CANYON, Texas– Joel Murray scored a career-high 32 points as No. 3 West Texas A&M extended the nation's longest home win streak to 38 games with a 111-78 victory over UT Permian Basin on Saturday afternoon in front of 1,456 fans of the First United Bank Center.
The Buffs were down four in the opening four minutes, 13-9, before responding with a 17-2 run that last nearly five minutes. Murray scored five straight points to open the run followed by layups from Qua Grant and Derrick Geddis. Murray would score another layup off an offensive rebound before Geddis ended the run with a dunk.
WT continued to punish the Falcons later in the half from beyond the arc as Murary and Jordan Collins connected from deep on consecutive possessions to make it a 11-point game, 35-24, with eight minutes remaining before halftime. Zach Toussaint would join the fun two minutes later with a pair of 3-pointers as the Buffs lead 53-39 at halftime after shooting 59.0 percent from the floor.
They would be 20, 61-41, just three minutes into the second half on a fastbreak from Murray. WT would continue to add to their lead with under 11 minutes remaining in the game with a 15-3 run that lasted three minutes. Eric Mosley scored five straight points followed by five straight points from Murray. Grant would finish the run with four straight points including a pair of free throws.
Collins' third 3-pointer of the game with 5:59 remaining in the game helped the Buffs reach the 100-point plateau for the seventh time this season, 100-64. The lead would reach as high as 39 points on three different occasions before the final whistle as WT won their seventh straight over the Falcons.
Murray reached the. 30-point plateau for the first time in his career with 32 points making 6-of-12 3-points attempts while dishing out a team-high six assists. Grant picked up another double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Geddis was once again in double figures with 13 points with Mosley chipping in 11 points and six rebounds.
The Buffs return to action on Thursday, Feb. 6, against Angelo State in San Angelo. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
