WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Southern Indiana 64, @Valparaiso 56
#18 Kentucky 104,
Tennessee Tech 54
@Northern Arizona 79,
Southeast Missouri 72
SOUTHERN INDIANA 64, VALPARAISO 56
VALPARAISO, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball rained three-pointers in the first half and made a defensive stand in the second half to defeat Valparaiso University, 64-56, Wednesday afternoon in Valparaiso, Indiana. The Screaming Eagles go to 2-5 in the non-conference schedule, while Valpo is 4-2.
USI flew out of the gate in the opening half, raining three-point field goals to post a 36-30 lead at halftime. The Eagles were a blistering 53.3 percent from beyond the arc (8-15), led by senior guard Ismail Habib. Habib had a team-best 18 points in the first 20 minutes on six three-point field goals (six-of-nine for the half).
The Eagles had their largest lead of the half, 34-25, after a 12-2 run with 3:06 before halftime. Habib had nine of the 12 points during the sprint.
USI started its second-half stand with a strong defensive effort. The Eagles held Valpo without a point for the first six minutes of the second half and without a field goal for the first eight minutes (0-for-12).
The USI defense finished the contest with nine blocked shots, five by senior forward Ola Ajiboye and three by junior forward Tolu Samuels, and forced nine turnovers. The nine blocks are the most by a USI team since it blocked 10 shots by Oakland City University in 2021.
Samuels also led USI's effort on the glass by grabbing 15 rebounds, 11 coming on the defensive end of the court.
While the defense was holding, the Eagles continued to build their lead on the offensive side of the floor. USI would extend its lead to as many as 14 points twice (44-30 and 46-32).
Valpo, however, rallied to cut the USI advantage to as few as six points, 52-46, with 4:46 to play in the contest. The Eagles pushed the lead back to 12 points, 62-50, with 1:09 left on a pair of free throws by junior guard Kaden Brown. USI would hit eight of 13 free throws down the stretch, including a six-for-six by Brown, to close out the 64-58 win.
For the game, Habib finished the contest with a team-best 25 points on eight-of-18 from the field, six-of-12 from beyond the arc, and three-of-five from the line. The six three-pointers were the most by an Eagle this season.
Brown followed Habib in the scoring column with 15 points. He was three-of-10 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and seven-of-10 from the line.
#18 KENTUCKY 104, TENNESSEE TECH 54
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Tennessee Tech (3-4, 0-0) men's basketball falls 104-54 to Kentucky (5-2, 0-0) on the road in Rupp Arena on Wednesday evening.
In a homecoming for Coach Pelphrey, the emotions and the memories were plentiful as all four of Kentucky's 'Unforgettables' (Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, John Pelphrey, and Sean Woods) returned to Rupp Arena for the first time since 1992. Coach Pelphrey's Golden Eagles knew that the atmosphere of a nearly sold-out arena would present a challenge in hostile territory.
The Golden Eagles kept within the No. 18/19 team in the country for most of the first half, grabbing a 25-23 lead with 7:18 left in the first stanza on a jumper by Brandon Muntu. Kentucky closed on a 20-3 run to grab a 43-28 advantage at the half. Muntu led Tech with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 1-of-3 from three-point range, at the halftime break.
Out of the halftime break, Kentucky extended its lead from 15 to 21 with consecutive baskets by Denzel Aberdeen (3-pointer), Otega Oweh (dunk), and Collin Chandler (3-pointer) to pull away. Kentucky scored 61 second-half points to hand Tech a 104-54 defeat.
TTU finished with two players in double figures, led by Ja'Quavian Florence's 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting, and Dani Pounds' 10 points on 4-of-10 from the field. JaJuan Nicholls led the team with six rebounds. Muntu finished with nine points, all in the first half, on 4-of-9 shooting. Nicholls added seven points on 3-of-6 from the field.
Tennessee Tech was outshot 59.1% (39-66) to 33.3% (23-69) and outrebounded 48-27 in the loss. In all, there were seven lead changes, and the game was tied four times. Kentucky held the lead for 30:20, while Tech had the lead for 5:57. The Wildcats finished with 18 points off 11 turnovers, and the Golden Eagles managed just eight points off 10 turnovers by Kentucky.
Tech was outscored 48-to-24 in the paint, 16-to-9 on second-chance opportunities, 27-to-10 on fast breaks, and 38-to-29 in bench points.
Kentucky had four players in double-digit scoring, with three players sharing the team lead in points 16: Oweh, Aberdeen, and Trent Noah. Malachi Moreno posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Andrija Jelavic grabbed 10 rebounds to make the second player in double digit rebounds for Kentucky.
NORTHERN ARIZONA 79, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Braxton Stacker scored 15 points and Southeast Missouri (2-5) made a late push in a 79-72 loss to Northern Arizona (4-2) in the final game of the NAU Multiple Team Event Wednesday.
SEMO won the second half for the second-straight night and rallied down the stretch, but NAU scored five points in the final 1:03 to fight off the Redhawks.
Down 14 (65-51) with 7:47 left to play, SEMO had a chance to get within three on two occasions.
Luke Almodovar and Brendan Terry each scored layups and were fouled. Both, however, missed a free throw that would have made it a three-point game.
Terry's layup made it a 74-70 game with 1:32 remaining.
After that, NAU finished things off with three of its last five points coming at the free throw line.
The Lumberjacks shot 56 percent from the field with makes on 14 of its 25 attempts in the first half.
SEMO led just once in the opening stanza when Terry split two free throws to give the Redhawks a 3-2 edge less than two minutes in.
Ryan Abelman's jumper put the Lumberjacks ahead by double figures at 32-21 with 5:17 left to play.
The Redhawks pulled within seven on Almodovar's layup before NAU headed into the locker room with a 39-29 advantage.
With the win in the first meeting between the teams, the Lumberjacks improved to 4-0 at home this season.
Stacker shot 6-of-13 from the field, made three 3-pointers and grabbed two rebounds. He averaged 16.5 points in his two starts in Flagstaff. Stacker has scored double figures a team-high six times this season.
Terry was 6-of-10 from the floor and had four boards. David Idada added a season-high eight points and four rebounds off the bench.
SEMO outscored NAU, 43-40, in the second half and held a +10 advantage in points in the paint (48-38).
Abelman pitched in a game-high 20 points to lead four NAU players in double figures.
The Lumberjacks shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) for the game and outscored the Redhawks, 18-7, at the free throw line. Eleven of those makes were in the second half.