Jevon Morris was in the middle of almost everything for Munster in Friday night’s Northwest Crossroads Conference game at Lowell.
When the Mustangs bolted at the start. When they extended their lead. And when they re-established control in a 60-47 victory after the Red Devils had rallied.
The junior guard had 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists as Munster (13-3, 4-0) won the first-place matchup with Lowell (7-9, 3-1).
That type of performance didn’t surprise Mustangs coach Mike Hackett.
“Jevon’s been playing recently at a very good pace,” Hackett said. “He’s under control, but he’s still using his quickness, he’s still using his explosiveness.
“When he plays at a comfortable pace like that, he’s a pretty darn good player on both ends of the floor. He has those long arms and he gets his hands on a lot of stuff. He rebounds well. He’s playing well right now.”
Morris’ ability to get into passing lanes helped break open the game for the Mustangs, who came up with steals on three straight Red Devils possessions midway through the third quarter. His steal and pass set up Tommy Maloney for a layup, and he turned a steal into a 3-point play.
Maloney’s steal and free throw with 3:31 left closed a 10-0 run that gave Munster a 40-21 lead.
“We stayed aggressive on defense and got deflections,” Morris said. “We just love defense — our defense leads to offense.”
The Red Devils used a 13-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters, capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Zach Cory and Dustin Hudak, to draw within 45-39 with 6:40 left.
But after a Mustangs timeout, Morris grabbed a rebound and fired an outlet pass to Nick Fies for a layup that made it 47-39 with 4:45 left.
“We got a little nervous,” Hackett said. “But from that timeout on, we built the lead back and that’s what we want to happen at this point of the season. We stopped the bleeding and got back to doing the things we were doing. I was proud of the team.”
The Mustangs led 9-0 with less than four minutes elapsed, with Morris scoring the last five points of that surge.
“We started the game very focused,” Hackett said. “We were all talking, all in stances, all pointing. That allowed us a little cushion.”
Tyler Zabrecky added 13 points for the Mustangs. Fies had 12 and Josh Davis 10.
Noah Durr scored 20 points for the Red Devils, whose loss left Andrean (9-6, 2-0) as the conference’s only other undefeated team besides Munster.
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“It was a pressure game,” Lowell coach Joe Delgado said. “We had a little bit of nerves, we rushed some things and they played with poise. I know it’s late, but we’re still young.
“When you dig yourself a hole against a good, solid team like Munster, it’s tough. Our kids really fought back and showed a lot of heart in the second half, but we just couldn’t get over the hump. I was proud of our effort, but hats off to Munster because they played a complete game.”
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff