TUESDAY'S SCORES
@#7 Virginia 79,
Tennessee State 36
UT Martin 74, @Bethune-Cookman 56
@Bowling Green 62,
Southeast Missouri 54
@#23 Creighton 75,
Eastern Illinois 53
Jacksonville State 67, @Alabama A&M 61
#7 VIRGINIA 79, TENNESSEE STATE 36
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Tennessee State University men’s basketball team dropped a road game at No. 8 Virginia on Tuesday night by a score of 79-36 at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Cavaliers (5-0) grabbed the lead with their first bucket and never relinquished it, winning the first-ever matchup between the two schools. The Tigers (2-3) were held without a point for the first 7:31 of the second half, creating an insurmountable deficit.
Marcus Roper and Xavier Richards both scored 10 points to lead TSU on offense. Virginia held the Tigers to 29 percent from the floor.
Justin Anderson paced Virginia with 20 points on the night. He was perfect from the floor (7-for-7) making five three-pointers.
Virginia jumped out to a 13-2 lead as the whistle blew for the first media timeout. The Cavaliers expanded the margin to 25 before the buzzer signaled halftime. Rodney Simeon knocked down a pair of three-pointers to lead the Tigers in scoring for the half.
The Cavaliers held the Tigers 24 percent (6-for-25) shooting in the opening 20 minutes. TSU was out-rebounded 12-27, as well. The defending ACC Champions shut down any inside scoring attempt from Big Blue.
Through the first 25 minutes, the Cavaliers’ Anderson had outscored the Tigers 20-17.
Virginia outscored TSU 37-22 during the final 20 minutes of play. Richards scored all 10 of his points during the half, but the Tigers were held in check on offense, otherwise.
UT MARTIN 74, BETHUNE-COOKMAN 56
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A balanced scoring attack and hard-nosed defense lifted the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team to its third consecutive victory tonight, as the Skyhawks defeated Bethune-Cookman by a 74-56 margin.
With the win, UT Martin starts the season at 3-1 overall for the first time since the 2005-06 Skyhawk squad won four of its first five games. Tonight’s win was also the biggest margin of victory in a nonconference road game since UT Martin won 84-65 at Central Arkansas on Dec. 31, 2008.
The Skyhawks boasted six players with eight or more points this evening, led by Myles Taylor’s 16 points. The senior forward out of Little Rock, Ark. went 4-for-6 from the floor and sank all eight of his free throw attempts while adding nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
Marshun Newell tied a career-high with four 3-pointers, scoring 15 points in 20 minutes tonight. Twymond Howard rode a strong first half to 14 points and seven rebounds while the backcourt trio of Alex Anderson, Deville Smith (five assists, four rebounds, three blocks, two steals) and Dee Oldham (five assists, seven rebounds and a steal) also added eight points apiece for UT Martin, who shot 52.4 percent (11-for-21) in the second half and knocked down 88.5 percent of its free throw attempts (23-for-26) for the game.
Bethune-Cookman (2-3) was led by Mikel Trapp (11 points) and Denzel Dulin (10 points). The Skyhawk defense held the Wildcats to 34.9 percent shooting for the contest (15-for-43) while winning the battle on the glass (37-28) for the fourth straight game.
Howard came out rolling, scoring the first six points for UT Martin. After a layup by Taylor evened the score at 8-all at the 17:15 mark of the first half, Bethune-Cookman went on an 8-1 run over a stretch of five minutes to take its biggest lead of the night at 16-9.
The Skyhawks then answered right back with a 16-3 run, ignited by six consecutive points by Newell. All in all, five different UT Martin players pitched in with points during the lengthy run which resulted in a 25-19 Skyhawk lead with 7:14 left to play in the first half.
Seven unanswered points by Bethune-Cookman would give the Wildcats a lead for a span of 1:39 but an old-fashioned three-point play by Oldham at the 3:35 mark gave UT Martin a lead it would not concede the rest of the way. In fact, the Skyhawks would open up a 13-1 run to close out the first half as Anderson and Howard each scored five points in the final 2:32.
Howard scored 13 points in the first half to lead all scorers while Trapp’s 11 points paced Bethune-Cookman.
The Wildcats were within single-digits until a three-point shooting spree by Newell quickly provided UT Martin with a comfortable advantage. The redshirt senior guard out of Memphis canned three trifectas in a span of 3:45 to help the Skyhawks go on a 13-0 run.
A three-pointer by Smith resulted in the biggest lead of the night for UT Martin (68-42) with seven minutes remaining as the stingy Skyhawk defense limited Bethune-Cookman to just two field goals in the final 9:05 of the contest.
BOWLING GREEN 62, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 54
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green (3-0) scored eight points in the final 1:53 to hang on for a 62-54 win over Southeast Missouri (2-3) Tuesday night at the Stroh Center.
Six of BGSU's final eight points came at the free throw line allowing the Falcons to pull away late.
Nino Johnson's jumper narrowed the Falcons lead to 54-52 with just under two minutes left. Jovan Austin countered with a runner in the lane and followed with two free throws after Southeast turned the ball over.
Johnson then missed two free throws before Zach Denny was fouled. Denny knocked down both of his shots to extend BGSU's lead to 60-52 with 22 seconds on the clock.
Nine seconds later, Spencer Parker added two more free throws, capping a streak of six in just 26 seconds to seal the Falcons third-straight victory.
Southeast started slow out of the gate, committing three turnovers and missing three field goals in the first four minutes as BGSU built a 10-2 lead.
After Chauncey Orr's layup capped BGSU's early run with 16:13 remaining in the first half, the Falcons went scoreless for the next 6:51. The Redhawks capitalized on the drought, scoring seven unanswered points. Bradley's pair of free throws made it a 10-9 game at the 10:23 mark.
Two possessions later, Bradley knocked down a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 12-12 with 8:46 left to play. The Redhawks then went ahead, 16-14, on Aaron Adeoye's free throws with just under seven minutes to go.
Southeast stretched its lead to five (21-16) on another Bradley three, but BGSU responded with a 10-2 run in the final 4:36 to take a 26-23 lead at the intermission.
The Redhawks led only once in the second half when Antonius Cleveland's layup gave Southeast a 30-28 edge with 15:53 remaining.
BGSU outrebounded Southeast, 38-30, and held a 15-7 advantage on the offensive glass. The Falcons also outscored the Redhawks, 36-20, inside the paint.
Bradley put up a double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead all scorers. He shot 5-of-12 from the field as all but one of those shots came from behind the three-point line. Bradley added a perfect 4-of-4 free throws and dished out two assists in 35 minutes.
Johnson followed with 10 points, four blocks and two steals in 33 minutes.
Meanwhile, Richaun Holmes and Parker paved the way for BGSU with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Southeast shot 41.3 percent (19-of-46) from the field on the night.
#23 CREIGHTON 75, EASTERN ILLINOIS 53
OMAHA, Neb. - Creighton hit six of seven shots to open the second half as the No. 23 ranked Bluejays pulled away from Eastern Illinois for a 75-53 win on Tuesday night. The game was played as part of the Emerald Coast Classic.
EIU dropped to 1-4 on the year while Creighton improved to 5-0.
Austin Chatman scored seven of Creighton’s first 12 points for the Bluejays as they pulled out to a 12-6 lead in the first four minutes.
LeTrell Viser drained a jumper with 12:16 to play to cut the Creighton lead to four at 18-14. The Bluejays then made five straight baskets on a 10-2 run to pull out to a 28-16 lead.
The Bluejays dominated play on the glass in the opening half with a 25-12 margin which resulted in 13 second chance points for Creighton. Geoffrey Groselle had ten first half points going 5-of-5 from the field.
EIU was cold from 3-point range hitting only 1-of-10 from the beyond the arc in the opening half. Dylan Chatman connected for the 3-pointer leading EIU with four first half points. EIU finished the game 6-of-19 from 3-point range.
Leading 39-20 at the half, Creighton opened the second half making six of seven from the field as they finished the night shooting 52 percent from the field.
EIU had nine points from Chris Olivier and Trae Anderson as they shot 50 percent in the second half.
Josh Piper had four rebounds to lead EIU but the Panthers lost the battle on the glass by a 38-25 margin. Creighton turned that advantage into 18 second chance points. James Milliken led the Bluejays with ten rebounds.
Groselle led Creighton with 15 points. Toby Hegner added 13.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 67, ALABAMA A&M 61
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Darion Rackley scored 26 points and the Jacksonville State men's basketball team held off Alabama A&M for a 67-61 road win on Tuesday at Elmore Gymnasium.
Rackley, a senior from St. Louis, was 10-for-17 from the floor and 3-for-6 from behind the arc to help lift the Gamecocks (2-3) to their second-straight win and their first on the road this season. The loss was the first at home for the Bulldogs (1-3) this season.
JSU and AAMU exchanged runs in the first half and early in the second half, but it would be an 18-4 spurt by the Gamecocks midway through the final half that built the lead for good. The Bulldogs couldn't put together enough to get back in it.
Rackley came one point shy of his career high and moved into seventh on the school's Division I scoring list, running his career total to 940 points. He is 13 away from Courtney Bradley in sixth place.
Junior Jeremy Watson was a rebound shy of his second double-double in as many games with 11 points and nine boards, while senior Avery Moore added 12 points, thanks to a 3-for-3 night from behind the arc.
The Bulldogs got double-doubles from Nicolas West and Ladarius Tabb. West scored 22 points and grabbed 10 boards, while Tabb had 12 rebounds to go along with 18 points.
JSU returns home for a pair of Thanksgiving weekend contests at The Pete, starting with a 6 p.m. game against Savannah State on Friday. The Gamecocks will then host Fort Valley State in a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m.
After five quick points from the Bulldogs to start the game, the Gamecock defense buckled in and sparked a 23-2 run that helped JSU build an early lead. AAMU slowly chipped away at its deficit to draw as close as six at 33-27 at the half.
Rackley made three of his four 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes to help score more than half of his team's 33 first-half points. The senior had 16 at the intermission, which moved him into eighth on the school's Division I career scoring list.
The Bulldogs kept their run rolling into the second half, scoring the first 10 of the half to build on a 20-10 stretch that gave them their first lead of the night at 35-33 on a Tabb tip in with just over 16 minutes to play.
Rackley got a steal and took it coast-to-coast with 13:58 to play to stop the AAMU run and snap a 7:55 field goal drought for the Gamecocks.
Avery Moore got the lead back for the Gamecocks with 11:17 to play, when he pulled up fro the top of the key and drained his second 3-pointer of the night and made it a 41-39 JSU advantage.
AAMU answered with a bucket, and then JSU scored 13 of the next 15 to build an 11-point lead at 54-43 with under eight minutes to play.
The Bulldogs cut it to eight twice and then pulled to within five on a Tyler Davis 3-pointer with 2:24 left in the game. They got it to a four-point game twice but the Gamecocks converted from the line to put the game away.