DALLAS -- Midwestern State blitzed St. Edward's with a school record 23 3-pointers and rolled to a 102-72 win in the opening round of the NCAA Division II South Central Regionals Saturday night at Burg Center.

The Mustangs (23-7) move on to face top-seeded and No. 4-ranked Dallas Baptist in the South Central Region semifinals Sunday night at Burg Center. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. The Patriots rolled past Regis (Colo.) 74-54 in their opening round matchup.

"Going into the postseason, you just want to win by any margin," MSU coach Justin Leslie said. "If it is by one point or if it is by 30 points, you're just thankful to be a team for another day."

The Mustangs hit shots early and often, combining to knock down 14-of-26 shots from beyond the arc in the first half to take a commanding 55-29 lead into halftime.

MSU didn't slow down in the second half, either, hitting at a 9-of-18 clip from 3-point range stretching the advantage to 33 points with 3:20 to play.

Seven different buried triples for Midwestern, including five from Mason Gibson; four from Will Shepherd, Jonathan Jackson, and Matija Svetozarevic; three from Jordan Reed; two from Reggie Hill; and another from Vojin Mastilovic.

Midwestern State previously connected on 20 3-pointers earlier this season in a 119-114 double overtime victory over Adams State. That record stood just four months.

"We knew we were going to get 40 minutes of pressure and press. I was just not going to let them go in and be unprepared," Leslie said. "Teams like this force you to make good decisions with the ball. We just came out of the gates making good decisions. Shots just went in for us and we guarded."

MSU's shooting barrage added so much frustration for St. Edward's that coach Andre Cook was shown the door after receiving two technical fouls with 16:28 to play in the second half.

Gibson paced the Mustangs with 21 points before fouling out in 20 minutes of court time.He was one of five players in double figures for the Mustangs.

Shepherd and Svetozarevic contributed 14 points each, Jackson finished with 12, and Reed pitched in 11 off of the bench.

Senior guard Pierre Sanders scored just four points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out six assists in 27 minutes. The Hutto, Texas, native moved into a tie with his mentor, Marquette Wilkins, for MSU's all-time assist lead with 465.
Sanders also made his 111th career start to match Bart Beasley (1989-93) for the most in program history.

Jamison Kay paced the HIlltoppers with 22 points and eight rebounds.

Midwestern State improved to 9-1 all time in the first round of the NCAA Division II postseason tournament.
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