Demonte Harper scored 25 points and Kenneth Faried had his nation's-best, 26th double-double this season to lead Morehead State past Austin Peay 68-49 in Friday night's Ohio Valley Conference tournament semifinals.
Faried grabbed 21 rebounds and scored 12 points to move into third place all-time in NCAA Division I double-doubles with 83 along with Syracuse's Derrick Coleman and Drexel's Lionel Simmons. The OVC's two-time Player of the Year and three-time top defensive player also blocked eight shots to tie a tourney record and added three steals.
The second-seeded Eagles (23-9) will play in their third straight championship game Saturday against Tennessee Tech, which upset regular-season champ Murray State earlier Friday. Morehead last won the tourney and NCAA automatic bid two years ago.
Morehead State went on a 23-5 run to widen the lead to 68-43 after the third-seeded Governors' coach, Dave Loos, was hit with a technical with 8:02 remaining. Austin Peay (20-13) had pulled within seven on a 3-pointer and baseline jumper by Justin Blake, who finished with 13 points.
Faried, playing before a large number of NBA scouts, has six of the nation's 20-plus rebounding performances this season.
The Eagles opened the game 10-0 in the first four minutes, with Faried notching four points, three rebounds, a steal and a block. But Austin Peay fought back with four 3-pointers in the half, cutting it to 28-22 on Caleb Brown's second 3.
Fast-break layups by Terrance Hill and Harper put Morehead State up by 10 again at the half.
