THURSDAY'S SCORES
Illinois,
Morehead State (Omaha, Neb.).
#3 ILLINOIS, #14 MOREHEAD STATE
OMAHA, Neb. - Riley Minix scored 27 points and Jordan Lathon added 23, but the Morehead State men's basketball team fell to the Illinois Fighting Illini 85-69 at CHI Health Center Omaha Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Eagles' magical season ended with a 26-9 record. It marked the program record for wins. MSU was in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the last four seasons, both times a 14-seed.
The OVC Player of the Year, Minix finished third in single-season scoring with 733 points this year. Drew Thelwell added to his single-season MSU record for assists with four, culminating in 211 for the year.
Led by Minix's three offensive rebounds, Morehead State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 12 boards that resulted in 12 second chance points.
The Eagles only trailed 39-38 at the half, but Illinois' power took over in the second half. Dain Dainja finished 9-for-9 with 21 points.
Morehead State started out the scoring by going on a 9-0 run, culminating in a three from Lathon, to take an early lead with 18:23 left in the first half. The Eagles then surrendered that lead and entered halftime down 39-38.
Illinois kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing an 84-60 advantage before Morehead State went on a 7-0 run, finished off by Lathon's jumper, to shrink the deficit to 84-67 with 1:02 to go in the contest.