THURSDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 66, @Austin Peay 55
@Murray State 78, SIUE 46
@Tennessee Tech 71, Tennessee State 52
@Southeast Missouri 98, UT Martin 76
EASTERN ILLINOIS 66, AUSTIN PEAY 55
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Seniors Reggie Smith and Josh Piper provided sparks at different times on Thursday night and newcomers Cornell Johnston and Trae Anderson provided the rest of the offense as Eastern Illinois picked up a 66-55 road win at Austin Peay.
EIU improved to 15-10 overall, 8-4 in the OVC. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Midwest. APSU fell to 7-18, 2-9 in the OVC.
The first half was back and forth between the two teams as they had ten lead changes and nine ties with EIU leading 39-31 at the half.
Johnston started the scoring for EIU before the opening tip sinking two free throws on a technical foul. Johnston would keep the offense flowing for the Panthers in the opening portion of the half scoring ten points by the second media timeout. Johnston had 15 points in the first half and 20 for the game. The freshman guard added eight assists.
The Governors were hot to open the half building a seven point lead with 12:36 to play. Josh Robinson connected for a 3-pointer to put APSU up 13-6.
EIU then made ten of its next eleven shots including closing the half on a 10-0 run capped with a Smith 3-pointer in the right corner as the clock expired. EIU shot 64 percent in the first 20 minutes and 57 percent for the game.
Anderson hit a basket to open the second half for EIU pushing the lead to double figures. The Panthers then went through a scoring drought that lasted six minutes, forty-one seconds. Smith ended the Panthers scoreless streak with a driving lay-up at the 11:19 mark, EIU regained the lead 43-41 after Robinson had tied it at 41-41 for the Governors.
Piper made his first appearance in the game midway through the second half and sparked EIU with back-to-back baskets to push the lead to 47-41. It was Piper’s 116th career game played as he moved to 8th on the EIU career games played list.
Robinson brought the Governors back within two points at 49-47 before Johnston sank a 3-pointer for EIU. The Panthers extended their lead to 58-49 on a jumper by Anderson. Anderson finished with 19 points for EIU.
Chris Freeman and Chris Horton both scored in double figures for Austin Peay. Freeman had 20. Horton had 13 points and nine rebounds. The EIU defense held APSU to 23 percent shooting for the second half and 33 percent for the game.
MURRAY STATE 78, SIUE 46
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers pushed their win streak to 20 Thursday with a 78-46 win over the SIUE Cougars at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
The Racers improved to 22-4 and 12-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference while extending the nation’s second-longest win streak.
Cameron Payne led the Racers with 20 points and six assists, while Jeffery Moss added 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Jonathan Fairell had his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. T.J. Sapp had 10 rebounds and Jarvis Williams had six blocked shots as each recorded career-highs.
The Racers started the game in fine fashion in jumping to a 24-10 lead at the 6:38 mark of the half. MSU finished the half on a 10-2 run to lead 40-16 at intermission.
In the second half, MSU led 66-32 with 9:34 remaining.
MSU was 29-of-52 from the field for 56 percent and they limited SIUE to 27 percent on 15-of-56 shots.
TENNESSEE TECH 71, TENNESSEE STATE 52
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - he mission now is to make it three-in-a-row. That comes on Saturday evening at Jacksonville State.
On Thursday, Tennessee Tech put together another solid team effort, featuring a stifling defensive performance, to claim a 71-52 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Tennessee State in Eblen Center.
It marked the fourth time in 2014-15 that coach Steve Payne's team has won back-to-back games. A win at JSU on Saturday would not only make it the first three-game win streak for the Golden Eagles (12-13/4-8 OVC), it would keep Tech in the chase for a spot in the OVC tournament in March.
The win Thursday was also a small measure of payback for an eight –point loss at Tennessee State (5-21/2-9 OVC) in Nashville in late January. It left the all-time series between the two schools deadlocked at 30-30.
Several players put up impressive numbers toward the win, with senior Dwan Caldwell leading the scoring. He used a 6-for-9 shooting effort to score 17 points and also grabbed seven rebounds and had two of Tech's 19 assists. Josiah Moore and Mason Ramsey each came off the bench to reach double digits, Moore scoring 13 with six rebounds and Ramsey with 10 points and six boards. Junior Charles Jackson, saddled with some foul trouble, finished with six points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Marcus Roper led all scorers, topping TSU with 21 points, while Jay Harris added 10. Xavier Richards had eight points and nine rebounds, and topped the Tigers with three assists.
Tech's defense was sensational through most of the first 20 minutes, limiting TSU to 29.2 percent (7-for-24) shooting from the field while creating a 12-point halftime advantage.
It took a while to get there, however, as the Tech offense didn't convert opportunities into points several times. Through eight minutes, the Golden Eagles led by one point and through 12 minutes, the Tech margin was just two points.
With 7:16 to play in the period, the Tigers were within one at 18-17 on a layup by Christian Mekowulu. Tech's lead was two points, 25-23, with 4:34 remaining before the break when Richards hit a layup.
Tech finally clicked through the final four minutes, putting together a 10-0 run on the strength of two 3-pointers by Moore and two jumpers from Ramsey. Tech was on top 37-25 at the intermission.
Torrance Rowe got things started in the second half with a 3-pointer, one of his 3-for-5 showing from downtown, and Tech's lead scooted upwards to 16 then 18 points. The only pushback from the Tigers made it a 12-point game before the Golden Eagles posted their largest lead of the night at 21 points. That came twice, the last at 71-50 with 2:01 to play.
It was Tech's first double figure victory over Tennessee State since a 20-point win in 2007, in a series marked by tight battle for the past eight years.
In addition to their 19 assists, the Golden Eagles held a 44-32 edge in rebounds and forced 20 TSU turnovers, converting those to an 18-6 advantage in points of turnovers.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 98, UT MARTIN 76
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Jarekious Bradley scored 21 points to lead five players in double figures as Southeast Missouri (12-13, 6-6) hammered UT Martin (15-9, 7-4), 98-76, Thursday night at the Show Me Center.
The Redhawks established new season-highs in points, three-pointers made (12), first-half points (53) and field goal percentage (58.5).
Southeast and UTM were on fire in the first half, as both teams shot over 58 percent from the field. The Redhawks had three players in double figures during their strong start which resulted in a double-digit halftime lead.
Southeast led, 37-31, with 6:25 remaining when it used a 10-0 run to take a 16-point advantage. Walk-on J.T. Jones made a layup and Marcus Wallace knocked down a three-pointer. Antonius Cleveland then followed with two free throws before Isiah Jones buried a three to extend the Redhawks lead to 47-31 with 3:06 left to play.
Bradley also gave the Redhawks a huge lift early, making his first four field goals en route to 15 first-half points. Bradley, Cleveland (11 pts.) and Jones (10 pts.) combined to shoot a scorching 70 percent (14-of-20) from the field. As a team, Southeast shot 58.8 percent (20-of-34), its best first-half field goal percentage this season. The 53-40 halftime cushion also marked the Redhawks first double-digit lead at the break since Jan. 3 (42-30 at Tennessee State).
Southeast continued to pour it on in the second half and built its biggest lead of the night when Bradley's jumper ran the score to 84-57 with 9:13 on the clock. The Redhawks never let their lead dip below 19 after that, polishing off their fourth win by 20 or more points this year.
Bradley shot 8-of-13 from the field, 2-of-4 from downtown and 3-of-3 at the free throw line. He also had two steals and one assists in 28 minutes, collecting his fourth 20-point game. Cleveland followed close behind with a season-high 19 points. He made 8-of-11 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws in 36 minutes.
Jones, who buried a team-high four threes, added 16 points, while Nino Johnson turned in a double-double 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Marcus Wallace chipped in 14 points. Walk-on J.T. Jones contributed big minutes for the second game in a row, this time scoring a season-best seven points and dishing out three assists. Jones played 14 minutes, his most in a game this year.
Southeast shot a blistering 38-of-65 from the field and made 48 percent (12-of-25) of its three-point attempts. The Redhawks outrebounded the Skyhawks, 32-28, held a 38-18 advantage in the paint and scored 25 points off 17 turnovers. Additionally, Southeast's bench scored a season-high 45 points.
Twymond Howard and Deville Smith led UTM with 21 and 20 points, respectively.
Southeast won its first game on national television with Nutt as its coach. The Redhawks were 0-10 in such games prior to tonight.