.
McNeill had a game-high 20 points for Washburn, while Mitchell added eight for the Ichabods.
Midwestern State improves to 28-3 overall with the win and advance to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional final on Tuesday night against the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys, the three-seed in the tournament, The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
Washburn closes their season at 25-8. |
| Game Notes |
| Midwestern State |
- Midwestern State advances to the NCAA South Regional finals for the fourth consecutive season and is 58-1 (.949) at D.L. Ligon Coliseum since early Dec. 2008.
- Mustangs senior guard Melvin Clark has been part of 109 victories at MSU since 2008 to break the school record of 108 by Gary Blount from 1973-77.
- MSU is now 28-3 in 2011-12 for third-most wins in school history. The season mark is 30 in both 1973-74 and 2009-10.
- The Mustangs are 15-3 (.833) in first round games in the LSC tournament (9-3) and NCAA Regionals (6-0) and advance to 11-6 in six NCAA appearances. The school also has captured six LSC basketball championships since 1999.
- Midwestern State also is seeking its third consecutive appearance in the Elite Eight after advancing in both 2011 and '12 and its first under inaugural season head coach Nelson Haggerty.
- The Mustangs had held their last 11 opponents to 64 points or fewer prior to tonight's win.
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| Washburn |
- Washburn falls to 25-8 overall after winning the MIAA tri-crown with Northwest Missouri State and Central Missouri in 2012 and then sweeping the MIAA tourney at historic Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
- The Ichabods complete their 10th year of men's basketball with 1,429 victories and 12 NCAA tournament appearances.
- This marks the school's 25th 20-win season – 22 under record-setting dean of WU head coaches Bob Chipman. Coach Chipman, now 721-296 in 33 seasons at Washburn, is third among active NCAA DII coaches per victories at the same institution.
- Washburn is now 14-12 (.538) in NCAA tourney contests and won national championships in other divisions – AAU in 1925 and NAIA in 1987.
- The Topeka-based university comes within five triumphs of its all-time record for total triumphs of 30.
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| Quotes |
| Midwestern State |
MSU coach Nelson Haggerty
Opening Statement
"It was just another amazing basketball game. Washburn is a really good team. They are actually better than I thought they were. Will Mc Neill is an amazing basketball player and is really tough to keep in front of but I feel like our guys did a really good job for the most part to keep him in front and were doing the best they can to force him to shoot tough baskets. Michael Loyd was really good. He didn't have the greatest of games last night and we talked earlier. We are going to go as far as Mike Loyd takes us. He is our team leader and he really set the tone for us early. I thought he was really solid. He pushed the ball. He really got us into our offense really well. Kevin Grayer had another ultra solid night off the bench. He's just another one of these guys that's coming off the bench and making big players for us. Defensively as a team I thought we were really good. They made some shots tonight that were great. They are such a heavy basketball team that I felt like they scored off our mistakes. We are a team that likes to gamble a lot in the half court and against them you really have to focus on being solid because they can beat you on back cuts and everyone shoots the basketball well and they were really unselfish. But it was definitely a big win for us tonight. "
On MSU's offensive freedom
"These guys are good basketball players. They've been different players and they're really successful with a lot of games and have been with some great coaches and I trust their abilities. I just want to keep our turnovers down and play unselfish basketball and I think we'll get the shots that we want. But when you have a team that guards the way we are capable of guarding that does give us some freedom offensively to maybe make some mistakes. But of course we would like to play mistake free basketball, but that's pretty mush impossible to do. I trust these guys and they want to make the right plays. They are being aggressive and they are trying to make plays for each other and that's what I want them to do. Sometimes some of those lob plays don't work, like the one late that actually felt like the right play. But that's actually stuff that we work on and we have guys that have the ability to go get it. Some people may throw a bad bounce pass or a bad chest pass, but sometimes we may throw a bad lob pass. But we have the guys that can go get them and it's a high percentage shot for us. As the season goes along these guys have built some good chemistry offensively so they kind of know what spot that is open for. "
MSU Kevin Grayer
On defending (Will) McNeill
"When he penetrates he uses his body really well. He gets in between you and the basket. He's strong and he's a strong player. He puts his head down and goes straight to the basket every time so it wasn't a one man job to guard him. It took the whole team. Then we had to close out on their shooters, so playing against him was tough. "
MSU Mike Lloyd
On his performance tonight
"I think that I was more in to with the game plan that we wanted to do. I got back to pushing the ball. I prepared better and I got some good rest. I really just got back to pushing the ball and getting to spots that I got to before and it worked and I didn't try to force any action and just went off what the defense gave me. I'm trying to get back to that. "
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| Washburn |
WU coach Bob Chipman
Opening Statement
"Unbelievable crowd and support for their basketball team here at Midwestern State. The tournament, as far as the fans supporting, it really inspired them to play. I really thought they played as hard as any team we faced all year. Midwestern does a great job defensively. They really work hard. They go after those boards. They really are tenacious and I thought they hurt us there. They hurt us on the lob play and hurt us a little inside on some put backs. They are great athletes and really work hard. You have to give them a lot of credit. I love our guys, they don't quit. They are coming down trying to do the right things. It came down to a little personality game. It was who do you like the best. I mean, we fouled them, they didn't foul us. I tell you what, that crowd deserves respect. They do a great job getting their team and getting it to be an intimidating situation. So I thought we hung in their pretty well and I am proud of Will (McNeill) and the year he has had and our guys. What a tremendous year and I wouldn't have done it any differently. I wouldn't have wanted them to play any differently. The beautiful thing about this group is they go to class. This is my man right here (Will McNeill), he is getting a business degree and is incredible student. These guys are getting it done in every way. Great teammates, great community and people and they are also pretty darn good basketball players. I wouldn't trade them for anybody; I would not trade them for anybody. I love them all."
On dealing with Midwestern on the offensive glass
"First of all it starts with that ball screen, Lloyd has got your attention there and they kind of get you hung there a little bit. Their big guy is helping so he dives and now he is getting great post position and free to the board. Their offensive does a great job. I mean that offensive really suites that group. I mean everyone runs it now, I mean everyone in our conference runs it. It really suites their personnel and their big guys do a great job of ball screening and diving. You know, all of them have to be right at the basketball. But I mean, boy, are they good right at the basket. It is a great design. The kids take a lot of pride in playing hard. That is coach's credit. It is hard to sell kids on that. He has done a great job with selling kids lets play with fewer minutes and play harder and win more games. You know, it is what coaching is all about. He has done a great job with that."
WU Will McNeill
On the second half performance
"I mean we had a couple of defensive possessions that we played thirty five seconds very well and the shot goes up and we forget to box out. They get a couple of those balls. And that's the way the game kind of went all night. They got more loose balls than we did. You know, that is always going to result in a tough game, especially Midwestern State being at home."
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