ALLEN, Texas – In the first 20 minutes of Midwestern State's quarterfinal matchup Wednesday with Texas A&M-Kingsville, the Mustangs resembled the team that struggled to shoot the ball earlier in the season and limped to an 11-6 record in early January.

But in the second half, MSU turned up the defensive pressure and looked more like the team that reeled off nine straight LSC wins and claimed a co-championship.

The Mustangs turned a two-point halftime deficit and outscored the Javelinas 23-6 to seize control and cruise to a 77-61 victory in the Allen Event Center.

MSU's 10th straight win propels the Mustangs (21-6) into Friday's semifinal round against the winner of Thursday's matchup between Angelo State and Cameron.

The Javelinas finish their season with an 8-19 record after now losing five straight games and six of seven.

The Mustangs picked up the pace on both ends of the floor, starting with a defensive surge that kept A&M-Kingsville from hitting a field goal until the 10:39 mark. The Javelinas missed their first eight shots from the field in the second half, to go along with three turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Mustangs turned things around offensively after shooting a dismal 28 percent from the field. MSU hit 12 of its first 15 shots in the second half and finished the second frame hitting 71.4 percent. Midwestern got a big lift off the bench by DeVaughn Jones, who had a career-high 15 points off four dunks. Jones also had seven points in just 18 minutes of action.

Monzaigo Williams, a first-team All-LSC selection, scored 14 points with four assists. Second-team All-LSC pick Xaiver Blackburn, who also made the All-Defensive team, just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. DeJuan Plummer also had nine points, as did JaMichael Rivers, who capped off the scoring with a thunderous slam in the final minute of play. The Mustangs saw 12 different players in the scoring column.

The Javelinas were led by Ronald Scott's 19 points. Ta'Quan McDew chipped in 13.
 
Midwestern State Notes

• MSU improved to 24-7 in 14 LSC tournament appearances and 11-3 in the first round while extended its winning streak to seven in the first round
• The Mustangs now have won 16 of 18 in the postseason tournament dating back to 2007
• Extended the team winning streak to 10 games for the 19^th time in school history and the longest winning streak since winning 13 games at the start of the 2011-12 season
• MSU improved to 2-0 all-time against TAMUK in the LSC Tournament
• After shooting  just 28 percent in the first half (7-25) followed with 20 of 28 performance for a 72 percent clip in the second half and 50.9 for the game (27-53)
• Xavier Blackburn tallied his seventh game of double figure rebounds with 10
• 10^th time held a team under 40 percent shooting for the season (37.3)
• MSU dominated in bench points, 44-11 and got 42 points in the paint
• 21-6 run to start the second half over the first 10 minutes of the second half to break open a 27-25 deficit at halftime
• Last time vs. TAMUK, used four triples out of halftime to break open a seven-point game for an 83-60 win on Feb. 22