Wayne State used 52 percent field goal shooting and four players scoring in double figures as the Wildcats rolled past in-state rival Nebraska-Kearney 95-68 Saturday afternoon in a non-conference men’s basketball game played at Rice Auditorium.
The visiting Lopers showed up ready to play and held the lead for much of the opening 10 minutes of play, leading 19-16 before a Trey Deveaux layup and two David Harmon free throws put Wayne State in front for the first time at 20-19 with 12:40 to go before halftime.
UNK regained the lead shortly at 21-20, but WSC got hot after that, hitting 53.7 percent from the floor and outscoring the Lopers 37-12 to take a commanding 57-33 advantage into the locker room.
Wayne State was never challenged in the second half as the Wildcats maintained mostly a 20-point plus lead throughout as 11 different Wildcats found their names in the scorebook in the second half.
The Wildcats ended the game making 36 of 69 shots for 52.2 percent. WSC was 11-of-24 from the 3-point line and hit 12-of-14 free throws.
Deveaux paced a balanced scoring attack for WSC with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. David Harmon chipped in 15 points while Elijah Watson, Cody McCullough and JJ Ferrin each accounted for 12 points.
WSC held a 38-32 edge in rebounding over the Lopers thanks to seven boards from Watson and six by Deveaux. Jay Saunders was credited with seven assists and a team-high three steals while Deveaux had two blocked shots.
The Wildcats (7-0, 1-0 NSIC) return to Northern Sun Conference play this weekend with a road trip to No. 16 Minnesota Duluth Saturday at 12 p.m. and Sunday at Concordia-St. Paul in a 2 p.m. contest.
