TAHLEQUAH, Missouri – The No. 1-ranked Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team knocked off the rust from a 26-day layoff and posted a 74-55 victory over the Northeastern State University RiverHawks at the NSU Events Center on New Year’s Eve.
The Bearcats extended their overall win streak to 27 in a row thanks in large part to a 42-15 lead at the half.
Northwest jumped all over NSU early and used a 29-4 run to turn a 10-8 advantage into a 39-12 lead. The Bearcats shot 53.6% from the floor in the opening half, while limiting the RiverHawks to 26.3% in the opening 20 minutes. Northwest drained eight three-pointers in the first half compared to only five made field goals by NSU.
Northwest’s Ryan Hawkins tallied his 21st career double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Trevor Hudgins chipped in with 14 points and eight assists. Luke Waters was the only other Bearcat to reach double figure scoring with 11 points as he drained a team-best three three-pointers. Diego Bernard registered eight points, seven rebounds and six assists.
The Bearcats led by as many as 29 in the contest, only to see the RiverHawks trim the lead to 17 on two occasions in the second half. NSU outscored Northwest in the second half, 40-32.
Northwest will travel to Pittsburg State Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. matchup with the Gorillas. The Northwest women will tip at 1:30 p.m. at John Lance Arena prior to the men’s contest.
NOTES: Northwest completes the 2020 calendar year with a perfect mark of 25-0 … Northwest has won 24 consecutive MIAA contests … Northwest is 103-8 in its last 111 MIAA games … The Bearcats have compiled a record of 135-6 over the last five years … Northwest has posted a spectacular mark of 73-1 over the past three seasons … Northwest has gone 40-4 over the last four-plus seasons on the road in the MIAA … Northwest has won nine straight road contests … only two teams remain undefeated in MIAA play with Washburn at 6-0 and Northwest at 4-0 … Northwest head coach Ben McCollum has registered an 8-0 mark in games played on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in his tenure … Hawkins becomes the ninth player in Bearcat history to surpass 1,500 career points … Hawkins has tallied 1,506 career points … Hawkins collected two steals to move into No. 5 all-time at Northwest with 176 career steals … Hudgins moves to No. 7 all-time in assists at Northwest with 416 helpers … Northwest owns a 13-1 lead in the all-time series vs. Northeastern State … the Bearcats have won 12 straight matchups with the RiverHawks … Northwest is a perfect 5-0 all-time vs. NSU in games played in Tahlequah.
