FRIDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 77, @LIU Brooklyn 74
@Eastern Kentucky 89, Cincinnati Christian 56
Belmont 89, @Lipscomb 60
@Austin Peay 75, Samford 64
@Jacksonville State 93, Reinhardt 63
@#7 Kansas 74,
Southeast Missouri 55
@Arkansas-Little Rock 84,
UT Martin 68
@Bradley 76,
Eastern Illinois 53
@Murray State 88, Brescia 43
@BYU 81,
Tennessee State 66
MOREHEAD STATE 77, LIU BROOKLYN 74
BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Seniors Milton Chavis and Kahlil Owens combined for 36 points and 16 rebounds to help the Morehead State men’s basketball team register a 77-74 victory over LIU Brooklyn on Friday night at the Barclays Center.
Chavis posted a career-high 24 points on 9-of-16 from the floor. He also recorded four rebounds and three steals. Owens contributed 12 points on 6-of-9 from the field and pulled down 12 boards for his first double-double in 31 career contests at MSU.
The game marked the season opener for both squads and the first at Morehead State for Head Coach Sean Woods. It was part of a doubleheader at the Barclays Center, which was built for $1 billion and serves as the new home of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets.
Morehead State grabbed its largest lead of the tilt at 73-62 with 3:55 to play, but a 12-2 run by LIU Brooklyn made it 75-74 with six seconds remaining. Junior Bakari Turner then knocked down two free throws, and LIUB’s 25-footer at the buzzer rimmed out.
Chavis and Owens led four players in double figures for the Eagles, who recorded a 31-9 advantage off the bench. Senior Devon Atkinson added 13 points and four assists, while junior Maurice Lewis-Briggs chipped in with 12 points and six boards in just 19 minutes.
LIU Brooklyn had a 16-point edge at the free-throw line as a result of 27 Morehead State fouls, but the Eagles were +21 in points from long distance. MSU was also +4 in the rebounding department and registered a 12-6 advantage in fast-break points.
LIU Brooklyn senior Jamal Olasewere led all scorers with 26 points on 14-of-19 from the charity stripe. Senior Julian Boyd added 19 points on 8-of-13 from the field for the Blackbirds, while junior Jason Brickman tossed in 12 points and eight assists.
MSU used 13 players in the affair, including eight newcomers.
Morehead State connected on 9-of-23 from downtown, including 6-of-13 before intermission. The Eagles owned a 38-37 advantage at halftime.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 89, CINCINNATI CHRISTIAN 56
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky scored 16 unanswered points in the first six minutes of the game and cruised to an 89-56 win over Cincinnati Christian University in the Colonels’ season opener and the first game of the Comfort Suites Invitational.
Back-to-back three-pointers by newcomer Corey Walden and junior forward Jeff Johnson capped Eastern’s fast start. A 10-1 run later in the first half gave the Colonels their first 20-plus point lead. Eric Stutz scored the final four on a tip-in and a lay-up for a 30-9 advantage.
A three-pointer by sophomore Timmy Knipp, EKU's seventh of the first half, with 38 seconds on the clock gave the Colonels their largest first half lead at 27 points, 49-22. Eastern shot 65 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of action and hit on 7-of-15 from long range.
Eastern Kentucky led by 20 or more points from the 2:46 mark of the first half.
Three straight three-pointers – one by Tarius Johnson and two by Glenn Cosey – capped an 11-1 run that pushed EKU out in front by 36 points, 66-30, with 14:21 left to play. That would be the Colonels’ largest lead, matched a minute later. Cincinnati Christian never got closer than 30 the rest of the way.
All 13 Colonels that were eligible to play tonight saw action. Eleven of them scored at least two points.
In his EKU debut, Cosey scored a game-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. The junior knocked down 6-of-7 from three-point range. Stutz finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Senior Mike DiNunno scored 10 and handed out four assists. Tarius Johnson contributed 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds.
DJ McCommons led CCU (0-3) with 15 points.
The Colonels shot 53 percent from the field for the game and 47 percent from three-point land. EKU went 14-for-30 from deep. The home squad enjoyed a 33-26 rebounding edge and committed 10 fewer turnovers than Cincinnati Christian’s 24 miscues.
BELMONT 89, LIPSCOMB 60
NASHVILLE - Behind double figure scoring output from all five starters, Belmont University men's basketball led from start to finish in defeating Lipscomb, 89-60, Friday night.
With much anticipation for the season opener - given the first non-conference meeting of the 'Battle of the Boulevard' series plus curiosity over Bruin life after heralded performers Drew Hanlen, Mick Hedgepeth, and Scott Saunders - Belmont proved formidable from the opening tip.
Five points from senior Trevor Noack (Keller, Texas) got the Bruins off to a quick 10-2 lead.
After Deonte Alexander got Lipscomb within 12-10, junior J.J. Mann (Smyrna, Ga.) capped a 7-0 Bruin run to push the lead back to 19-10 with 12:44 left in the first half.
Play was a bit ragged and mistaken-prone early, but the Belmont effort and unified team defense was unquestioned. A deep three-pointer by senior Ian Clark (Memphis, Tenn.) and a tip-in by Noack helped Belmont maintain a 30-18 lead with 4:47 left in the half.
After a Carter Sanderson three-pointer, Belmont closed the half on a determined 12-5 run. Consecutive three-pointers by Mann and Clark, and a buzzer-beating layin by Noack sent the Bruins to the locker room up 16, 42-26.
Noack and Clark each had 11 points at the break, as Belmont shot 54 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. The Bruins limited Lipscomb to 37 percent shooting, while forcing 14 first half Bison turnovers.
The two teams exchanged offensive flurries early in the second half, with Clark and senior Kerron Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.) answering scores from Alexander and Carter Sanderson.
Lipscomb twice closed to within 12 points, but Belmont had an answer each time. Johnson capped a 12-4 Bruin run which made the score 70-50 with 7:32 left.
Solid bench contributions from senior Brandon Baker (Milford, Ohio) and sophomore Reece Chamberlain (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) kept the momentum going as Belmont led by as many as 31 points down the stretch.
All told, Belmont shot 50 percent (29-for-58) from the field - including 11-for-27 from three-point distance. Belmont blocked six shots and had 16 steals on 25 Bison turnovers.
Johnson led all scorers with 22 points. Clark added 19, while Mann chipped in 17 points. Noack had 11 and junior Blake Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) scored 10.
Alexander led Lipscomb (0-1) with 14 points.
AUSTIN PEAY 75, SAMFORD 64
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - It took 10 games for Austin Peay State University’s basketball team to gain its first victory in a forgettable 2011-12 season.
It took just one contest for the Govs to gain that first triumph in 2012-13.
Austin Peay shot 53.8 percent from the floor while holding Samford to 38.6 percent shooting as the Governors claimed a 75-64 victory, Friday night, in the season opener for both teams.
It was only the fifth time in Dave Loos’ 23 seasons the Governors opened at home. The Govs are now 4-1 in those games.
A team that was bludgeoned repeatedly on the defensive end a year ago, the Governors held Samford, a normally superb perimeter shooting team, to just 2-of-24 (8.3 percent) from three-point range. The Govs were able to contain talented sophomores Raijon Kelly (11 points) and Tyler Hood (nine points), although 6-8 freshman forward/center Tim Williams did work his way inside for 23 points.
Meanwhile, for Austin Peay it was a case of working inside out. Will Triggs scored 15 points while fellow forward Anthony Campbell added 13. Forward Chris Freeman came off the bench to tally his first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Along the perimeter it was junior transfer Travis Betran leading the charge with 13 points, including 3-of-6 from three-point range. The Govs finished the night 9-of-20 from behind the arc. The nine three-pointers were one more than the Governors made in a single game a year ago.
The Governors only trailed once in the game as Samford scored the game’s opening bucket. APSU then went on a 13-0 run, including three pointers from AJ Lynch, Campbell and Betran, and were never headed.
The Govs led by as much as 16 points on four different occasions in the first half before settling for a 38-28 halftime advantage.
Samford immediately made a run at the Governors to open the second half. In fact, when Connor Miller made a layup at the 13:43 mark, Samford was down by five, 49-44. For the next eight-plus minutes the Governors had trouble shaking the Bulldogs. Samford kept the deficit to single digits behind Kelly and Williams. Even a thunderous Betran dunk could not deter the Bulldogs.
Samford trailed by only six, 57-51, when Triggs hit a layup and Betran nailed a three to put the score at 62-51 with 6:44 left. The Bulldogs would slice it to single digits only twice more until a Lynch jumper and a Campbell three-pointer with 2:35 remaining put the game out of reach, 69-55.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 93, REINHARDT 63
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team opened up the 2012-2013 regular season with a 93-63 victory over Reinhardt on Friday night at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Four players scored in double figures for Jax State as the Gamecocks (1-0) improve to 4-1 in season openers under head coach James Green and 5-0 in home openers under the fifth-year head coach. Sophomore Darion Rackley, senior Tarvin Gaines and junior Brian Williams each scored 14 points while senior Ronnie Boggs added 11 points for JSU in their fifth win in as many tries against the Eagles (1-2).
Trailing 28-27 with 3:08 to go in the first half, the Gamecocks used a 10-2 run to close the half with a 37-30 lead. JSU went 0-8 from behind the arc in the first half but still shot 41 percent (14-of-27) from the field in the first 20 minutes with 28 points in the paint. The Eagles shot just 35 percent (13-of-37) from the field while attempting just one free throw in the half.
The Gamecocks turned up the intensity in the second half, using a 10-3 run to build a 47-33 lead. Jax State shot a remarkable 61 percent (19-of-31) in the final period and finished the game with 58 points in the paint while running away with the 93-63 blowout. The offensive output was the most points scored by the Gamecocks since hanging 95 on Norfolk State on Dec. 15, 2009.
Junior Nick Cook led the Gamecocks with seven rebounds to go with six points, three blocks and one steal. The Jax State bench finished with 34 points, led by senior Mason Leggett's nine and senior Rinaldo Mafra's eight.
The Eagles were led by Quinton Wood's 19 points, while Matt Porter added 11 points. Xavier Shumake led Reinhardt with seven rebounds on a night that saw the Gamecocks win the battle on the boards, 43-34.
Freshman Alex Anderson made his debut for the Gamecocks with seven points and a pair of assists. Ten different JSU players dished at least one of the team's 20 assists, with four players passing out three assists each.
#7 KANSAS 74, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 55
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Southeast Missouri (0-1) gave No. 7 Kansas (1-0) all it could handle in a 74-55 loss Friday night in front of a sellout crowd of 16,300 at Allen Fieldhouse.
Although the final score may not have indicated, Southeast had the nationally-ranked Jayhawks on the ropes in the second half.
The Redhawks trailed, 32-17, at halftime before climbing their way back in the game in the second half.
A pair of Lucas Nutt free throws spurred a 14-7 run as Southeast sliced KU's lead to six points.
Tyler Stone scored five points and the Redhawks added six more at the free throw line, including two by A.J. Jones which narrowed the gap to 43-37 with 12:10 remaining.
Nick Niemczyk had a nice look on Southeast's next possession after that run, but his three-pointer bounced off the rim.
After that, KU countered with a 17-6 run over the next 5:43 and Southeast couldn't recover.
KU opened the game on an 11-0 run as Southeast missed five field goals and turned the ball over twice on its first seven possessions. Nino Johnson ended a 4:08 scoreless drought for the Redhawks when he buried a jumper with 15:52 left.
Shortly after Travis Releford's layup gave the Jayhawks a 15-4 advantage, Nick Niemczyk scored eight-straight points off the bench.
Niemczyk netted his first points of the season on a layup and then buried a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions. His first three narrowed KU's lead to 15-7 at the 10:29 mark.
Southeast again pulled to within eight (20-12) when true freshman Colin Ferguson knocked down a jumper with 7:51 remaining, but the Jayhawks put together an 8-2 jaunt to extend their lead to 28-14.
Both teams shot under 30 percent from the field in the first half. KU made 9-of-32 attempts (28.1) and Southeast hit 6-of-29 (20.7).
Jeff Withey led KU with a double-double 17 points and 12 rebounds, and gathered a game-high five blocks, while Naadir Tharpe followed with 10 points and Ben McLemore chipped in nine points and 12 boards.
The Jayhawks shot just 2-of-21 (9.5 pct.) from three-point range, but knocked down 24-of-28 at the free throw line. KU shot 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field in the second half, as well.
Niemczyk led Southeast with 14 points and Johnson notched a career-high 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
Southeast fell to 9-13 all-time in season-opening games and 0-9 against ranked NCAA Division I opponents.
Friday's game marked KU's 181st-consecutive sellout at Allen Fieldhouse where the Jayhawks are 92-1 in their last 93 home games.
ARKANSAS-LITTLE ROCK 84, UT MARTIN 68
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - John Gillon came off the bench to score 22 points in his first collegiate game, leading Arkansas-Little Rock to an 84-68 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Friday in the season opener for both teams.
Gillon, a freshman, was 5 of 11 from the field, including two 3-pointers, and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line for the Trojans, who won the Sun Belt Conference's West Division title last season but lost in the opening round of the conference tournament.
James White added 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, also off the bench, and Will Neighbour had 13. The Trojans took control of the game with a 15-3 run, including nine points by Gillon, to close the first half and never led by fewer than five points after halftime.
Myles Taylor led all scorers with 24 points for the Skyhawks. Terence Smith and Jeremy Washington added 10 points apiece.
BRADLEY 76, EASTERN ILLINOIS 53
PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley used a late first half run to pull away from Eastern Illinois in the opening game of the Jay Spoonhour era at EIU. The Panthers fell 76-53 in their season opener at Carver Arena.
Bradley opened with a 7-2 run as Tyshon Pickett had two of his 16 first half points in the first minute and a half. Pickett finished with a game high 23.
The Panthers found some offensive rhythm as Morris Woods hit a jumper on the baseline and Alex Austin sank a 3-pointer to knot the game at 7-7 at 16:11. EIU then used an 8-2 run capped by a Josh Piper jumper as EIU led 15-9 at 13:24.
Will Egolf had a put-back bucket to spark a Braves 14-2 run as Bradley led 23-16 with 7:05 left in the first half. Alex Austin stopped the Bradley run with a bucket before Pickett scored six straight points. Bradley led 38-22 at the half as they shot 58 percent from the field.
EIU cut the Bradley lead to 11 with a 7-2 run to open the second half. Austin had five points getting a lay-up off a steal and draining a 3-pointer. Austin finished with 13 points in his first collegiate game.
Bradley slowly pulled away as Egolf added two more buckets including a 3-pointer. The Braves led by as many as 27 points in the second half. Egolf added 11.
EIU made a late 10-0 run with Austin and Austin Akers hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. Woods opened the run with a driving lay-up as he finished with a team high 14 points.
EIU shot 35 percent from the field while Bradley shot 58 percent. Bradley won the battle on the glass with 35-25 rebound advantage. Woods had eight rebounds to lead EIU. Pickett had eight rebounds for Bradley.
MURRAY STATE 88, BRESCIA 43
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers scored an 88-43 win over Brescia Friday evening at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
MSU opened their 88th season of college basketball against NAIA opponent Brescia University from Owensboro, Ky., and had an easy time in taking their 23rd straight home opening win.
The senior trio of Stacy Wilson, Ed Daniel and Isaiah Canaan led the way. Wilson scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting including 3-of-6 from three-point range. Daniel was only a rebound away from a double-double with 15 points. Canaan hit a pair of threes in the second half and added 11 points to the MSU attack. Freshman Jeffery Moss scored 11 in his debut.
The first half saw the Racers jump out to a 19-4 lead with Daniel very active with five points. Brescia trimmed the lead to 11, but the Racers got a three-pointer from Wilson and a layup by Canaan to finish the half leading 40-24.
Canaan’s first threes of the game put the Racers up 45-24 with 17:35 remaining. The Racers pushed their lead to 26 at the 16:35 mark when Wilson made a steal and layup to make the score 52-26.
MSU out-rebounded Brescia 48-26 in the game and forced the Bearcats into 20 turnovers.
BYU 81, TENNESSEE STATE 66
PROVO, Utah - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team forced 17 turnovers, but still fell to BYU in Provo, Utah, 81-66.
Kellen Thronton led the Tigers with a career-high 20 points and eight rebounds. He finished 9-18 from the field.
Patrick Miller also had a nice game, falling one assist short of a double-double. He had 12 points, but only made three of 10 shots.
Miller’s nine assists broke his previous career high of seven that he set last year versus Murray State.
BYU’s Tyler Haws started the game off with a hoop, but Thornton answered with a three-pointer and a jumper at the 18:18 mark to give TSU a three-point advantage.
Haws finished with a game-high 22 points and made 8-9 free throws.
The Cougars fought back to take the lead at 9-8 when Brock Zylstra nailed an un-contested three.
TSU went on a 7-0 run later in the first making the score 15-11 in favor of the Tigers. Covington drilled his only field goal of the first half to cap off the run.
BYU inched back into the game and eventually tied the score at 19 at the 9:23 mark. The teams went back-and-forth for the next three minutes with reserves Devante McClung and Michael Green both connecting from around the paint.
With game still tied at 25 apiece, BYU went on a 9-3 for the remainder of the period, as TSU helped the Cougars by committing four of its 11 first half turnovers in last five minutes.
Thornton led TSU at the break with 10 points, while Miller also performed well, tallying seven points and four assists.
Covington only played six minutes during the first half before picking up his second foul.
The Tigers came out of the half slow, only scoring two field goals in the frame’s first six minutes. During that time, BYU raised its lead to eight, 40-32.
The Cougars continued their assault with a 14-8 run that spanned nearly four minutes with Brandon Davies and Brock Zylstra knocking down open looks.
Davies finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
BYU raised its lead to 64-48 with 5:27 left on a free-throw after a foul on Covington. It was Covington’s fifth foul, forcing him to miss the rest of the game.
Later in the period, Jordan Cyphers ran the ball out on a breakaway and went up for a dunk. He slammed the shot home, but landed on his head on the way down. He had to be taken to the locker room for stitches and would not return.
TSU was down two starters with 3:46, and trailed by 11 on the scoreboard.
The Tigers couldn’t mount a late-game charge as a layup from Davies with 49 seconds left put the Cougars up 81-66, which ended up being the final score.
TSU was outscored in the paint (18-40) and on the fast break (18-2).
The Tigers shot just 33.8 percent as a team, while BYU made 30 of its 55 shots for a 54.5 percentage.