TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Auburn 78,
Tennessee State 73
@Belmont 102, Brescia 68
Middle Tennessee 80,
@Murray State 62
@Oregon State 101,
SIUE 81
East Tennessee,
@Tennessee Tech (postponed)
AUBURN 78, TENNESSEE STATE 73
AUBURN, Ala. - Tennessee State scored a season high 73 points but fall at SEC foe Auburn 78-73.
The Tigers produced their best offensive effort to date in a hard fought loss at Auburn. Coach Travis Williams’ team shot 56.5% from the field (26-46) and 45.0% from deep (9-20). Both marks are the season’s bests for Big Blue.
Senior Jacquan Nobles led three Tigers in double-digits with 22 points a career high for the TSU guard. Forward Kennedy Eubanks also recorded career highs in both points (17) and rebounds (9) in the game. Senior Patrick Miller posted a season high eight assists on the evening, to go along with 17 points.
Jay Harris go the Tigers on the board first with a jumper to give TSU the early 2-0 lead. Auburn rattled off the next seven points in in the next minute of game action to take a 7-2 lead.
Coach Travis Williams used a timeout to rally the group, out of the stoppage junior forward Kennedy Eubanks connected on two layups to close within one, 7-6. A Jacquan Nobles triple continued the 7-0 run into the first media timeout.
A layup from Eubanks increased the Tigers lead out to four, 11-7 and capped the 9-0 span. During the run Tennessee State held Auburn scoreless for four minutes of play.
The two clubs traded baskets with a 3-pointer from Jay Harris knotting the game at 19 with 10:07 left in the first half. Auburn then went on a 5-0 spurt to regain the lead, 24-19 with 8:53 remaining in the opening frame.
Back-to-back threes from Nobles returned the advantage to Tennessee State, 25-24, at the 7:19 mark in the first half. The home team closed out the first half with a 36-33 lead.
Nobles finished the first half with 12 points on 4-5 shooting from beyond the arch. The double-digit effort was his first since he poured in 15 points against Delaware State on Feb. 11, 2011.
As a team Tennessee State shot 12-22 (54.5%) from the field, and 6-10 (60.0%) from 3-point land.
Out of the locker room Auburn pushed the lead out to seven after an 8-4 run to make it 44-37. A Harris jumper followed by two free-throws from Pat Miller brought Big Blue back within three, 44-41.
A layup from Miller closed the home team’s lead down to two points, 51-49, with 10:46 left in the game. The two points was the senior’s seventh point in the first nine minutes of the half.
Freshman Jamonte Graham’s layup paired with Nobles fifth triple of the game cut Auburn’s lead down to a single point, 59-58, with 6:48 left in the game.
Auburn used two free-throws and a layup from Chris Denson increased its lead back to five, 63-58, at 5:44 in the second. The home team scored four more points to extend the advantage out to the largest lead to that point, at nine, 67-58 at the 4:10 mark in the second.
Two freebies from Kennedy Eubanks cut the Auburn lead down to 70-65 with 1:33 remaining in the contest.
Patrick Miller converted a layup and grabbed a steal with just under a minute left on the clock. The Tigers raced down the court and Nobles nailed a three from the top of the key to cut Auburn’s lead down to two points, 72-70 with 36.2 left on the game clock.
TSU fouled on the inbounds pass putting Denson on the line for Auburn. The guard hit both free-throws to push the lead back to four, 74-70. Nobles got a good look from three on the other end just missing, Auburn countered going 1-2 from the line extending their lead to five.
Miller was fouled on the other end going 1-2 from the line missing the backend of the pair of freebies. The Tigers grabbed the rebound but a 3-pointer from Miller just missed allowing the Tigers to grab the rebound.
BELMONT 102, BRESCIA 68
NASHVILLE - Behind torrid first-half shooting and balanced scoring, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Brescia, 102-68, Tuesday night to extend its NCAA-best home court win streak to 23 games.
The Bruins, fresh off a championship in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament and a program-record 31 votes in the AP Top 25 poll Nov. 25, were extremely efficient against the NAIA Bearcats.
A three-pointer from senior J.J. Mann sandwiched around layins from senior Blake Jenkins and junior Chad Lang made the score 18-6 five and a half minutes in.
Freshman Evan Bradds capped a 10-0 Belmont run with a transition basket to give the Bruins a 31-13 lead midway through the first half.
The uptempo affair continued, with Belmont hitting on all cylinders.
Three-pointers from Mann and senior Drew Windler and a fast break dunk from sophomore Craig Bradshaw pushed the lead to 59-28 before Jermain Langley hit a 35-footer to beat the first half buzzer.
Belmont shot 70 percent (26-for-37) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 6-fof-13 from three-point distance. The Bruins forced 12 turnovers which directly led to 23 points. Belmont also scored 38 points in the paint in the first half.
The Bruins maintained focus into the second half, holding the Bearcats scoreless for 5:43.
Strong play from Windler, Bradds and junior Holden Mobley highlighted an 18-0 run to open the second half.
Belmont led by as many as 46 with 14:28 remaining.
All told, the Bruins shot 62 percent (42-for-68) from the field - including 12-for-25 from three-point distance. Belmont outrebounded Brescia, 38-19, and forced 19 turnovers.
Windler led five Bruins in double figures with a season-high 18 points. Bradds added 15 while Mann had 14, all in the first half.
Freshman Nick Smith scored a career-high 11 points, while Lang tied a career-high with 10.
Decarlos Collier led Brescia with 21 points.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 80, MURRAY STATE 62
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers dropped an 80-62 defeat at home Tuesday to the Middle Tennessee at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
Dexter Fields led the way with 12 points with Tyler Rambo and Cameron Payne tossing in 10 points each. Jarvis Williams had 10 points and led the team with nine rebounds.
Trailing at the half 38-24, MSU started the second half with a Payne to Williams alley oop from mid-court and Fields followed with a 3-pointer for a 5-0 run and it cut the MTSU lead to 38-29 with 18:43 left.
MTSU pushed the lead back to 55-37 with 12:59. The Racers cut the lead to 16 at the 4:02 mark but never got closer.
In the first half, the Racers broke out on top 10-9 on a jumper by Payne at the 15:24 mark.
The Racers found themselves down seven with 8:00 left when Rambo made a baseline drive and dunk and C.J. Ford hit a fast break runner to cut the MTSU lead to 25-22 at the 6:20 mark.
OREGON STATE 101, SIUE 81
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Five SIUE players scored in double figures, and SIUE outscored Oregon State in the second half Tuesday, but it wasn't enough as the Beavers outlasted the Cougars 101-81 in men's basketball at Gill Coliseum.
Oregon State (3-1) shot 64 percent (32-50) from the field and held a 52-29 halftime advantage. The Beavers forced 11 first half turnovers and turned them into 16 points.
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The Cougars (1-6) did not turn the ball over once during the second half and connected on 45.5 percent (20-44) of their shots, outscoring Oregon State 52-49 over the final 20 minutes.
Maurice Wiltz scored 16 points to lead SIUE. Donivine Stewart and Keaton Jackson each added 13 points. For Jackson the 13 points marked a career high. Stewart added a game-high seven rebounds. Rozell Nunn scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. Christian Salecich scored 10 points and finished with a career-best nine assists. The Cougars finished with 23 assists, including 14 in the second half. The 23 assists is the second most in a game this season.
Devon Collier scored 20 points and hauled in seven rebounds to lead Oregon State. Angus Brandt scored 19 points and also collected seven boards. Roberto Nelson scored 17 points, including 11 at the free throw line.
The Beavers attempted 38 free throws, connecting on 33. SIUE was 10 of 14 from the free throw line.
Tuesday's game was the last in a four-game road trip for SIUE, which played a three-game tournament at Portland State Friday-Sunday.