FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Jacksonville State 85, Dalton State 61
CS Northridge 80,
Austin Peay 77 (OT) (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.)
UC Davis 80,
SIUE 75 (Portland, Ore.)
@Eastern Kentucky 95, Brescia 56
@Tennessee 88,
Tennessee State 67
@Southeast Missouri 109, Mid-Continent 64
Jackson State 68,
@UT Martin 64
@#22 UCLA 81,
Morehead State 70
JACKSONVILLE STATE 85, DALTON STATE 61
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Junior Darion Rackley tied his career high with 27 points to help the Jacksonville State men's basketball team overcome a slow start to pull away for the 85-61 victory over Dalton State on Friday afternoon at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Rackley finished with 20 points in the first half to help JSU (1-5) overcome a slow start to claim the Gamecocks first victory of the season. The S. Louis, Mo., native previously scored 27 points against Martin Methodist on December 11, 2012. Dalton State opened the game connecting on 5-of-7 from the 3-point line before finishing the game shooting just 7-of-22 from behind the arc to fall to 8-2 on the season.
Freshman Undra Mitchem set a new career-high with 17 points, 13 of which came in the second half while junior Grant White finished with 11 points. The Gamecocks finished the game shooting 26-of-47 from the field after going 16-of-24 from the field in the second half.
Juniors Jamal Hunter and Teraes Clemmons and senior Nick Cook each finished with seven rebounds to lead the Gamecocks. Hunter also added eight points and a season-high four blocks while Cook added nine points and one blocked shot.
Demetrice Jacobs led three players in double figures for Dalton State with 14 points. Preston Earle added 13 points while Ricky Sears added 11 points. Desmond Phillips finished with five rebounds for the Roadrunners, who were outrebounded 42-25 by the Gamecocks on the night.
The Roadrunners built an early 19-10 lead in the first half thanks to a 16-5 run that saw DSU knock down four 3-point shots. Dalton State managed to connect on 5-of-7 3-point attempts in the games first nine minutes. JSU then limited the Roadrunners to just 1-of-7 shooting from downtown for the rest of the first half.
Rackley then scored 17 of his 20 first-half points while helping JSU finish the half with a 38-34 lead. The junior guard would finish the first half 5-of-9 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Rackley would knock down a pair of free throws with 4:52 remaining in the half to tie the game at 28-28.
The Gamecocks would then go 8-of-10 from the free throw line over the final four minutes of the half to take a 38-34 lead into the locker room. Overall, JSU finished the half 15-of-20 from the charity stripe while knocking down 10-of-23 shots from the field. DSU on the other hand shot just 11-of-29 from the field while finishing 6-of-10 from the free throw line.
Mitchem then scored eight of the Gamecocks' first nine points to start the second half as JSU opened up with a 23-3 run to build a 61-37 lead with 11:40 to go. The Roadrunners were just 1-of-12 from the field during the run while shooting just 18-of-58 from the field in the half.
Mitchem's third 3-point shot of the half gave JSU a 71-41 lead with nine minutes to play. The Gamecocks would manage to stretch the lead to 31 points with a layup from White to give JSU a 85-54 lead with 4:20 remaining. The Roadrunners would then managed to close the game on a 7-0 run to cut the final score to 85-61.
CS NORTHRIDGE 80, AUSTIN PEAY 77 (OT)
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. - Josh Greene stole an errant pass and scored on a go-ahead layup with 39 seconds left in overtime as Cal State Northridge defeated Austin Peay State University, 80-77, Friday afternoon in second-round action of the Central Michigan Tournament played at McGuirk Arena.
The loss was the Govs second straight in the tourney and drops them to 2-3 on the season. Cal State Northridge improved to 3-2. The Govs now will face Montana State, 4:30 p.m., Saturday in their final tourney game.
The Govs will have to search deep in that final game after letting Friday’s game get away from them, especially down regulation stretch and overtime.
After controlling most of the game, the Govs found themselves down by five points with 2:07 left. But five consecutive points—one Chris Horton field goal, two Horton free throws and one Damarius Smith free threw—tied the game with 57 seconds left.
After a Cal State Northridge turnover with 46 seconds gave the Govs an opportunity to win the game. However, the Govs missed three shots in final 18 seconds, including one at the buzzer, forcing overtime.
Then in overtime the Govs gained the lead on a Will Triggs layup and they regained a two-point lead, 77-75, on two Travis Betran free throws with 2:38 left. After the Matadors’ Aaron Parks could make just one of two free throws, the Govs got the ball back with 1:14 left with a chance to extend the lead.
But a miscommunication between Zavion Williams and Betran resulted in Greene stealing the ball just outside the top of the Govs’ key. He raced for an uncontested layup with 39 seconds left.
Betran, who struggled from the perimeter all night, then missed a three pointer with 12 seconds remaining. The Matadors’ Stephan Hicks retrieved the rebound and was immediately fouled. Hicks converted both—he was 12-for-12 at the line during the night.
Still APSU had one final chance to tie but Tre Hale-Emerson got a piece of Betran’s three pointer at the buzzer and the Matadors escaped with the victory.
The Governors, who began the contest 9-of-16 from the field, made just 12 of 38 field goals the game’s remainder against the Matadors’ 2-3 zone defense, finishing just 21 of 54 (38.9 percent) from the floor. In particular, the Govs struggled from three-point range, shooting just 6-of-26 (23.1 percent). The only place APSU was effective shooting was the free-throw line, going 29 of 37 (78.4 percent).
APSU led by as much as 12 points, 20-8, in the game’s first seven minutes. But the Matadors, battling foul troubles, shifted to zone and it slowed the Govs’ offensive momentum. Still, APSU by six, 37-31, at halftime.
Will Triggs and Travis Betran led the Govs with 17 points, but Betran suffered through a 3-of-15 night from the three-point line. Horton finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. It was Horton’s second double-double this season and ninth of his career.
Making his first start at point guard, Smith finished with 11 points before fouling out in overtime.
Hicks turned his flawless free-throw effort into a game-high 24 points while Stephen Maxwell added 18.
UC DAVIS 80, SIUE 75
PORTLAND, Ore. - An 11-1 UC Davis run over the final 1:50 of the first half changed SIUE men's basketball's fate Friday as the Aggies earned a come-from-behind 80-75 win over the Cougars in the opening game of the Portland State Tournament.
Rozell Nunn drained a jumper with 2:05 to play before halftime to put SIUE up 37-25 when The Aggies' Josh Ritchart took over. Ritchart scored all 11 of UC Davis' points during the run. The only Cougar point the rest of the half came on a Kris Davis free throw. Ritchart forced a steal at the end of the half, then heaved a three-quarter-court shot that rimmed in to make the score 38-36 SIUE at the half.
The Cougars fell to 1-3 with the loss. UC Davis improved to 2-2.
Ritchart led all scorers with a career-high 35 points. He tied his career-high with 13 rebounds.
UC Davis took its first lead with a three-pointer by Avery Johnson 1:10 into the second half. Christian Salecich answered for SIUE with a three-pointer of his own to make it 41-39 SIUE. Nunn extended SIUE's lead to four (43-39) with a layup with 17:43 to play. Ritchart, Corey Hawkins, and Johnson hit consecutive jumpers to put UC Davis back on top with 16:15 to play.
Michael Messer gave SIUE its last lead of the game with a three-pointer with 15:47 left which made the score 46-45 SIUE.
The Aggies built their lead to as many as 11 in the second half when a Ritchart three-pointer made it 64-53 with 9:02 left. It was a 10-point (73-63) advantage when the Cougars went on a 12-3 run. Another Messer three-pointer had the Cougars within one point at 76-75 with 2:19 remaining, but the Cougars couldn't get any closer.
Messer finished with 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting. He was 2 for 5 from three-point range. Nunn led the Cougars with a career-high 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting. He was 3 for 4 from three-point range. He added a team-high eight rebounds.
Davis added 11 points for the Cougars, who shot 49.1 percent (28-57) for the game, but just 41.9 percent (13-31) in the second half.
UC Davis shot 57.1 percent (16-28) in the second half and 56.6 percent (30-53) for the game.
Hawkins was the only Aggie aside from Ritchart in double figures. He scored 11.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 95, BRESCIA 56
RICHMOND, Ky. - Five Colonels scored in double figures as Eastern Kentucky overcame a slow start to pull away from visiting Brescia, 95-56, on Friday at McBrayer Arena.
Senior Glenn Cosey led all players with 20 points, his sixth double-digit scoring output in as many games this season. Senior Orlando Williams came off the bench to add 15 points, while senior Marcus Lewis had 14 points, junior Eric Stutz contributed 11 points and freshman Isaac McGlone dropped a career-best 10 points.
EKU (6-1) shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the field in the win, its second-best shooting performance of the season. The Colonels stifled the Bearcats to just 33.3 percent shooting from the floor.
Jordan Cooper-Livers paced Brescia with 18 points in the loss.
EKU led by only six, with 3:16 remaining in the first half, but used a 12-2 run in the waning minutes of the half to take a double-digit lead. A three-point play by junior Timmy Knipp with 26 second on the clock pushed the Colonel advantage to 16 points. Kyle Nixon knocked down a three-pointer on Brescia’s ensuing possession to make it 42-29 at halftime.
The Colonels connected on 16-of-17 free throws to keep Brescia at bay in the first half.
Eastern exploded out of the locker room to score the first eight points of the second half, as a layup by Lewis made it 50-29 just two minutes in. After Jordan Cooper-Livers sank a three-pointer on Brescia’s next trip up the floor, Lewis answered with a thunderous dunk in the lane that sparked the Colonels on a 15-0 run. A pair of free throws by Cosey punctuated EKU’s spurt and made it 65-36 with 13:21 to play.
The Colonels led by more than 25 points the rest of the way.
TENNESSEE 88, TENNESSEE STATE 67
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team shot a season-high 92 percent from the free throw line, but fell to the University of Tennessee on Friday night, 88-67.
Patrick Miller led TSU (0-6) in scoring for the sixth straight time with 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting. The Chicago native also recorded season-highs with 6 assists and five rebounds.
M.J. Rhett and Jay Harris each scored in double figures for the Tigers as Rhett finished with 14 and Harris poured in 12. Rhett also added five rebounds.
The Tigers posted a season-low 20 boards, but its five blocks were the most for the team during the 2013-14 campaign
Each team came out of the gates shooting 50 percent from the field during the first five minutes. However, the Vols (3-1) made one more basket and another was a three to lead, 11-8. Miller and Rhett each had four in the game’s early going.
Later in the half, Tennessee went on a 10-1 run that spanned nearly five minutes. TSU had three turnovers and missed four shots during the stretch and found itself down, 24-13, with eight minutes left before halftime.
UT strung together two quick layups back-to-back, forcing head coach Travis Williams to burn his second timeout of the half at the 4:09 mark. The stoppage to re-group worked, as Miller immediately made a jumper and Kennedy Eubanks canned the Tigers’ first three-pointer of the game on the next possession to make the score, 35-24, in favor of the home team.
Miller’s and Eubanks’s hoops were part of an 11-3 TSU run to end the half. Jay Harris had the other five points, but the Tigers trailed, 38-30, heading into the locker room.
Tennessee State shot 46 percent (11-of-24) during the opening stanza, but only made 1-of-7 from beyond the arc (14 percent).
The Tiger bench outscored their counterparts, 9-6, and TSU was 7-for-8 from the charity strip for a strong 88 percent conversion rate.
In the second period, Miller poured in a three at the 17:30 mark to pull the Tigers within six, but the Volunteers answered with a three of their own make the score, 45-36.
Tennessee extended its lead to 16 at the 14 minute mark thanks to a 9-0 run and five TSU fouls. Those fouls led to seven of the nine UT points.
True freshman Jamonte Graham scored his first career points with a fast-break layup with six minutes to play. His basket cut the UT lead to 17, but TSU couldn’t build off of the hoop.
UT went up by as many as 23 in the game, but an Alex Bates jumper with 41 seconds remaining, made the final score, 88-67.
TSU shot 43 percent from the field (20-of-46), but couldn’t find its stroke from deep, hitting 3-of-15 (20 percent) from three-point land.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 109, MID-CONTINENT 64
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - - Tyler Stone had a double-double 24 points and 17 rebounds and Jarekious Bradley followed with 21 points to lead Southeast Missouri (3-2) to a 109-64 win over Mid-Continent (0-6) Friday night at the Show Me Center.
Stone matched a career-high in rebounds en route to his second double-double in three starts, while Bradley scored over 20 points for the fourth time this year.
The duo was among six Southeast players who scored double figures in the balanced effort.
Southeast scored over 100 points for the second time against an NAIA opponent this season. The Redhawks improved to 2-0 on their homecourt after outscoring Central Baptist College (Nov. 11) and Mid-Continent by a combined 227-120.
The Redhawks never trailed in the game and used an 11-0 run to break open the game early. Southeast immediately went to work inside, scoring five easy baskets on three layups and two dunks in the first 3:12.
After Joe Gilmore's dunk pulled Mid-Continent to within eight (13-5) with 15:20 left in the first half, Southeast never let its lead fall below double-digits again.
It didn't take long for Stone to get his double-double, getting 14 points and 11 rebounds in the first half alone. Bradley also dropped in 14 of his points, as Southeast shot 57.9 percent (22-of-38) from the field to grab a comfortable 56-29 halftime lead.
C.J. Reese's layup then gave the Redhawks their biggest lead at 98-53 with 5:21 remaining before Caleb Woods three-point play ran the score over 100 (101-59) with 2:09 left.
Darrian Gray's final layup polished off the 109-64 win with 26 seconds on the clock.
Stone shot 9-of-16 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line to lead all scorers. He also added a game-high three blocks in 27 minutes.
Bradley hit 8-of-12 field goals and was a perfect 3-of-3 at the charity stripe. He pulled down seven rebounds, as well.
Jamaal Calvin added 14 points off the bench, while Antonius Cleveland and Nino Johnson were close behind with 13 apiece. Gray then rounded out Southeast's double-digit scorers with 11 points.
Additionally, Lucas Nutt dished out a game-high 10 assists, marking the seventh time in his career where he had double-digit assists in a game.
As a team, Southeast had 26 assists, its second-most in a game this season.
JACKSON STATE 68, UT MARTIN 64
MARTIN, Tenn. - Terence Smith and Myles Taylor both had outstanding individual efforts for the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team tonight but it wasn’t enough as the Skyhawks fell 68-64 to Jackson State at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Smith poured in a season-best 23 points, tied a career-high with seven assists and also pulled down six rebounds with two steals for UT Martin (1-6). He drained a career-best five 3-pointers in nine attempts and just missed his career-high total in scoring (26 points against Southeast Missouri on Feb. 16, 2013).
Taylor compiled 17 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven blocked shots in 28 minutes of action this evening. He made four of his seven shot attempts while canning nine of his 11 attempts from the charity stripe. His seven blocked shots were the most by any UT Martin player in the last decade and most in an OVC contest since Kenneth Faried accomplished the feat for Morehead State against Austin Peay on March 4, 2011.
Jackson State (2-4) was led by 17 points and 14 rebounds by Brandon West. Julysses Nobles also scored 17 points and had five assists for the Tigers, who shot 54.5 percent (12-for-22) in the second half to overcome 19 turnovers in the contest.
The Skyhawks led 5-0 nearly three minutes into the game but Jackson State went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-7 lead with just under 14 minutes to go in the first half. A Smith three-pointer at the 12:55 mark tilted the score back in UT Martin’s favor at 10-9 but the Tigers came back with a 10-2 spurt to go on top 19-12 with 9:32 to go before the halftime break.
A three-pointer by Smith and layup by Javier Martinez on back-to-back possessions got the Skyhawks back within one possession (22-19) at the 6:13 mark. Jackson State would take an eight-point lead (33-25) with 1:27 to go before the half but Smith answered with a pair of free throws to make the score 33-27 at the break.
Smith’s 11 points led all scorers at the half while Nobles scored 10 points to lead Jackson State in the first half.
Yet another trifecta by Smith opened the scoring for UT Martin in the second half but Jackson State was able to take a 44-33 lead with 16:48 remaining.
The Skyhawks kept chipping away – reeling off an 8-0 run, capped off by a Dee Oldham three-pointer in the left corner that made the score 46-44 midway through the half. However, the Tigers came right back with a 9-2 run over a span of 3:48 to go on top by a 55-46 margin.
A steal and old-fashioned three-point play by Justin Childs got the Skyhawks back within five points (60-55) with 2:15 left to play. UT Martin would get within five points on three more possessions but could not get any closer until a three-point play by Taylor with one second left provided the final scoring margin.
#22 UCLA 81, MOREHEAD STATE 70
LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Jordan Adams poured in a career-high 30 points and classmate Kyle Anderson tallied his first career triple-double to help the No. 22/24 UCLA men's basketball team score an 81-70 win over Morehead State.on Friday night at historic Pauley Pavilion.
The Pac-12 Conference Bruins improve to 4-0 overall, while the Ohio Valley Conference Eagles slip to 4-2 on the campaign. The meeting, which attracted 5,508 fans, was part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
Senior Chad Posthumus paced Morehead State with a career-high 21 points and game-high 18 rebounds. The performance was his fifth double-double in 39 games at MSU. It was also his fourth consecutive 10-rebound effort and the most boards by an OVC player this season.
Adams, who recorded 17 points after intermission, connected on 10-of-18 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line in the contest. He also pulled down seven rebounds. The scoring performance topped his previous career high of 26 and marked his 14th career 20-point effort.
Anderson, a 6-foot-9 point guard, added 13 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for UCLA's first triple-double since Dec. 18, 1995. His rebounds, assists and three blocked shots were all team highs. He had previously notched nine career double-doubles, which was more than any other Bruin.
Freshman Zach LaVine contributed 12 points for UCLA, while senior Travis Wear rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10. The Bruins drilled 49 percent (30-of-61) from the floor, 33 percent (6-of-18) from beyond the arc and 79 percent (15-of-19) from the free-throw stripe.
UCLA was credited with 23 assists and nine steals, while limiting itself to nine turnovers.
Morehead State made just 37 percent (23-of-62) from the field and 67 percent (14-of-21) from the charity stripe. The Eagles, who came in +51 in the rebounding department through five games, matched UCLA on the glass as each squad yanked down 36 boards.
Sophomore Brent Arrington added 17 points for MSU on 5-of-8 from three-point range, while junior Angelo Warner tallied 12 points. Warner and junior Kareem Storey dished out five assists each, while Storey also posted seven rebounds from the point guard spot.
MSU held an 18-17 advantage six minutes into the tilt, but UCLA answered with a 20-2 run in less than five minutes to build a 17-point cushion. The Bruins held a 46-38 lead at the break.
The Eagles trimmed the deficit to three on multiple occasions in the second half, but UCLA manufactured a 16-5 spurt to open up a 14-point advantage with 5:00 remaining in the affair.