St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Season Ends in Marshall

Wednesday, February 28

Marshall, MN

5: 30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

12-17,8-14NSIC

Southwest Minnesota State University

18-11,14-8NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Southwest Minn. St.

Anish Ramlall at SMSU NSIC 2-28 | 2-28 recap

Photo by: Greg Devereaux

2/29/2024 12:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Huskies fall to SMSU in First Round of NSIC Tournament, 74-63

MARSHALL, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Basketball (12-17 overall, 8-14 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) fell in its First Round NSIC Tournament game to Southwest Minnesota State on Wednesday night at the R/A Facility, 74-63.

The Huskies jumped out to a 6-3 lead over SMSU (18-11, 14-8 NSIC) in the first three and a half minutes. Freshman Wyatt Hawks (White Bear Lake, Minn.) provided the first four points after making his first two shots. The Mustangs went on a 12-0 run over the next five minutes to take a nine-point lead.

The Huskies made back-to-back-to-back three pointers to cut their deficit down to three after SMSU made its own three pointer. SCSU then capped off a 14-5 run with a three pointer from freshman Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia), forcing the Mustangs to call a timeout. Morgan returned to the starting lineup after missing the final two regular season games due to injury.

SMSU went up by as many as eight points in the final stretch of the half, but the Huskies got themselves within four going into halftime after graduate student Luke Taylor (Germantown, Wis.) made a three pointer with five seconds left in the half.

SCSU took a one-point lead twice in the first five and a half minutes of the second half and the Huskies held a 41-40 lead at the 14:36 mark. Over the next three minutes, the moment completely switched sides as Southwest Minnesota State went on a 17-0 run. SMSU led by double digits for the final 12:06 en route to a 74-63 victory.

TOP HUSKIES

Taylor tied a game-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field including 2-of-4 from three. He also grabbed six rebounds.
Morgan recorded a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. He also dished out four assists.
Hawks nearly recorded a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. He made 4-of-8 shots from the field.

NOTABLES

The Huskies are now 41-26 all-time against Southwest Minnesota State. The Mustangs took all three matchups in the 2023-24 season.
SCSU led the game in total rebounds (12-23—35 – 6-22—28), assists (22-21) and second chance points (12-8).
Southwest Minnesota State led in field goal percentage (50.0-42.4), three-point percentage (44.0-40.0), free throw percentage (73.3-50.0), field goals (26-25), three-pointers (11-10), free throws (11-3), points off turnovers (14-11), points in the paint (28-24), fast break points (12-7) and bench points (20-10).
Both teams recorded five steals and three blocks.
SCSU posted assists on 88% of its field goals (22-of-25).
Taylor tied his season-high for three-point attempts (four). Games this season with 18+ points: two and 6+ rebounds: four. He shot 51.2% (104-of-203) from the field this season and was the third leading scorer (9.6) and rebounder (3.7). Taylor played 91 games over four seasons for the Huskies scoring 817 points (9.0/game) and grabbing 336 rebounds (3.7/game).
Morgan set a new career-high in three-point attempts (eight) and tied his career-high in three pointers (three). He recorded his third double-double of the season. Games this season with 10+ points: 13, 10+ rebounds: five and 4+ assists: six. He finished the season first in minutes (26.9), first in blocks (0.7), second in points (10.0), second in rebounds (5.7), second in steals (1.0) and third in assists (2.0).
Hawks tied career-highs in assists (two) and steals (one). Games this season with 10+ points: 12 and 9+ rebounds: seven. He was the team's leading rebounder (5.8) and sixth leading scorer (6.8) this year. He was also second in blocks (0.6) and shot 50.1% from the field (83-of-164).
Freshman Anish Ramlall (Rosemount, Minn.) scored nine points (3-of-7 from beyond the arc), dished out three assists and tied his career-high with one block. Games this season with 9+ points: 11, 3+ assists: 13 and 3+ three pointers: seven. He was second in minutes (26.2), second in assists (2.2), third in steals (0.8) and fifth in points (8.9).
Freshman Jamiir Allen (Milwaukee) scored six points and dished out a career-high six assists. Games this season with 6+ points: 25. He led the team in scoring (10.2) and steals (1.2) was third in minutes (22.8) and assists (1.7).
Senior Joe Mutimer (Melbourne, Australia) was first in assists (2.7) and fourth in minutes (20.0) this season. He played in 95 games over four years for the Huskies, scoring 444 points, dishing out 187 assists and grabbing 179 rebounds.
Senior Matt Willert (Buffalo, Minn.)was the team's leading qualifying free throw shooter this season (85.7% / 42-of-49) and was fourth in scoring (9.0). He played in 103 games for the Huskies over four years, scoring 1,192 points (11.6), grabbing 424 rebounds (4.1), nabbing 53 steals and blocking 53 shots. He finishes his career No. 31 on the scoring list (1,192), No. 2 on the career free throw percentage list (86.3% / 208-of-241), tied for No. 8 on the career three point makes list (196), No. 19 on the career blocks list (53) and No. 2 on the single-game three pointers list (eight).
Graduate student Craig Steele (Portage, Wis.) played in 20 games this season for the Huskies. He scored 52 points and made 13-of-37 three pointers (35.1%). Over his entire collegiate career, he scored 526 points, grabbed 159 rebounds and made 111 three pointers.