Men's Basketball Recaps - Feb. 4

Men's Basketball Recaps - Feb. 4

SATURDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 76, @Jacksonville State 68
Morehead State 56, @Eastern Illinois 55
#9 Murray State 65, @UT Martin 58
@SIUE 80, Eastern Kentucky 74
Tennessee State 75, @Southeast Missouri 72


TENNESSEE TECH 76, JACKSONVILLE STATE 68
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Tennessee Tech got big performances from Jud Dillard, Kevin Murphy and Zac Swansey and won its fifth game out of its last six Saturday, picking up a 76-68 victory over Jacksonville State at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

With the win, the Golden Eagles gave themselves a chance to move into sole possession of second place in the Ohio Valley Conference, depending on the result of tonight's game between Tennessee State and Southeast Missouri. A TSU victory over the Redhawks would allow Tech to move into a second-place tie with the Tigers, bumping SEMO to third.

The Golden Eagles are now 16-9 overall and 8-4 in conference play. Jacksonville State fell to 10-16 overall and 5-7 in the OVC.

Dillard notched his sixth double-double of the season, leading the Golden Eagles in both scoring and rebounding with 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting and 12 boards. Much of Dillard's production came early in the game - at the 11:42 mark of the first half, the junior guard had already accumulated 14 points.

Murphy scored 20-plus points for the fifth time in Tech's last six games, going for 23 and tacking on seven rebounds and three assists. Swansey notched his fourth double-digit assist game this season, distributing 11 helpers to go with six points and three steals.

Tech built an early first-half lead, pulling ahead by seven with 12:50 left in the period and maintaining that lead throughout the half to take a 37-29 lead into the locker room. The Golden Eagles held their largest lead of the afternoon with 13:31 left to play with a 15-point advantage and maintained a double-digit lead through most of the game.

Jacksonville State sliced into the advantage on back-to-back three-pointers by Brian Williams to cut the lead to 72-65 with 55 seconds to play. The push was too little, too late for the Gamecocks, however, as Dillard and Javon McKay combined to go 4-for-4 at the free-throw line to seal the win. 

The Golden Eagles have now won three consecutive games and avenged a last-second loss to Jacksonville State earlier this season in Cookeville.

Tech shot a blazing 59 percent from the field while holding the Gamecocks to 43 percent shooting. The Golden Eagles hit just one three-pointer and went 15-for-20 from the free-throw line. The Golden Eagles dished out 21 assists on the night and snatched nine steals while outrebounding JSU by two.

In addition to strong performances from Murphy, Dillard and Swansey, Tech got six points, four boards and two blocked shots from McKay, while Zach Bailey added four points and four rebounds and Bassey Inameti contributed four points and three assists.

Jacksonville State was paced 19 points from Tarvin Gaines and 18 from Williams. Nick Cook added team highs in rebounds with eight and assists with five.

MOREHEAD STATE 56, EASTERN ILLINOIS 55
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois men's basketball team drilled four three-pointers in less than two minutes down the stretch of Saturday evening's game at Lantz Arena, but freshman Angelo Warner connected on his only free throw with 2.2 seconds left to give Morehead State a 56-55 win.

The Eagles improve to 13-12 overall and 6-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference with their fourth victory in the past five contests, while the Panthers slip to 9-14 on the campaign and 2-9 in league action.

Morehead State opened up a 52-43 lead on sophomore Drew Kelly's lay-up at the 2:49 mark, but Eastern Illinois responded with a 12-3 run to tie the game at 55 with 19 seconds to play.

MSU's first attempt on what figured to be the game's final possession was no good, but Warner went to the glass and pulled down a crucial offensive rebound before being fouled under the basket.

Warner, a 75-percent foul shooter, missed his first attempt, but re-grouped to knock down his second.  The Panthers were out of timeouts and a last-second heave from 60 feet sailed wide of the hoop.

Senior Jeremy Granger and freshman Joey Miller both drained a pair of three-pointers in EIU's spurt.  The four threes came after the Panthers hit just five of their first 19 from beyond the arc.

Kelly, senior Ty Proffitt and junior Milton Chavis led MSU's balanced scoring attack with 11 points apiece.  Warner registered a game-high eight rebounds, while Chavis was also credited with three steals and three blocks.

Morehead State connected on a season-high 57 percent (17-of-30) from the field.  The Eagles also made 50 percent (5-of-10) from three-point range and 77 percent (17-of-22) from the free-throw line.

Eastern Illinois was limited to 40 percent (21-of-52) from the floor.  The Panthers finished at 39 percent (9-of-23) from beyond the arc and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Granger tallied a game-high 17 points for Eastern Illinois, while Miller added 15 and sophomore Alfonzo McKinnie contributed 13.  Junior James Hollowell led the Panthers with seven rebounds, while junior Austin Akers recorded a game-best eight assists.

The back-and-forth affair featured eight ties and 14 lead changes.  Both were high marks for Morehead State in 25 games this season.  EIU's big lead was just one point early in the game.

The Eagles, who entered the night +175 in bench scoring, posted a 17-9 upper hand in that department.  MSU also notched an 8-2 advantage on the fast break.

#9 MURRAY STATE 65, UT MARTIN 58
MARTIN, Tenn. (AP) - Go ahead. Pack the gym and pump up the noise. The Murray State Racers are doing just fine at handling all the attention that comes with being the lone undefeated men's team in Division I.

Isaiah Canaan, Latreze Mushatt and Jewuan Long each scored 11 points and 10th-ranked Murray State beat Tennessee-Martin 65-58 Saturday night.

The Racers (23-0, 11-0 Ohio Valley Conference) brought plenty of fans to cheer the school's longest winning streak. Combined with a "We Back Pat" night dedicated to alum Pat Summitt helping raise money for Alzheimer's, a sold-out crowd of 4,700 packed the Elam Center with fans lining the upper walkway.

They didn't shoot near as well as they usually do. And they couldn't close out Tennessee-Martin.

They did win yet again, and Murray State coach Steve Prohm was happy with that.

Tennessee Martin (3-22, 0-12) lost its 13th straight, and coach Jason James praisd his Skyhawks for playing hard throughout. They held Murray State to 3 of 17 (17.6 percent) from 3-point range, well below its usual 41.9 percent. The Racers also shot 42.4 percent from the floor when they average 47.7 percent.

Prohm said it felt like a high school Friday night with all the fans packed into the muggy gym. As the final seconds ticked off, those Racers fans chanted, "Un-de-feat-ed."

James said they expected plenty of Racers fans with Murray State about an hour's drive away. They had an impact, too. With six seconds on the shot clock, the Racers fans chanted a quick count and got Tennessee-Martin's Omari Minor to hurry a 3 that hit nothing but air.

Murray State improved to 40-3 all-time against the Skyhawks and 18-3 in Martin.

Dane Smith led the Skyhawks with 24 points, and Myles Taylor added 14.

The Skyhawks outrebounded Murray State 47-39, but the Racers outscored them in the paint (38-30), off turnovers (11-3) and had a big edge off the bench (24-8). Zay Jackson had a team-high nine points off the bench followed by Ivan Aska as the senior works his way back from a broken hand. Aska had eight points, three rebounds and two blocks.

Tennessee-Martin kept it close in the first half with five ties and four lead changes after Murray State looked ready to blow the Skyhawks off the court in the opening minutes by scoring the first seven points, the last on a layup by Mushatt.

Mike Liabo answered finally with a 3-pointer for the Skyhawks, and that started a 13-2 spurt keyed by six points from Taylor, and his jumper with 13:50 left gave Tennessee-Martin a 13-9 lead that would be its biggest of the game.

Troy King hit a jumper that pulled the Skyhawks into their final tie at 19. Mushatt came back with another layup with 7:23 left to put Murray State ahead to stay.

Neither team could hit from beyond the arc early, but the Skyhawks pulled up far too often for 3-pointers that clanked off the rim in going 1 of 10 in the first half. Murray State wasn't much better (2 of 12). The Racers did manage to have a 13-6 edge in points on second chances.

One of their best came when Canaan stole the ball and tried to finish off a fast break with a layup only to miss. Poole got the rebound and put it back up for a 30-21 lead with 3:15 left in the first in helping the Racers to a 37-28 halftime lead.

Tennessee-Martin never got closer than five in the second half on consecutive buckets by Taylor, then Smith that got the Skyhawks within 41-36 with 14:13 to go. Jackson hit a 3, Aska scored, then Canaan finished off a three-point play for a 49-36 lead.

The Skyhawks pulled within six twice late, the last on a bucket by Corderio Maclin with 4:04 left to give the home fans hope of an upset. Donte Poole and Aska each hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back out and finish off the win.

SIUE 80, EASTERN KENTUCKY 74
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE rode a 56.1 percent shooting performance to a come-from-behind win Saturday, defeating Eastern Kentucky 80-74 in Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball at the Vadalabene Center.

SIUE, now 7-14 overall and 5-7 in the OVC, connected on 23 of 41 shots, including 9 of 15 from beyond the three-point arc. The 56.1 percent is the best offensive performance by the Cougars at home this season.  The three-point percentage is the second-highest this season by SIUE.

Corey Wickware led all scorers with a season-high 23 points. Wickware was 6 of 10 from the field, including 4 of 7 from three-point range. Mark Yelovich scored 20 points for the second consecutive game. Yelovich was 6-11 from the floor.

Jerome Jones reached double figures adding 15 for the Cougars. Derian Shaffer scored eight points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

Eastern Kentucky, now 13-12 overall and 6-6 in the OVC, jumped on top early and led by as many as four points after a layup by Joshua Jones with 3:35 to play in the first half. The Colonels led 33-32 at the break.

A Yelovich free throw tied the score, 33-33, just 15 seconds in the second half, but a quick 6-0 EKU run put the Colonels up six at 39-33 with 17:59 left. The six-point advantage was the largest of the night for EKU. Mike DiNunno, who finished with 20 points to lead EKU, scored four of the six points.

The teams battled the next seven minutes, with the Cougars tying the score twice. EKU led 51-50 when Wickware went to the free-throw line with 10:52 left. The senior hit both shots to give SIUE the lead for the first time in the second half.

EKU would tie the score once more at 57-57 on free throws by DiNunno with 8:46 left.  Wickware hit two more free throws to put SIUE up for good 59-57 with 7:33 left. The Cougars led from that point.

SIUE extended its lead to as many as 10 on a Yelovich jumper with 2:45 to play that made it 71-61. SIUE hit seven of nine free throws in the game's final 55 seconds to close out the win.

TENNESSEE STATE 75, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 72
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Tennessee State overcame an eight point second half deficit and outscored Southeast Missouri 10 points in the second half to seal a 75-72 victory over the Redhawks at the Show Me Center.

Trailing by eight early in the second half, The Tigers (15-10, 8-4 Ohio Valley) battled back with a 10-5 run to tie the game. From there, SEMO (12-11, 7-4 OVC) took brief leads, but TSU used a strong run in the final seven minutes to seal their fifth consecutive win. 

The 15th victory was the most under third-year head Coach John Cooper. TSU is now just one win away from securing a winning season for the first time since 1995-96.

Offensively, TSU shot 42 percent (25-of-59) from the field, despite being out-rebounded 49-to-35. The Tigers managed 10 steals and forced 17 turnovers. TSU had only five miscues and dished out seven assists.

Robert Covington pulled in his 17th career double-double with a game-best 23 points and 13 rebounds. The junior from Bellwood, Ill., picked up four steals and shot 9-of-17 from the field in 31 minutes. Covington has now scored double-figure points in 24 straight games.

Kellen Thornton tied a season-high knocking down 15 points and pulling in six rebounds in 25 minutes. Kenny Moore reached 11 points with two rebounds.

Jordan Cyphers inked nine points, making all five free throw attempts. M.J. Rhett and Patrick Miller each added six points. Rhett pulled in six rebounds and a career-high three blocks. Miller dished out three assists alongside teammate Wil Peters.

Tennessee State trailed 35-30 at the halftime intermission. The Tigers were out-rebounded 29-to-15 and shot just 38 percent (12-of-32) from the field. Kenny Moore led TSU with nine points, while Covington had six points. SEMO's Corey Wilford led the team with 10 points.

To start the game the two teams went back and forth at nine points. Covington notched a basket and Moore hit two consecutive treys to give the Tigers a 19-9 lead with 10:59 remaining in the first half.

The Tigers stretched their lead to 25-16 when Southeast Missouri then proceeded on a 19-to-5 run to close the half. For the final 3:47, Tennessee State was held scoreless.

In the second half, Tennessee State started an 11-to-5 run and took a 41-40 lead with 15:51 on the clock. However, the Redhawks used a 12-6 run to stretch the advantage to 52-47.

Tennessee State tied the game at 58 with Covington free throw at 6:51. TSU then added four points to take a 62-58 lead at 5:07.

A Covington dunk at 3:20 extended TSU's lead to 66-58. SEMO answered with a Corey Wilford triple, his fourth of the game, to make it a 66-61 contest.

The Tigers stretched a lead to 69-61, but Lucas Nutt hit a basket with less than a minute to pull within three.

On the very next possession, Rhett made a layup and connected on the and-one to put TSU up 72-66. From there, it was another three free throws for TSU that sealed the win 75-72.