SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Evansville 69,
Morehead State 56
@Texas Tech 90,
Eastern Kentucky 71
@Miami (Ohio) 76,
Austin Peay 70
Murray State 93, Green Bay 77 (Bowling Green, Ohio)
Tennessee State 74, @Middle Tennessee 63
@Eastern Illinois 73, Western Illinois 64
@Belmont 90, Western Kentucky 69
EVANSVILLE 69, MOREHEAD STATE 56
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Morehead State men's basketball fell on the road at Evansville, 69-56, on Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, the Eagles fall to 2-2 on the young season, while the Purple Aces improve to 2-1.
Morehead State trailed 33-29 at the half, but quickly took the lead in the second stanza as junior Miguel Dicent and senior Xavier Moon hit back-to-back threes.
Junior Soufiyane Diakite then hit one of two free throws to give them a 45-41 lead with 12:39 to go in the game.
But, the Eagles scored just 11 points the rest of the way.
A 13-2 run gave Evansville a 56-49 lead with 8:22 to go and the closest the Eagles would get the rest of the way was six points.
Moon led the Eagles for the second straight game with 14 points. He was 5-of-11 from the floor and 2-of-5 from three-point range.
Seniors Treshaad Williams and Ty'Quan Bitting combined for 21 points, with 19 of those points coming in the first half. Williams finished with 10 points and three rebounds, while Bitting had 11 points, just one shy of his career-high, and two rebounds.
For the first time this season, the Eagles were outrebounded, 31-24, and the Purple Aces finished with 36 points in the paint to MSU's 28.
Evansville shot 62 percent for the game and in the second half shot 15-of-19 from the floor for 79 percent.
Morehead State shot 43 percent for the game, but managed to shoot just 33 percent in the second stanza.
Senior Jaylon Brown led the Purple Aces with 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting.
TEXAS TECH 90, EASTERN KENTUCKY 71
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team ran out to an early 15-point lead on host Texas Tech, but the Red Raiders pulled away late in the game for a 90-71 victory over the Colonels on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena.
EKU (1-3) came out of the gates hot, connecting on seven of their first nine three-point attempts and grabbing an emphatic 27-12 lead when freshman guard Asante Gist knocked drained a triple with 12:57 to play in the first half.
Texas Tech (3-0) responded with a 15-0 run to tie it, but EKU took the lead again when junior forward Zach Charles scored in the paint to make it 29-27 with 7:36 on the clock.
EKU led, 38-36, with just over two minutes to play in the half, but TTU closed the half on a 10-3 run and a layup by Justin Gray just before the buzzer sent the Red Raiders into halftime with a 46-41 advantage.
Eastern was not finished, though. The Colonels stormed back to tie it, 57-57, on a jumper in the lane by sophomore Nick Mayo with 12:57 to play. After a turnover on the other end, EKU had a chance to take the lead, but a jumper by Gist missed.
The Colonels then went nearly six minutes without scoring, and the Red Raiders turned that drought into a 71-57 lead with 7:55 on the clock.
Tech led by double digits the rest of the way.
Gist led all players in the game with 21 points. He also added three assists and had only one turnover. EKU, as a team, committed only 10 turnovers in a tough road environment.
Three other Colonels reached double figures in the game. Senior Jaylen Babb-Harrison finished with 14 points and five rebounds. Charles – a Texas native – had 13 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Mayo contributed 13 points.
Eastern went 17-of-19 (90 percent) from the free throw line.
Shadell Millinghaus led Texas Tech with 20 points, while Aaron Ross notched a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) in the win.
MIAMI (OHIO) 76, AUSTIN PEAY 70
OXFORD, Ohio - Despite a furious second-half rally, Austin Peay State University men's basketball's second comeback bid in as many days fell short, with the Govs dropping a 76-70 decision to host Miami at Millett Hall.
Down 17 with 17 minutes to go, the Govs chipped away at the RedHawk lead, getting to within a point thanks to back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore Jared Savage with 2:19 remaining in the contest, capping a nearly 15-minute stretch that saw the Govs outscore the hosts 41-25. But the Govs could never find the go-ahead bucket, falling to 2-2 on the campaign.
Similar to the first half against Northern Kentucky, the Governors got off to a slow start against the RedHawks. Although the perimeter shot was not falling at all for Austin Peay in the first half—the Govs were just 2-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes—senior Kenny Jones led the way with 11 points and five boards in the opening half. Savage hit a few shots early and Josh Robinson came to life late; both finished the half with seven points.
Foul trouble shuffled Robinson to the bench for a large part of the second half, but Savage responded with a flurry of three-pointers and 13 points, finishing with a season-high 20, which included five three-pointers, and a career high-tying nine boards. Jones posted his second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
MURRAY STATE 93, GREEN BAY 77
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Murray State Racers used a 50-point second half to nail down a 93-77 win over the Green Bay Phoenix Saturday in the first round of the Bill Frack Tournament at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Trailing 45-36 with 3:21 in left the first half, the Racers rallied to cut the lead. Jonathan Stark made a steal in the closing seconds and hit a 3-point basket at the buzzer. It was his first field goal of the game after six misses and it cut the Green Bay lead t0 45-43 at intermission.
Stark was just getting started.
The junior guard hit three-straight 3-pointers to start the second half to give the Racers a 57-52 lead at 16:32. The Racer run continued when Gilbert Thomas made three baskets in a 21-7 run as the Racers built a 10-point lead with 12:50 left. When Jachai Taylor scored on a put-back at the 11:43 mark, MSU had a 70-57 advantage and held off any challenge from Green Bay.
The Racers used all 10 available players in the first half and all 10 scored.
That theme continued throughout the game as the Murray State bench contributed 41 points to the Racers’ win. Te bench had only seven total points in MSU’s games against Illinois State and Middle Tennessee. Jerami Grace and Gilbert Thomas each scored 12 points, while Jachai Taylor added 11. MSU’s group of four freshmen and a sophomore were key to the win.
The game turned on the Racers’ defense that held Green Bay to 27 percent from the field in the second half on 10-of-36 shots including 4-of-16 from the 3-point line for 25 percent.
TENNESSEE STATE 74, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 63
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - For the first time since Jan. 19, 1994, the Tennessee State men’s basketball team earned a road win at Middle Tennessee, defeating the reigning Conference USA Champions by a 74-63 final score at the Murphy Center on Saturday night.
Wayne Martin secured a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Jordan Reed and Tahjere McCall scored 23 and 16 points, respectively.
The win moves TSU to 4-0 for the third time since moving to Division I prior to the 1976-77 season. With the loss, MTSU falls to 2-1. TSU’s last win over the Blue Raiders came on Nov. 20, 2000 at the Gentry Center.
After trailing by as many as seven points on a three from MTSU’s Edward Simpson with 7:02 left in the first half, TSU was able to cut the deficit down to two on a number of occasions before halftime.
On the final play of the first half, Reed cleaned up a Martin miss with a tip-in at the buzzer to trim the Blue Raiders’ lead down to 30-28 heading to the locker room. Martin picked up a first-half double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Reed led the way with 13 points.
TSU cut the MTSU advantage down to one point at 35-34 on a jumper by McCall 2:30 into the second half. A free throw from Darreon Reddick with 15:14 on the clock tied the game at 37-37, but the Blue Raiders quickly responded, retaking the lead on the next possession.
Reddick’s three-pointer with 9:30 left gave TSU its first lead of the night at 47-46. Later in the half, trailing 50-49, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run capped by a Martin layup for a 59-50 lead with 6:12 left. In the second half, TSU finished 18-for-22 from the free throw line with Reed going 6-for-6 at key moments of the game.
MTSU was led by 18 points by JaCorey Williams.
For the game, the Tigers shot 51.1 percent (24-for-47) and held a 36-25 rebounding edge.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 73, WESTERN ILLINOIS 64
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Ray Crossland knocked down a pair of free throws with 11 seconds in the game as the Eastern Illinois men’s basketball team held off in-state rival Western Illinois in a 73-64 win in Lantz Arena on Saturday night.
EIU evened their season record with the win as the Panthers move to 2-2 on the season. WIU drops to 1-3 to begin the season.
Both teams started out cold from the field as Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois combined for just five points through the first four minutes in the first half. Muusa Dama gave the Panthers their first lead of the game at 4-3 after a dunk on an offensive rebound.
Demetrius McReynolds connected on a pair of free throws that sparked a 7-0 run as a jumper by Crossland extended the Panthers lead to 18-8 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
Eastern Illinois extended their first half lead to 10 points after Crossland stole a pass from WIU’s Delo Bruster and took the ball coast-to-coast for an easy fast break layup. Western Illinois cut the EIU lead in half after a 5-0 run capped off by three free throws from Garret Covington at the 2:43 mark in the first half.
Eastern Illinois took a 35-28 lead into halftime after McReynolds scored on a layup just before the end of the half. McReynolds scored nine of his team-high 21 points in the first half.
Eastern Illinois opened the second half on an 8-3 run as a Cornell Johnston 3-pointer at the 16:52 mark gave the Panthers a 12-point lead at 43-31. Johnston finished with 10 points in the game and four assists.
Western Illinois responded with a run of their own late in the second half. James Claar spotted up for a jumper with just over nine minutes remaining in the game and began a 11-5 run by the Leathernecks as a Bruster layup trimmed the EIU lead to five points at 61-56 with 4:18 remaining.
The Panthers on eight-straight free throws down the stretch to hold off the Western Illinois comeback as the Panthers finished 20-of-26 from the charity stripe.
Eastern Illinois had five players score in double figures led by McReynolds 21. Crossland (17), Goodwin (12), Johnston (10), Dama (10) also scored in double-digits for the Panthers. Dama and McReynolds corralled a team-high seven rebounds each.
BELMONT 90, WESTERN KENTUCKY 69
NASHVILLE - Behind 26 points and 14 rebounds from senior All-America candidate Evan Bradds, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Western Kentucky, 90-69, Saturday night.
The Bruins, coming off an uncharacteristic 9-for-41 3-point shooting performance Tuesday night at Vanderbilt, went a more customary 16-for-34 from long distance on the evening.
Western Kentucky made eight of its first 13 shots in claiming an early 21-10 lead following a basket from Damari Parris. But sparked by 11 quick points from junior Austin Luke, Belmont seized a 42-39 lead at halftime.
From there, senior Nick Smith caught fire in the second half, as three consecutive triples midway through the stanza pushed the Bruin lead to 75-60.
Bradds provided 16 points and 10 rebounds in the second half. Belmont shot 58 percent from the field, including 19-for-29 in the second 20 minutes.
Justin Johnson led Western Kentucky (2-1) with 17 points.