BALTIMORE, Md. - Morgan State couldn't play a much better first half, and East Tennessee State would've liked to have had its leading point guard on the floor, instead of on the bench during warm ups.
The Bears beat ETSU 72-61 on Thursday night and senior guard Reggie Holmes poured in 18 of his career-high 30 points in the first half.
The win against the Buccaneers improved MSU's record to 3-0 for the first time since 1978.
"It was a good game and I'm happy we got the win," said 4th year MSU coach Todd Bozeman. "But we still have to grow as a team and become more disciplined."
Everything MSU tried worked, whether it was 3-point shooting or scoring inside the paint. Meanwhile, ETSU played without starting 6-foot-6 senior point guard Mike Smith and couldn't get anything to go in the basket.
MSU shot 54.2 percent from the field in the first half (13-of-24), including 6-of-9 from the free throw line. The Buccaneers were 5-for-27 from the field in the first 20 minutes -- and they had six turnovers.
MSU outscored the Bucs 14-4 in the opening 10 minutes of the contest behind relentless man-to-man defense and never really looked back. Holmes had two 3-pointers and his short pull-up in the paint extended the Bears lead to 32-14 with 3:45 remaining in the first half.
The win improved MSU's record at Hill Field House to 25-5 since 2006, and the Bears have won 5 of its last six non-conference meetings, including wins against Maryland, Towson and UMBC.
Rodney Stokes added 12 points and shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, while newcomer Joe Davis chipped in 8 points.
The Bears lead ballooned to 64-42 with just under 8 minutes remaining in the contest.
Tommy Hubbard paced ETSU with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Justin Tubbs finished with 16 points.
Holmes was sent to the stripe with 2:00 minutes left when he was fouled by Michael Williams. His two free throws gave him a career-high with 30 points. His previous high was 29 points at DePaul last year.
"Setting my career-high felt real good," Holmes said of his performance, "but as a team, we need to work on finishing out the game and work on our defense."
"Reggie is really playing well, which is a good thing because this is his team," said Bozeman. "He leads out team, so we expect that from him. But overall we just have to get better defensively."
MSU will begin a three-game road swing when it travels to tip-off against Louisville (Nov. 22), Arkansas (Nov. 24) and at Appalachian State (Nov. 28).