Miles won its fourth straight contest, defeating Kentucky State 74-51 Saturday afternoon and avenging an earlier defeat to the Thorobreds with a dominant, balanced performance at Knox-Windham Gymnasium. The Golden Bears shot over 50 percent for the second consecutive game - something that has not been accomplished in more than two years - and held KSU, which blistered the nets in the first meeting between the two teams, to 26 percent shooting from the field.

The Golden Bears (16-5, 11-4 SIAC West) scored the first nine points of the game and led 11-1, getting a bucket from each of the five starters - Corey Trotter, Alvin Miles, Rylen Walker, Truitt Spencer, and Mykayle Carter - in the first four minutes. But KSU (9-12, 6-11) stopped the early onslaught and responded with its own 15-4 run to take a one-point lead less than five minutes later. But Miles came right back and took control of the game by scoring 11 straight points. Alvin Miles (13  points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals) made three baskets during the run and Chase Ballard closed it with a bucket to give the Golden Bears a 26-16 advantage less than seven minutes before halftime.

The Breds were resilient, cutting the deficit to a single point with less than four minutes left in the half. But Miles would score the last seven of the period, with Ballard (16 points, six rebounds, three assists) scoring five of those, to give the team a 35-27 lead at the break.

Rylen Walker and Todd Burt have both seen an uptick in minutes of late as Miles has worked through some injuries. They both were pivotal during the Golden Bears' surge in the second half that put the game out of reach. Walker started the second half with a 3-pointer and added two thunderous dunks later in the game. Burt blocked and changed shots in the paint, and also added his own dunk that gave the Golden Bears a 55-35 lead with 11:20 left in the game. Each of them scored seven points.

Of the eight Miles players who got floor time against Kentucky State, seven of them played at least 10 minutes. All of them scored. Meanwhile, the Thorobreds were stifled throughout the game. They entered averaging more than 80 points per game and were held nearly 30 points below their average output.

Lavar Miller had 15 points and Aziel Blackwell added 11 to lead Kentucky State. Trotter (16 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks, two steals) had a monster game and Carter checked in with 12 points anf four rebounds for Miles, which hosts Central State on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.