KWU's Sweet Revenge: Murdock Leads No. 16 KWU Past No. 13 Morningside

Jun Murdock had not forgotten Kansas Wesleyan's final basketball game of the 2022-23 season as he took the court Friday night for the No. 16 ranked Coyotes' game against No. 13 ranked Morningside.
 
KWU's season ended with an 87-80 loss to the Mustangs in the second round of the NAIA Men's Championship on March 8 in Wichita. The Coyotes led 41-36 at halftime but couldn't hang on.
 
Murdock did his part, scoring 23 points, but the sting remained throughout the offseason.
 
The pain has finally subsided a bit following Wesleyan's 84-73 victory over Morningside in the Kansas Wesleyan Coyote Classic inside Mabee Arena. They did so thanks to another incredible effort from Murdock.
 
The Coyotes' irrepressible point guard scored their first 10 points and finished with 31 to go along with 10 assists, six rebounds and four steals while playing the entire 40 minutes.
 
"I think (that game) was on all of our minds," Murdock said. "They got us in the national tournament last year so that added a lot of fuel to the fire. We wanted to come out with a lot of energy and I think we had that."
 
Morningside, which returns four starters including the top three scorers from the game in Wichita, threw the first punch by taking an early 8-3 lead. Murdock responded in dazzling fashion scoring the game's next seven points igniting a withering 23-0 run that gave the Coyotes a 26-8 lead. And they never looked back.
 
Murdock scored two points in the KWU's victory over Bellevue last Saturday in Bellevue, Nebraska but said that was not a consideration.
 
"That just happened out there," he said. "My teammates believe in me; my coaches believe in me and they just told me to keep my confidence. I'm in the gym all the time so it's going to show.
 
It certainly did Friday. Murdock was 8 of 15 from the field including two 3-pointers and 13 of 16 from the foul line.
 
"He didn't have a great first weekend and kind of struggled to finish," KWU coach Anthony Monson said. "We love it when he's aggressive like he was tonight and he's been aggressive all year. Tonight, he was just able to finish.
 
"We needed it. We were struggling, getting off to a slow start and he responded in a big way and helped us get the job done."
 
Four other Coyotes scored in double figures as well – Alex Littlejohn had 13 points to go along with 11 rebounds, backup forward Grant Dye 12 points off the bench, and reserve guard Caden Hale 11.
 
Monson was especially pleased with Dye and reserve forward Gabe Phillips.
 
"A big key was Grant Dye and Gabe Phillips off the bench," he said. "We got in foul trouble with (Thurbil Bile) and Gabe being undersized was super physical. Grant stretching the floor at a five spot gave them problems and made them have to come out away from the basket. You can't say enough about those two coming off the bench."
 
KWU led 45-38 at halftime after Morningside rallied from the 18-point deficit. The Coyotes remained in control the second half, though – the Mustangs getting no closer than seven the final 20 minutes.
 
Wesleyan shot 47.4 percent for the game (27 of 57) including 9 of 23 beyond the arc and was 21 of 28 at the line. Morningside shot 37.7 percent (20 of 53), was just 4 of 17 from deep and 29 of 37 at the line.
 
Ely Doble, Morningside's post player who scored 22 against KWU last year, led the Mustangs Friday with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
 
"We guarded well but they got too many free throws, they lived at the line," Monson said. "We kind of kept them in the game the whole night but I thought we battled defensively, we boarded well and we competed. That's a national tournament we beat right there."
 
Murdock said it was a big improvement over last weekend.
 
"I felt like we weren't locked in all the way those two game (in Nebraska) but we're starting to get it together," he said.
 
The Coyotes play Briar Cliff (Iowa) at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Classic. Briar Cliff (3-0) defeated Bethany 76-59 Friday.
 
"They've got five guys running around throwing the ball everywhere, screening and causing a lot of confusion," Monson said. "If we're not on top of our game and if we think we're just going to roll in there because we beat Morningside we're going to get it handed to us tomorrow. It's a long season and we can't become complacent with this."