WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State didn't exactly wow the limited capacity crowd with its typical sizzling display of 3-point shooting.
 
But a hot start and commitment to a stifling zone defense was more than enough to see the Mustangs through to a 76-59 win over UT Tyler in Lone Star Conference Friday night at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
 
"It wasn't our best stuff tonight," MSU coach Justin Leslie said. "We hit six 3s early, but our degree of difficulty was very high. That was not sustainable offense. They forced us to get more disciplined on the offensive end. All that being said, we area hard team to score on."
 
The Mustangs bolted out to a 20-6 lead on the strength of two triples from Pierre Sanders and Derrick Ogechi and two more from Luke Hamilton and Trae Jones.
 
The 3-point well dried up in the second half as MSU managed to connect on just two of 14 shots from beyond the arc, but they were more than up to the task on the defensive end of the floor.
 
The Mustangs limited UT Tyler to 9-of-28 shooting from the field (32.1 percent) and held the Patriots without a field goal for nearly nine minutes extending late into the second half.
 
That allowed Midwestern's lead to balloon from eight points with 12:18 to play to 24 points after Ogechi knocked down all four free throws resulting from the ejection of UT Tyler coach Louis Wilson with 4:36 to play. The charity tosses gave the Mustangs a 64-44 lead with 4:36 to play.
 
"We want to hang our hat on the defensive side. That and rebounding," Leslie said. "We're playing with fire if we're allowing teams to rebound on the offensive end. Once we improve that, the scoreboard improved for us."
 
Ogechi led the MSU offense with 18 points including four 3-pointers, while Hamilton drilled three triples to finish with 11 points.
 
Freshmen guard Pierre Sanders and Rommell Williams had 10 points each, while junior forward Jermane Carter added nine points and 11 rebounds including five offensive caroms.
 
Senior guard Emanuel Gant delivered an all-around stat line of 16 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and three steals to pace UT Tyler (1-7).
 
With the win, Midwestern State improved to 7-1.
 
The Mustangs and Patriots lock up in a rematch Saturday afternoon at D.L. Ligon Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.