THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 93, Morehead State 74
@Tennessee State 84, Tennessee Tech 65
@UT Martin 72, Eastern Kentucky 65
BELMONT 93, MOREHEAD STATE 74
NASHVILLE - Behind a career-high tying 25 points from senior Kerron Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.), Belmont University men's basketball defeated Morehead State, 93-74, Thursday night.
In a game characterized by 53 fouls and 74 free throw attempts combined, Belmont showed fine form throughout. After escaping with a 64-63 victory at Morehead State one week ago, the Bruins were engaged and active from the opening tip.
A layin from senior Ian Clark (Memphis, Tenn.) pushed Belmont to an 8-1 lead less than three minutes in. Nine quick points from Bakari Turner gave Morehead State a brief lead, but sophomore Reece Chamberlain (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) capped a 10-0 run to give Belmont a 20-11 lead with 13:20 left in the first half.
Morehead State, among the NCAA leaders in fouls committed, sent Belmont to the bonus with 12:39 left in the half, and the Bruins took advantage from the free throw line.
Free throws from junior Blake Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Johnson increased the margin to 24-13.
A Clark three-pointer and a Jenkins slam stretched the lead to 35-19, but Clark would pick up his second personal foul with 9:17 left in the half and be forced to the sidelines.
Belmont played tough, united defense in the halfcourt and in selective fullcourt pressure, turning Morehead State turnovers into open court opportunities.
Eight straight Johnson free throws in a 1:19 gave Belmont a 45-24 lead with 5:49 left in the first half.
After Angelo Warner trimmed the margin to 13, junior J.J. Mann (Smyrna, Ga.) sank a baseline three-pointer which helped Belmont close the half strong, taking a 55-36 advantage at the break.
Belmont shot 54 percent (14-for-26) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 4-for-7 from three-point distance. But given the Eagle fouls, Belmont was an astounding 23-for-26 from the free throw line in the first half, including 14-for-14 from Johnson.
Belmont forced 15 Morehead State turnovers in the first half.
A conventional three-point play from Johnson and another three-pointer from Mann stretched the lead to 61-38 with 17:35 left. Johnson, in particular, was a veritable blur; darting into the lane offensively and instigating chaos defensively.
Warner and Devon Atkinson kept Morehead State somewhat within range, but the Eagles never got closer than 17 points.
A fast break slam by Jenkins and a gorgeous teardrop from Clark made the score 81-58 with 8:37 left.
Mounting fouls led to disjointed play, as the teams combined on 31 free throw attempts in the second half.
All told, Belmont shot 53 percent (26-for-49) from the field - including 6-for-16 from three-point distance. The Bruins forced 24 Morehead State turnovers.
Johnson led four Bruins in double figures with his 25 points on 19-for-21 free throw shooting. He added a season-high seven steals. Clark had 18 points and three steals, while Jenkins added 15 points and four rebounds.
Mann had 14 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Warner led Morehead State (11-12, 5-4 OVC) with 16 points.
TENNESSEE STATE 84, TENNESSEE TECH 65
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team snapped its three-game losing streak with an 84-65 win over Tennessee Tech on Thursday night.
The win improved the Tigers’ home record to 9-0- their best start since going 10-0 during the 1992-93 season.
Five players scored in double-figures for TSU (13-10, 7-3 OVC) for the second time this season including Patrick Miller (17), Robert Covington (17), Kellen Thornton (17), M.J. Rhett (13) and Jordan Cyphers (10).
Thornton also recorded his seventh double-double of the season with a team-high 10 boards.
TSU forced a season-high 24 turnovers, which led to 32 points off of TTU (8-13, 2-7 OVC) miscues- the most by the Tigers this year.
The Tigers came out white hot to start the game, draining five of their first six shots including a jam by Rhett.
Rhett finished the contest with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, six rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals.
At the 16:15 mark of the first half, Covington entered the game for the first time since injuring his right knee on Dec. 18. He immediately made his first shot on TSU’s very next possession to make the score 10-7 in favor of the home team.
Covington’s jumper ignited a 16-0 Tiger run that eventually put TSU up 24-7 with 9:45 left in the first half. Strong defense fueled the stretch as TSU forced five turnovers, recorded two blocks and held the Golden Eagles to 0-of-8 shooting.
TTU was able to trim TSU’s advantage to 16 before Covington ended the half with an emphatic two-handed throw down with just seconds remaining. His flush made the score 41-23 at the half.
Covington ended the game with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting, three rebounds and three steals.
TSU led by as many as 21 in the first period thanks to 14 TTU turnovers and by shooting 26.1 percent better from the field (48.3 to 22.2).
TTU cut the lead down to 13 during the first five minutes of the second period, but a three pointer by Covington made the score 51-35. The basket by Covington gave him his 1,579th career point, moving him past Bruce Price for tenth place on the school’s all-time scoring list.
Back-to-back slam dunks by Rhett put the Tigers up by 17 with ten minutes to go in the game. The first was assisted by Deshawn Dockery while the second was set up by Miller
Miller ended up with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting, three boards and a team-high four assists.
The teams traded blows for the better part of the half, but TSU would stifle any Tennessee Tech run with hoop of its own or a key steal. TSU finished the game with 12 swipes.
The Tigers finished the game on a 9-3 run that ended with a free throw by Thornton. The freebie made the score 84-65 where it remained until the end of the contest.
TSU had a season-high 24 fouls, but TTU also had 24. The slow-pace of play contributed to 64 combined free throw attempts.
UT MARTIN 72, EASTERN KENTUCKY 65
MARTIN, Tenn. - For the second consecutive game, The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team turned up the defensive intensity and came away with an Ohio Valley Conference victory, defeating Eastern Kentucky by a 72-65 margin at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
UT Martin limited the visiting Colonels to a season-low 35.4 field goal percentage, nearly doubling up Eastern Kentucky on the glass (51-26) in the process. The Skyhawks sank 50 percent (10-for-20) of their second half shot attempts, outscoring Eastern Kentucky 37-30 in the second half after the score was deadlocked at 35-all at the halftime break.
The Skyhawks placed three players in double-digits tonight, paced by the 10th career double-double by sophomore Myles Taylor. The 6-7 native of Little Rock, Ark. tied his career-high in rebounding for the second straight contest, hauling in 14 rebounds to go along with a game-high 21 points – his 12th career 20-plus point outing.
Mike Liabo poured in 16 points for UT Martin, nailing a trio of three-pointers. Jeremy Washington added 12 points and seven rebounds while Terence Smith amassed nine points, six rebounds and three assists for the Skyhawks, who improve to 6-16 with a 3-7 OVC mark.
Eastern Kentucky (16-6, 6-3 OVC) was led by Glenn Cosey’s 20 points, while Mike DiNunno added 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Corey Walden (11 points) and Tarius Johnson (10) also reached double-figures for the Colonels, who entered the game ranked No. 19 in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 poll and had only lost to Belmont (9-0 OVC).
“I’m so proud of our guys – it’s a huge win,” Skyhawk head coach Jason James said. “Words can’t express how excited I am for them to see another three or four days of hard work pay off. For us to come in and keep the game where it was and then late in the game execute enough to get over the hump was huge for our guys and their confidence. We needed a lift from the fans and they came through and that extra boost from the crowd helped us.”
It was the Colonels who jumped out to an early lead, scoring seven unanswered in the first two minutes. Liabo then caught fire for UT Martin, pouring in five straight points in back-to-back possessions. After Taylor made a pair of free throws at the 15:41 mark to even the score at 7-all, Eastern Kentucky reclaimed the lead but would not extend its advantage past four for the duration of the first half.
Two made free throws by Bobby Jones gave UT Martin its first lead of the contest (16-15) at the 9:23 mark. A little over a minute later, a layup by Taylor padded the Skyhawk lead out to three.
A 7-2 Eastern Kentucky run resulted in a four-point Colonel lead at the four minute mark, but six straight points by Taylor and two free throws by Smith resulted in the sixth tie of the first half – a 35-35 score that held up until halftime.
Taylor’s 15 points led all scorers at the break, while DiNunno (14 points) and Cosey (12) paced the Colonels.
Eastern Kentucky scored four straight points in the second half, but jumpers by Smith and Washington tied the score at 39-all with 17:46 left to play. The Colonels eventually went back on top by five points until a 6-0 Skyhawk run – capped off by a DeMarc Richardson layup with just under 12 minutes remaining – gave UT Martin a 47-46 lead.
The Colonels briefly led until another run by UT Martin, as Taylor and Liabo combined to outscore Eastern Kentucky 8-2 in a span of 3:36 to give the Skyhawks a 57-54 advantage with 6:28 left. UT Martin would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.
After Eastern Kentucky got within two points with three minutes to play, Smith registered five straight points to conclude a 7-2 UT Martin run – including a big three-pointer on the left wing and a pair of free throws to extend the Skyhawk lead out to seven (66-59) with 1:29 to go.
Eastern Kentucky would close in within two points with 32 seconds left, but two clutch free throws by freshman Dee Oldham began a 5-0 Skyhawk run to close out the contest. Liabo and BJ McLaughlin also added big free throws in the final 10 seconds to ice UT Martin’s victory.