Wayne State rode a game-high 28 points from senior guard Trevin Joseph to cruise to an 84-62 victory over the University of Mary Wednesday in the opening round of the 2019 Northern Sun Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at Rice Auditorium.
The win improved the Wildcats' record to 20-9, marking their first 20-win season since Greg McDermott's last team at Wayne State went 26-6 in 1999-2000.
The Marauders got off to a fast start early, going 8-for-8 to start the game and take an 18-14 lead before Wayne State responded with a six-point run to lead 20-18.
The game was still tight until late in the half, when the Wildcats went on a 9-2 run to build a 41-32 lead on a 3-pointer by Joseph, taking a 43-35 lead into the locker room.
Wayne State took conrol of the game early in the second half. A 3-pointer by Kendall Jacks and a layup by Joseph made it 48-37, and a 14-4 run after a Mary timeout, capped by a Jordan Janssen dunk, made it 64-45 and the Marauders were never in the game after that.
Wayne State shot a season-high 61.1 percent from the field, making 33-of-54 shots, including 8-of-16 behind the arc. Joseph poured in a game-high 28 points while Jacks added 15 points and moved from fifth to third on the all-time scoring list at Wayne State with 1,590 points, passing Dennis Siefkes (1,576 from 1969-73) and Amry Shelby (1,582 from 2009-13). Jordan Janssen also was in double digits with 13 points.
Wayne State held a 32-29 edge in rebounding over the Marauders, with Jordan Janssen grabbing eight to lead the Wildcats. Jordan Janssen, Vance Janssen and Nick Ferrarini each had four assists while Ben Dentlinger matched a career-high with five blocked shots to impress the Wildcat student body and fans in attendance.
The Wildcats advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday evening at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, facing St. Cloud State in an 8 p.m. contest.
