WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 94, Alcorn State 56
@Illinois State 64,
UT Martin 54
@Green Bay 66,
Morehead State 50
@Campbell 70,
SIUE 65
MURRAY STATE 94, ALCORN STATE 56
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers won their 200th game at the CFSB Center with a 94-56 victory Wednesday over the Alcorn State Braves. In their 17th season in the arena, MSU is 200-34 for an amazing winning percentage of 85 percent.
The Racers (7-4) pushed their winning streak to five and their home win streak to four.
Jarvis Williams led a quartet of Racers in double-figure scoring with 22 points and MSU also got a season-high 21 points from T.J. Sapp. Cameron Payne was an assist from a double-double with 14 points, while Jeffery Moss tossed in 10 points and six rebounds.
Williams helped the Racers start fast when he scored 11 points in the first nine minutes of the half. His rebound and score at the 11:00 mark gave MSU a 17-11 lead. Sapp hit the Racers' first three 3-pointers. His third pushed MSU in front 22-13 at 9:56.
MSU finished the half with a 10-0 run capped by a buzzer 3-pointer from Moss to give the Racers a 40-24 lead.
The Racers' run went all the way to 16-0 at the start of the second half for a 53-26 lead when Sapp hit a three with 16:37 left.
MSU eventually pushed ahead of ASU 88-46 with 2:29 remaining.
ILLINOIS STATE 64, UT MARTIN 54
NORMAL, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team left it all on the floor this evening but fell 64-54 at Missouri Valley Conference member Illinois State at Redbird Arena.
The Skyhawks (6-3) trailed by 10 points at the halftime break but came out on fire in the second half, knocking down their first 10 shot attempts to take a five-point advantage with 11:20 to play. The score was knotted at 52-all with just under four minutes to play before Illinois State closed out the game on a 12-2 run.
Deville Smith led UT Martin in scoring for the second straight game, pouring in 16 points while playing all 40 minutes. Marshun Newell also played the duration of tonight’s game, scoring 14 points while Twymond Howard compiled 11 points and a team-best eight rebounds for the Skyhawks. Alex Anderson added nine points, six rebounds and a game-high five assists for UT Martin, who shot 58.3 percent (14-for-24) in the second half.
Illinois State (6-3) was led by Daishon Knight, who scored all of his 18 points in the second half. Reggie Lynch scored 12 points while Justin McCloud compiled 11 points to round out the double-figure scorers for the Redbirds.
The Skyhawk defense came out on a mission, as Illinois State missed its first nine shot attempts until a McCloud layup at the 16:54 mark. Three-pointers by Smith and Newell accounted for the Skyhawks’ early offense and Javier Martinez followed with layups on back-to-back possessions to keep UT Martin close.
Newell canned a three-pointer from the left wing at the 11:18 mark to get the Skyhawks within a single point at 14-13. The Redbirds then answered with an 8-0 run but baskets by Howard and Anderson on two straight trips down the floor got the Skyhawks within five points (22-17) with less than five minutes to go in the first half.
However, Illinois State would score six of the next seven points to take a 28-18 lead into the halftime break.
Newell’s six points led the Skyhawks, who shot 25 percent (7-for-28) in the first half. Illinois State was led by McCloud’s eight points off the bench as the Redbirds shot 35.5 percent (11-of-31) in the first 20 minutes.
UT Martin connected on its first 10 shots of the second half to go on a 24-9 run out of the locker room. Smith was responsible for five of the Skyhawks’ buckets during the run while Howard added nine points during the spurt that resulted in a 42-37 lead for UT Martin.
The Skyhawks did not miss from the floor until the 10:50 mark of the second half but Illinois State would go on an 11-2 run over a stretch of 5:19 to go back ahead by a 48-44 margin.
UT Martin responded with an 8-2 run of its own, capturing a 52-50 lead thanks to a smooth fadeaway jumper on the left baseline from Anderson at the 5:16 mark.
The score was tied at 52-all with a tick under four minutes to play but the Redbirds claimed the next seven points in a span of 1:12 to go on top by a 59-52 margin. Newell would sink a pair of free throws with 2:05 left to play but that would ultimately be the last points that the Skyhawks would score the rest of the way.
GREEN BAY 66, MOREHEAD STATE 50
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay men's basketball team raced out to 12-0 advantage over the first six minutes and held Morehead State to 33 percent from the field en route to a 66-50 non-conference win on Wednesday evening at the Resch Center.
The Phoenix, which competes in the Horizon League, improves to 8-2 overall and 4-0 at home with its seventh victory in eight contests. The Eagles, who play in the Ohio Valley Conference, slip to 4-9 overall and 1-6 on the road with their fifth consecutive defeat.
Green Bay, which won its 2014 regular-season league championship, entered the day seventh in the NCAA's official RPI. It was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Morehead State missed its first 10 field-goal attempts and didn't score until the 13:34 mark of the opening half. The Eagles were limited to 27 percent from the floor before intermission. MSU hit 8-of-30 before the break and 9-of-21 in the second period.
MSU was whistled for 28 fouls, while UWGB committed just 16 infractions. The Phoenix was +14 on free-throw attempts and +8 on makes from the charity stripe.
Senior Keifer Sykes paced Green Bay with a game-best 17 points on 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, while junior Carrington Love added 12. Junior Jordan Fouse pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for UWGB, while Love distributed a team-best four assists.
Junior Brent Arrington led Morehead State with 13 points on 6-of-6 from foul line, while senior Kareem Storey added nine points. Junior Marcus Fuggins registered a team-high seven rebounds for the Eagles, while Storey was credited with a club-best four helpers.
Green Bay tallied advantages of 38-20 in the paint and 20-7 off turnovers. The Phoenix led from start to finish with its biggest cushion of 19 points coming at the 5:59 mark.
CAMPBELL 70, SIUE 65
BUIES CREEK, N.C. - For the second time in as many games, SIUE men's basketball suffered a single-digit defeat on the road, dropping a 70-65 decision at Campbell Wednesday night.
SIUE dropped to 1-7 with the loss. The Cougars have lost seven in a row, their longest losing streak since the 2009-2010 season. Campbell improved to 4-6.
The Cougars trailed 37-30 at halftime after Campbell's Reco McCarter banked home a three-pointer just before time expired before the break. The Camels quickly opened up their largest lead of the night when Kyre' Hamer hit a three-pointer and Andrew Ryan connected on a layup to make it 42-30 just a minute into the period.
SIUE used an 8-0 run to draw within four points (42-38) at the media timeout with 15:06 to play. Campbell extended its lead back to eight before the Cougars then used a 7-0 run to cut the lead to one (46-45) after Jake Newton drained a three-pointer with 10:34 left.
Try as they might, the Cougars never could get over the hump. A layup by Rozell Nunn made it 48-47 campbell with 9:38 to play. Kris Davis connected on a pair of free throws with 6:49 left to tie the score, 55-55. The Camels were never behind again.
Maurice Wiltz hit a three-pointer with 1:03 to play to make it 64-60. Hamer then hit two free throws to extend Campbell's lead to 66-60 with 50 seconds left.
After the Cougars forced a turnover, Donivine Stewart drove to the basket, hit a layup and was fouled with 29 seconds left. His free throw made it 66-65. Campbell hit four free throws over the last 22 seconds for the final margin.
Davis led all scorers with 16 points. He has now scored in double figures in five consecutive games, and six of the seven games this season. Nunn scored a season-high 11 points. Wiltz also scored a season-high 11 points. Stewart added 10 points and six assists.
Campbell was led by McCarter who scored 16 points. He was 6 for 8 from the free throw line. D.J. Mason scored 15 on 7-of-14 shooting from the field.
The Camels were 22-49 as a team (44.9 percent). Campbell came into the game with a 58 percent success rate at the free throw line. Wednesday the Camels were 18-24 (75 percent) from the line. SIUE was 22-51 (43.1 percent) for the game and just 14-22 (63.6 percent) from the free throw line.