THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 96, Southeast Missouri 69
UT Martin 78, @Eastern Kentucky 70
Tennessee Tech 71, @Murray State 65
@Austin Peay 73, Jacksonville State 54
MOREHEAD STATE 96, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 69
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball team opened the game on a 16-2 run and was never threatened as they rolled past Southeast Missouri State in their OVC home opener, 96-69. Senior guard Brent Arrington led all scorers with a season-high 21 points.
The win moves the Eagles to 1-1 in league play and 7-7 overall. SEMO falls to 2-13 and 0-3 in the league.
After Southeast Missouri State scored the first basket of the game, the Eagles responded with 16 straight of their own to open a 16-2 lead. All five starters got into the scoring column during that 16-0 run and the Eagles continued to shoot it well throughout the night.
They went into the locker room with a 46-31 lead and after that initial run would not lead by less than eight points the rest of the way.
Eleven different players scored for Morehead State and Arrington, junior forward DeJuan Marrero (12), junior guard Corban Collins (11), sophomore guard Miguel Dicent (10), and junior forward Treshaad Williams (10) all finished in double figures.
The Eagles shot 55 percent from the floor on the night and after shooting 6-of-9 from three-point range in the first half, finished the game shooting 10-of-18 from deep. They finished with a season-high 29 assists and nearly set a season-high in steals with 14. They outrebounded the Redhawks, 39-33.
Arrington, a preseason All-OVC selection, finished with a season-high 21 points, shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range. He added five rebounds, five assists, and six steals.
UT MARTIN 78, EASTERN KENTUCKY 70
RICHMOND, Ky. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team led for nearly 36 minutes of clock time tonight but it took some late game heroics by Twymond Howard to lead the Skyhawks to a thrilling 78-70 win in their Ohio Valley Conference opener at Eastern Kentucky.
UT Martin (9-7, 1-0 OVC) led by 10 points at the halftime break but found itself down by two points with 6:41 remaining – its first deficit of the game. The Skyhawks then rode Howard’s shoulders to the finish line, as the senior out of Pearl, Miss. pumped in eight of UT Martin’s next 11 points down the stretch.
Jacolby Mobley nailed a pair of clutch free throws with under 30 seconds remaining and Alex Anderson scored the final four points of the game to ice the seventh consecutive win for the Skyhawks and the program’s first OVC-opening road victory since the 1998-99 season.
Mobley led UT Martin in scoring with 18 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 effort from three-point range. Howard ended his evening with 16 points while Myles Taylor tossed in 15 points with a game-high seven rebounds. Anderson also added nine points and a game-high five assists for the Skyhawks, who shot a season-best 58 percent (29-for-50) from the field.
Eastern Kentucky (10-7, 1-1 OVC) was led by Jarelle Reischel’s 22 points and seven rebounds. Javontae Hawkins (17 points), Isaac McGlone (13) and Nick Mayo (10) also reached double-figures in scoring for the Colonels, who shot 22.6 percent (7-for-31) from three-point land.
UT Martin began the game on a 9-2 run, as Taylor scored the Skyhawks’ first five points. Eastern Kentucky would only account for one field goal in the first four-plus minutes of the contest but would soon score seven unanswered points to tie the score at 9-all.
Mobley helped UT Martin go on another 9-2 run over a stretch of 2:38, allowing the Skyhawks to take an 18-11 lead in the process. The Colonels once again charged back to tie the game twice before Mobley knocked down three-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor, giving UT Martin a 26-20 advantage at the 8:33 mark.
Eastern Kentucky got within three points with six minutes to go before the halftime break but a Howard straightaway trifecta extended the Skyhawks lead out to 34-27. Mobley then heated up once again, scoring on a take to the hoop and a three-pointer from the left wing in the span of 1:14 to make the score 39-27 with 2:18 to play before the break.
Howard would add another trey for UT Martin before the Skyhawks settled on a 42-32 lead at halftime.
Mobley poured in a game-high 16 points on only seven shots in the first half, as UT Martin shot 60 percent (15-for-25) from the field – including seven 3-pointers. Eastern Kentucky was led by Reischel’s nine points, as the Colonels were held to 21.4 percent shooting (3-for-14) from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.
Jumpers by Richard Lee and Taylor helped the Skyhawks keep a 12-point lead early in the second half. UT Martin limited Eastern Kentucky to only one field goal in a stretch of 6:17 but back-to-back baskets by the Colonels sliced the Skyhawk lead to 54-50 with 9:22 left to play.
Taylor answered with an old-fashioned three-point play but an 8-0 Eastern Kentucky run resulted in the Colonels’ first lead of the contest (59-57) at the 6:40 mark. Howard’s heroics then guided UT Martin to the victory.
TENNESSEE TECH 71, MURRAY STATE 65
MURRAY, Ky. - A feat not accomplished in 1,042 days, over two full conference seasons and just shy of three full years, the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team provided the Murray State Racers a loss on their home court in the CFSB Center Thursday night, becoming the first Ohio Valley Conference team to defeat the defending league champs in Murray, Ky. since the 2012-13 season.
The Golden Eagles (11-5, 3-0), off to their best start in OVC play since the 2005-06 season, snapped a 17-game conference win streak and 17-game home win streak in league play by the Racers (7-8, 1-1), defeating the home team 71-65 in just the team's second road victory of the year. The W marks the first by a Tech squad in Murray since the 2004-05 regular season championship team accomplished the feat and provided TTU with its best start to a season since kicking of the 2005-06 campaign with the same 11-5 record.
Just how did the Golden Eagles pull off the program's first road victory at its longest-standing rival in over a decade? The same way the team has put together one of the best starts in school history; free throw shooting.
Ranked 19th in the nation in free throw percentage entering Thursday's contest, the Tech squad attacked the bucket with the same kind of grit and ferocity that led to two double-digit comeback victories earlier this season. The Golden Eagles knocked down 34 of their 39 attempts from the charity stripe in the night's victory, the third time this season the team connected on at least 30 freebies.
Tech was 37-of-45 from the line in an 86-82 overtime victory against Jackson State and 31-for-38 in the team's comeback win over in-state rival East Tennessee State.
Struggling with turnovers and shooting the 3-ball, Tech willed its way to a contest that featured four lead changes and just one double-digit advantage all game. The Golden Eagles pulled away late to go up by as much as 10 points, but for the most part, the game was seemed to always be within two buckets each way.
Tech's ability to knock its free shots, which translated into a 15-for-15 start in the game, led to the squad keeping the lead late in the closing minutes, despite a flurry of fouls in Murray State's desperate attempt to even the score. And while the contest marked just the second time all season the Golden Eagles failed to outscore themselves in the second half (recording one less point over the game's final 20 minutes than the contests' first half), the adjustment in shot selection and strategy proved to be the difference maker.
The Golden Eagles attempted a season-low 10 3-pointers in the contest, hitting all three of their makes in the first half alone. Tech made just seven second-half field goals, but also attempted just 15, electing to run the clock and work to get either a wide-open look near the basket or draw contact and head to the line.
When combined with the decision to play primarily zone defense on a team showing no shyness about jacking up the three-ball, the Golden Eagles found the winning recipe.
Playing every minute of the contest and leading all scorers with 25 points, Torrance Rowe put together a masterful performance at the charity stripe, sinking 15 free throws the second time this season. He finished the Jackson State game 15-for-167 from the line on his way to a career-high 35 points.
Crucial to the team's performance in the paint, Ryan Martin notched himself his fourth career double-double, scoring 18 points and hauling in 11 rebounds. The senior went 4-for-7 from the field, 1-for-1 from downtown and was a perfect 9-for-9 at the charity stripe, upping his already impressive free throw percentage to a whopping 82.2 percent for the year.
Despite being limited to just 23 minutes due to foul trouble, big man Anthony Morse made his time on the court count, going 5-for-6 from the field to the tune of 11 points. He also corralled six rebounds and posted the 85th block of his career, moving him into sole possession of seventh place all-time in program history.
Sinking all six of the Racers' 3-point makes on the night and leading the home team in scoring was senior Jeffery Moss, who finished the game with 20 points. Bryce Jones added 13 points, thanks to an 11-for-12 showing from the line. Wayne Langston also scored in double figures, notching 11 points.
AUSTIN PEAY 73, JACKSONVILLE STATE 54
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Chris Horton scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while the smothering Austin Peay State University defense limited Jacksonville State to just 30 percent shooting as the Governors rolled to a 73-54 victory, Thursday night, in Ohio Valley Conference action played in Dave Aaron Arena.
The victory improved the Govs to 8-9 overall and 1-1 in the OVC while Jacksonville State fell to 5-13 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Thursday’s game was one where the Govs led from the outset and never trailed. They jumped out to a 14-5 lead in the first seven minutes as Josh Robinson scored the game’s first five points on a layup and a three pointer. Horton had four early points but it was only after the Gamecocks cut the deficit to six, 14-8, that the Govs senior center took over, scoring APSU’s next six points on layups against undersized JSU for a 20-8 advantage.
On three different occasions the Gamecocks cut their deficit to nine but from the 5:28 point on, the Govs lead was double digits. Horton finished the first half with 19 points on 8-of-8 shooting and nine rebounds. Horton had one less field goal than JSU did in the opening half as the Gamecocks finished just 9-of-29 (31 percent) from the floor, although six were from three-point range.
In the second half, the visitors began just 3-of-17 from the floor as the Governors built a 24-point 63-39 advantage. After shooting 50 percent from three-point range in the first half, JSU connected on only 3-of-17 in the final half, two of those coming late.
Horton finished with his season’s 13th double-double while also dishing out three assists, blocking a trio of shots and collecting two steals. Sophomore guard Josh Robinson had an efficient 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting while also collecting a quartet of dimes—the same number as point guard Terrell Thompson. Junior guard John Murry came off the bench to add nine second-half points in his most productive outing against a Division I team since the Northern Colorado game back in November.
Although Khalil Davis had just six points, he limited Gamecock double-figure scorer Erci Durham to just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting. Davis also had three assists.
JaQuail Townser was JSU’s only double-figure scorer with 10 points as the Gamecocks connect only only 20 of 67 shots on the night.