WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee Tech 63, East Tennessee State 61
@Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 61,
Austin Peay 48
@Houston 93,
Murray State 78
@Southern Illinois 74,
Southeast Missouri 50
Morehead State 60, @Saint Louis 46
TENNESSEE TECH 63, EAST TENNESSEE STATE 61
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It was defensive standoff from baseline to baseline Wednesday night, and Tennessee Tech simply couldn't buy a basket in the second half, but somehow the Golden Eagles (6-2) won their fifth in a row with a heart-stopping, 63-61 non-conference victory over East Tennessee State (3-4) in Eblen Center.
Senior Ryan Martin topped the effort with 18 points and 14 rebounds, going 9-for-11 at the free throw line where the Golden Eagles found a way to win the game. Tech was 25-for-28 at the line in the second half and 31-for-38 for the game.
Torrance Rowe added 11 points and four assists, while Anthony Morse chipped in with six points, seven rebounds and four of Tech's nine blocked shots.
The Golden Eagles missed their first 13 shots in the second half and fell behind by 15 points, 50-35, with 11:01 remaining as ETSU went on a 22-2 run. The Bucs hit six consecutive shots and were 10-for-14 while sneaking ahead.
That should have doomed the Golden Eagles, but Tech attacked the glass and earned a week's worth of trips to the free throw line while picking up its defensive intensity.
The Golden Eagles were just 3-for-24 from the field in the second half, but one of those was a critical 3-pointer by Aleksa Jugovic with 3:39 remaining that tied the game at 59-59.
ETSU tied things at 61-all with 2:27 to play on a jumper by T.J. Cromer, and the defenses took over for the next minute-plus. Tech missed four shots and the Bucs missed a layup, any of which would have forged a late lead. After ETSU missed two free throws with 1:01 to play, Martin snapped down the rebound, then made one free throw with 44 seconds left for a 62-61 lead.
The Golden Eagle defense forced another missed shot and Martin grabbed his 14th rebound of the night, setting the stage for Torrance Rowe to add one free throw for a 63-61 lead.
The Bucs had the final chance to tie or win it, but Cromer missed a jumper with four seconds left and Ge'Lawn Guyn's 3-point try at the buzzer hit the front of the rim.
ETSU, which has lost three straight since downing Georgia Tech, was led by Cromer with 15 points and three assists, while 7-footer Peter Jurkin added 10 points and seven rebounds before drawing his fifth foul. He was one of three ETSU players to draw five fouls, while Tech lost center Anthony Morse to fouls. Guyn finished with nine points, four rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Tech finished shooting 15-for-49 from the field for 28.6 percent, and was 4-for-20 fro 3-point range for 20 percent. Tech owned a 51-34 margin in rebounds, and overcame 20 turnovers.
ETSU shot 36.6 percent (26-for-71) from the field and 25 percent (4-for-16) outside the arc. The Bucs were 5-for-9 at the free throw line, had 11 turnovers and 11 steals.
TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI 61, AUSTIN PEAY 48
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Dave Loos has a simply philosophy about basketball success on the road. “You have to take your defense, rebounding and free-throw shooting,” the longtime Austin Peay State University basketball coach says.
The Governors accomplished two of three Wednesday night in the American Bank Center against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi…but they failed miserably at the third.
The Governors out-rebounded the Islander 40-33 and held the home team to just 42 percent shooting and 61 points. But the Govs’ shot an abysmal 33 percent—8-of-24—as they fell 61-48 in the first game of a five-game road trip.
The Governors almost were as bad from the floor (35 percent/19 of 55) as they were at the free throw line. They converted just 8 of 28 second-half shots (29 percent). That is where the Islanders gained footing against APSU. They shot 52 percent (11 of 21) from the field, with guard Brandon Pye scoring of his team-high 16 points, in the second half as they used an 11-0 second-half run to gain a 43-33 lead.
And on a night that saw the Govs struggling to buy a basket, it might as well have been a 20-point deficit.
The Govs’ lone bright spot—and only double-figure scorer—was Chris Horton. The nation’s fourth-leading rebounder (12.9 rpg) finished with 14 while scoring 18 points. The senior center went 8-of-14 from the floor, meaning the rest of the Govs went only 11-of-41 (27 percent). But Horton, who fought himself some at the free-throw line against Samford, finished only 2-of-9 at the line as those struggles continued.
In the first half, the game simply was ugly. The Govs shot 41 percent (11 of 27)—with zero three pointers (they had just two on the night)--and that was still better than the Islanders’ 33 percent (9 of 27). Both teams committed 10 turnovers. The Govs’ saving grace was Horton, who had 11 points (4 of 5 from the floor) while grabbing seven rebounds.
Thomas, the reigning Southland Player of the Week, struggled to a 2-of-9 first-half performance. His frustration spilled over when he fouled Horton after the Govs center stripped him of the basketball inside. But Thomas finished with 10 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks—two in the second half that extended the Governors drought. Bryce Douvier, the burly 6-7, 235-pound forward, added 15 points.
HOUSTON 93, MURRAY STATE 78
HOUSTON - The Murray State Racers dropped a 93-78 defeat Wednesday to the Houston Cougars at Hofheinz Pavilion in Texas.
Wayne Langston and Bryce Jones each scored a double-double. Langston scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Jones had 10 assists to go with 14 points. MSU placed five in double figure scoring including a team-high 17 from Gee McGhee and 14 from Jeffery Moss and 11 from Chad Culbreath.
MSU (5-3) trailed 51-35 at the half, but came back to outscore the Cougars (5-0) in the second half 43-42.
The Racers tried to make a run at UH when they cut the lead to 59-48 with 12:46 left, but couldn’t get closer.
With their highest point output against a D-I foe this season, the Racers made 44 percent from the field on 30-of-69 shots, including a season-high nine 3-point baskets. The Racers also had a season-high against a D-I team 20 with assists.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 74, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 50
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southeast Missouri (0-6) committed a season-high 21 turnovers in a 74-50 loss to Southern Illinois (7-1) Wednesday night at SIU Arena.
SIU scored 19 points off turnovers and outscored Southeast, 48-26, in the paint. Sean O'Brien finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, collecting his third-straight double-double.
SIU led, 38-35, with 15:03 left in th game, but outscored Southeast 36-15 the rest of the way. Tyler Smithpeters knocked down a 3-pointer to kickstart the rout that saw seven different Salukis score.
Both teams started slow in the first half, as it took eight minutes for either squad to get double figures in the scoring column. SIU and Southeast combined to miss 17 shots and commit 12 turnovers.
Southeast's zone defense limited the Salukis to 2-of-15 from 3-point range in the game's opening 20 minutes, but O'Brien shot 6-of-10 from the field with 12 first-half points.
The Redhawks trailed by five at halftime and kept it close for five minutes in the second half before falling apart. They shot just 34 percent from the field, including 3-of-15 from beyond the arc.
SIU had its share of struggles from the perimeter, making just 5-of-27 from 3-point range. Beane was 4-of-8, but the rest of his teammates went a combined 1-of-19. The Salukis did not attempt a free throw in the game until O'Brien made a pair with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
Ladarius Coleman scored a career-high 10 points off the bench to lead Southeast. Coleman shot 3-of-5 from the field and made a perfect 4-of-4 free throws in 29 minutes. Trey Kellum and Antonius Cleveland each followed close behind with nine points. Cleveland had a team-high six rebounds, as well.
Anthony Beane, Mike Rodriguez and Austin Weiher joined O'Brien with double-digit points. Beane had 16 points, while Rodriguez added 10 points and seven assists. Weiher contributed a career-best 10 points off the bench.
The Redhawks shot only 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from the field in the second half.
MOREHEAD STATE 60, SAINT LOUIS 46
ST. LOUIS - Morehead State jumped out to a 38-15 lead at the half and held on to win, 60-46, at Saint Louis on Wednesday night. The win moves the Eagles to 5-1, which is their best start since the 1990-91 season.
The Eagles opened up the game late in the first half. They led 22-11 with just under eight minutes to go and then utilized an 11-2 run to open it up 33-13. They then went into the half with a 38-15 lead after junior guard Corban Collins drilled a three-pointer at the horn.
At the start of the second half, they quickly expanded that lead to a game-high 26 points when senior guard Brent Arrington made his third three-pointer of the game on their first possession, opening the lead to 41-15.
In the second half, Saint Louis outscored the Eagles, 31-22. The closest the Billikens got in the second half was at 49-37 with five minutes to go in the contest. Following a Morehead State timeout, junior guard Xavier Moon connected on back-to-back buckets and the Eagles mounted a 7-0 run of their own, reopening the lead back to 56-37 and putting the game away in the process.
The Morehead State defense took control from the onset. At the first media timeout of the game, the Billikens had four turnovers and just one field goal attempt, as the Eagles jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead.
On the night, MSU limited the Billikens to 38 percent shooting, and they shot just 1-of-9 from deep. The Eagles had 15 blocks, forced 20 turnovers, and outrebounded Saint Louis, 34-25.
As good as their defense was throughout, their offense was nearly as good for the first 20 minutes. In the first half, the Eagles shot 15-of-31, knocked down 5-of-9 three-pointers, and had 10 assists. They finished the first half with 17 points off turnovers.
Nine different players scored for the Eagles and Arrington was the lone player to finish in double figures with 10 points. Seniors Anthony Elechi and Lyonell Gaines and junior Treshaad Williams added eight points, and Elechi also finished with nine rebounds. Gaines had five rebounds, three assists, and three steals in 21 minutes of action.
Collins finished the game with six points and two assists, but played just 20 minutes after missing the majority of the second half with an injury.