Box Score

MARYVILLE, Mo. – No. 4 seed Southwest Minnesota State jumped to an early 20-point lead and then held off a late Missouri Southern second half rally to earn an 81-77 victory in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament at Bearcat Arena on the campus of Northwest Missouri State.
 
SMSU (25-8) will now face No. 8 seed Minnesota State (23-9) on Sunday night starting at 7:30. MSU upset top-seeded and defending national champion Northwest Missouri State earlier Saturday night.
 
SMSU and MSU split a pair of games during the regular season with both squads winning on their home court.
 
Ryan Bruggeman scored a team-high 22 points on 6 of 9 shooting while also dishing out 11 assists to pace the Mustangs in the win. It was his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career.
 
Carter Kirk added 17 points and nine rebounds for SMSU, while KJ Davis chipped in with 13 points.
 
SMSU finished the game shooting 59.6 percent (28 of 47) from the field, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range.
 
MSSU (20-10), the tournament's No. 5 seed, was led by CJ Carr's 31 points and seven assists, while Elyjah Clark added 19 points with five 3-pointers.
 
The Lions closed the night shooting 41.7 percent (25 of 60) from the field, but made just 8 of 26 from 3-point range.
 
SMSU started red-hot, scoring the game's first 12 points in the opening three and a half minutes. SMSU later used a 9-0 run capped by a Taylor Schafer 3-pointer to push the lead to 25-4 with 12 minutes and 25 seconds left in the half.
 
Michael Lee would later connect on a 3-pointer to give SMSU a 34-14 lead with 8:13 remaining, but MSSU rallied with a 10-3 run over the next 3:24 to trim the deficit to 37-24.
 
Bruggeman would score on a jumper with just under a minute remaining in the half to make the score 46-30, but the Lions answered with five points to close the half and cut the Mustang lead to 46-35 at halftime.
 
Bruggeman led SMSU with 10 points in the half with eight assists and four steals. The Mustangs shot 68 percent (19 of 28) from the field in the first half with four 3-pointers.
 
MSSU, after starting the game making just 1 of 9 shots, out-scored SMSU, 31-21, and made 12 of 19 field goals in final 12 minutes of the half.
 
MSSU started the second half with five straight points to cut the lead to 46-40. SMSU answered with six straight points—highlighted by a 3-pointer from Lee—to make the score 52-40.
 
Once again, MSSU had a response and scored six straight to trim the SMSU margin to 52-46, but Schafer hit a big jumper to start a 7-0 run for SMSU. Bruggeman closed the run with five straight points, completing a three-point play and making two free throws following a technical foul on MSSU to extend the lead to 59-46.
 
Kirk scored on a layup with 7:46 remaining to make the score 67-58, but MSSU wouldn't go away and trimmed the SMSU lead to 68-64 with 5:14 left following a pair of Carr free throws.
 
SMSU went more than four minutes without a field goal until Davis scored on a layup with three minutes remaining to make the score 73-67. Following a missed MSSU field goal, Davis scored on a layup to extend the margin to 75-67.
 
MSSU continued to fight back and eventually cut the deficit to 79-77 with 19 seconds remaining. On the ensuing SMSU possession, the Mustangs turned the ball over and MSSU had a chance to tie or take the lead for the first time in the game. Moments later Carr attempted a long-range 3-pointer but it rimmed off and SMSU secured the rebound.
 
Turner Moen was fouled on the ensuing inbounds and then sealed the victory with two free throws with four seconds remaining as SMSU improves to 9-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.