SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Jacksonville 75,
Jacksonville State 61
@Tennessee 67,
Tennessee State 46
JACKSONVILLE 75, JACKSONVILLE STATE 61
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The shots weren't falling for the Jacksonville State men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, when they dropped a 75-61 road game at Jacksonville.
The Gamecocks (7-7) got off to a slow start from the floor and couldn't recover, while the Dolphins (5-10) shot 57 percent from the floor in winning their third in the last four games.
Senior D.J. Felder scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the first half, while Jacksonville's Kori Babineaux led all scorers with 26 points in the win.
The Gamecocks shot just 28 percent in the first half and 35 percent from the game, despite attempting 22 more field goals than the Dolphins. Jacksonville did attempt 38 free throws to Jacksonville State's 24.
Senior Darion Rackley scored 10 points for JSU, using a 6-for-8 afternoon at the free throw line to help on a 2-for-13 game from the floor. JaQuail Townser and Undra Mitchem scored eight, while freshman Malcolm Drumwright added six on a pair of 3-pointers.
JU also got double figures from three other players, including 18 on 5-for-7 shooting from Andres Misters. The Dolphins' leading scorer scored all 18 in the second half after sitting much of the first half with foul trouble.
The Gamecocks were slow out of the gates on offense, making just two of their first 14 attempts from the floor to fall behind 11-4 early on. Jax State came to life on the defensive end, forcing back-to-back turnovers and scoring four in a row to cut into the lead.
JSU would get as close as two at two different points in the half before a late JU spurt gave the Dolphins a 25-20 lead at the half. Felder went 5-for-10 from the floor to lead JSU with 10 points, while Babineaux' 13 on 6-for-9 shooting led the Dolphins.
The Dolphins started the second half with another run, an 11-2 spurt to build a 40-27 lead with 15:22 remaining, their largest lead to that point.
JSU had a small answer with back-to-back 3-pointers from Drumwright, the Gamecocks' first treys of the game, to cut it to a 48-42 game with 9:54 on the game clock.
Jacksonville answered again, scoring seven of the next nine to rebuild a double-digit lead at 55-45 just under six minutes on the clock.
The Gamecocks couldn't mount a comeback from that point, dropping their third-straight on the road.
TENNESSEE 67, TENNESSEE STATE 46
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State University men’s basketball team fell to the University of Tennessee by a score of 67-46 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday night.
The Tigers (2-11) shot 47.8 percent from the three-point line, but were turned over 15 times by the Volunteers (7-4). Tennessee held TSU to a 29.2 percent clip in the second half.
Marcus Roper led the Tigers with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Jay Harris pitched in 15 points, shooting 5-for-12 from the floor.
Kevin Punter led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and a perfect 4-for-4 from the three-point line.
TSU held a 6-4 lead at the first media timeout but Tennessee quickly stole the advantage. At one point, the Volunteers held a lead as big as 14.
The Tigers were forced to live and die from beyond the arc as the Volunteers vehemently denied any attempt in the paint.
Trailing 27-13 at the 5:36 mark, TSU used its three-point shooting to cut the deficit to thee before half. The Tigers were 6-of-11 from three-point land in the first half.
Big Blue had 8 assists, as a team, for the first 20 minutes. The season average for the Tigers is 9.6.
TSU turned the first 10 minutes of the final half into a dogfight, but Tennessee’s post defense held strong and pushed them onto the victory.
With 14:26 to play in the game, Jay Harris hit his second straight trey in a row to give the Tigers a 38-37 lead. For the next seven minutes, the Volunteers went on a 16-2 run, powered by an electric crowd, which gave them the space they needed for the win.
Having averaged 21.9 fouls per game so far this season, TSU committed just nine for the night.
The Tigers 14 assists is the most they’ve had in five contests.
TSU has lost 10-straight games.