ST. PAUL – The University of Northwestern men's basketball team is one win away from a perfect 14-0 campaign in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) play after a 64-53 victory over the University of Minnesota Morris. A 5 p.m. date against Crown College on Saturday stands in the way of that feat though as the Eagles wrap up the regular season before beginning next weekend's league tournament as the top seed.

Friday's contest against the Cougars from Minnesota Morris, the UMAC's No. 2 team, was one that featured several UNW players getting a lot of minutes. Three of the starting five were on the court 20 minutes or less, as head coach Tim Grosz was able to play 12 guys with the UMAC championship already in hand. It wasn't all hunky dory for the Eagles early on though, as Morris was the first team out of the gate, still leading by four at 22-18 with 8:43 to play in the first. Cody Sprenger (Grey Eagle, Minn./Long Prairie-Grey Eagle) sparked a Northwestern run shortly thereafter, blocking CD Douglas's layup before converting an easy basket on the other end to start what was a 9-0 run for the Eagles. Michael Carney (Ames, Iowa/Des Moines Christian) wound the half down with a four-point play, draining a three-point shot from the far side before making the ensuing free throw after being fouled outside the arc as the Eagles went into the locker room with a 33-26 lead.

That buffer stayed constant for the first several minutes of the second half as the Eagles' advantaged stayed between five and seven points. The Cougars threatened that cushion midway through the period, getting within three on back-to-back makes by Douglas and Joe Roggenbuck. Carney immediately put a stop to the progressing run though, draining a pair of downtowners with a Kyle Ooms (Hollandale, MN/Albert Lea High School) free throw in the middle to push the Eagles' lead to 10 at 50-40. The margin went as high as 18 before finishing at 64-53 as Morris claimed the final five points of the night.

Northwestern's points were fairly spread out, but Carney's 24-point effort – the junior's fifth 20-plus point game of 2014-2015 – easily led all scorers, thanks to a 9-12 shooting performance.  Will Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) added 11 points and Thomas Shephard (Crystal, N.D./Valley-Edinburg) 10, with Ooms grabbing 10 rebounds, seven of which were offensive. UNW went a matching 13-27 in each half while holding the Cougars to 0-8 from behind the three-point line throughout the 40 minutes.

RJ Dean had 11 points to lead Morris' efforts. Neil Helgeson added 10 points for the Cougars (11-13, 9-4 UMAC).

The win is Northwestern's 13th straight as the Eagles haven't lost since December 22. UNW improves to 15-9 overall, and again will go for a sweep of the conference schedule against Crown on Saturday afternoon.