FRIDAY'S SCORES
Utah Valley 84,
Austin Peay 77 (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Southern Miss 94,
@Morehead State 58
@Saint Louis 68,
SIUE 41
Belmont 64, Boston University 48 (Orlando, Fla.)
UTAH VALLEY 84, AUSTIN PEAY 77
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University's defensive struggles continued to make December a forgettable month.
Utah Valley shot 61 percent from the floor and scored on eight of its last nine possessions to pull away late to defeat the Governors, 84-77, in first-round play of the Dr. Pepper Classic, being played at McKenzie Arena.
The loss was the Governors' fifth straight, a streak that has seen the opponent shoot 50 percent or better in four of those games. The Govs will play again, 3:30 p.m., Saturday, against High Point.
Utah Valley, meanwhile, improved to 7-8. This is the second straight season the Wolverines have reached the Dr. Pepper Classic final.
It was Ben Aird early and Holton Hunsaker late as Utah Valley and the Governors endured a see-saw battle for much of the game's first 30 minutes. In fact, APSU built a five-point lead after consecutive jumpers from Travis Betran and Anthony Campbell. But Baird answered with two free throws and after a Governors miss, Hunsaker nailed his third of four second-half three pointers to tie the contest at 64.
Jason Johnson then hit a three to give Utah Valley the lead before Anthony Campbell tied it with a long three of his own at 67-67 with 7:23 remaining.
But Johnson then hit another bucket on a pass from Hunsaker before Betran was fouled shooting a three with 4:38 left. However, the junior was able to make only of three free throws and APSU would never lead again.
Hunsaker made his fourth second-period three to make it a four-point game. Two Betran free throws would cut it to two but that would be as close as the Governors could get.
Hunsaker finished with 21 points, five coming on threes. He also made all four free throw attempts in the final minute.
Aird, meanwhile, was 12 of 16 from the floor in scoring a team-high 26 points. That performance allowed Utah Valley to hold a 42-18 advantage in points in the paint. In fact, Wolverines guards carved up APSU inside to the tune of 27 assists on 33 baskets in 54 attempts.
APSU post players, in fact, went a combined 5-of-13 as Will Triggs was the only post player to reach double figures with 10 points, six of them coming at the free-throw line.
The inside woes on both ends of the floor overshadowed a strong perimeter performances by Betran and Campbell. Bouncing back from a two-point game at Illinois State, Betran scored a game-high 27 points, going 6-of-10 from three-point range. Campbell added 22 points, including a trio of three pointers.
SOUTHERN MISS 94, MOREHEAD STATE 58
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Southern Mississippi men's basketball team connected on 58 percent from the field and three-point line to defeat Morehead State, 94-58, on Friday night at Johnson Arena.
The Conference USA Golden Eagles improve to 9-4 overall, while the Ohio Valley Conference Eagles slip to 5-8 on the season. The win also snaps MSU's three-game winning streak in the head-to-head series.
Junior Neil Watson, one of five Golden Eagles in double figures, tallied 14 points and a game-high 11 assists. Senior Rashard McGill added a career-high 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while junior Jerrold Brooks also chipped in 18 on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Junior Bakari Turner paced the Eagles with a career-high 16 points. Juniors Chad Posthumus and Maurice Lewis-Briggs chipped in with eight points apiece, while sophomore Angelo Warner grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
Southern Miss drilled 30-of-52 from the floor, including 11-of-19 from long distance. The Golden Eagles made 15-of-25 overall and 6-of-10 from long distance after intermission.
Morehead State shot 34 percent (18-of-53) for the night and managed only 4-of-24 from behind the arc. The Eagles also committed 22 turnovers, which led to 17 USM steals.
Morehead State fell in an 11-0 hole just 54 seconds in and never recovered. The Eagles put together a 12-6 run to start the second half, but Southern Miss finished on a 35-14 spurt.
SAINT LOUIS 68, SIUE 41
ST. LOUIS - A seven-minute scoreless stretch at the end of the first half, proved costly for SIUE Friday in a 68-41 loss to Saint Louis in front of 8,175 at Chaifetz Arena.
The Cougars, now 4-6, pulled within two points at 16-14 with a Kris Davis three-pointer with 9:05 to play before halftime. Saint Louis then reeled off the next 13 points to balloon its lead to 27-14. Davis snapped the scoreless streak with another three ball with 1:59 to play in the half, but it was the only points the rest of the way for SIUE. The Billikens ended the half on a 20-3 run and led 36-17 at the break.
Saint Louis, 9-3, connected on 50 percent (15-30) of its shots for the first half and for the game (28-56). The Cougars struggled from the field, and primarily during the first half. SIUE shot 31.9 percent (15-47) for the game, but landed just 6 of 27 (22.2 percent) in the first 20 minutes.
SIUE was 9 of 20 in the second half and was outscored by the Billikens just 32-24, but it wasn't enough to come back. The Cougars got as close as 19 points (46-27) in the second half when Tim Johnson hit a three-pointer with 11:24. The Billikens' largest lead was 28 at 65-37 with 3:06 left in the game.
Jerome Jones led the Cougars with 15 points, including 11 in the second half. Kris Davis was the only other SIUE player in double figures scoring. Jones scored 12 points, including the two three-pointers in the first half.
Senior Mark Yelovich returned to the Cougars lineup after missing the last five games with an ankle injury. Yelovich played 16 minutes and scored four points and grabbed three rebounds. Michael Messer and Derian Shaffer each hauled in seven rebounds to lead the Cougars, who fell to 0-5 on the road this season.
Saint Louis got a game-high 16 points from Mike McCall Jr. and 14 points from Dwayne Evans. Cory Remekun grabbed 10 boards for the Billikens, who outrebounded SIUE 38-26.
The 41 points scored by the Cougars was a season-low for a Saint Louis opponent. The Billikens have held their last three opponents to fewer than 50 points. It is the fourth time this year that SLU has allowed less than 50 points.
BELMONT 64, BOSTON UNIVERSITY 48
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Trevor Noack turned in a double-double and Belmont topped Boston University 64-48 Friday night at the University of Central Florida Holiday Tournament.
Noack tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Bruins (9-3). Ian Clark and Blake Jenkins added 15 points each and Kerron Johnson had 12.
Maurice Watson Jr. paced Boston U (5-7) with 11 points.
Belmont capitalized on poor shooting by the Terriers at the end of each half. The Bruins led 25-22 when Noack's jumper ignited a 15-2, half-ending run for a 40-24 halftime lead. The Terriers missed 8 of 9 attempts during the run.
Boston U pulled as close as 53-48 with 6:19 left, but then Jenkins scored five straight points on a dunk and a three-point play and Belmont closed on an 11-0 run. The Terriers missed all nine shot attempts during that stretch.
Belmont will face Central Florida Saturday in the finals.