SATURDAY'S SCORES
@#11 Louisville 87,
Eastern Kentucky 56
East Tennessee State 78,
@Morehead State 68
Eastern Illinois 67, @Missouri 64
@Saint Louis 72,
SIUE 58
@South Dakota State 88,
Murray State 84 (OT)
@Missouri State 71,
Southeast Missouri 66
Lipscomb 81,
@Tennessee Tech 79
@UT Martin 97, Bethune-Cookman 72
Evansville 77,
@Austin Peay 69
Belmont at Green Bay (postponed)
#11 LOUISVILLE 87, EASTERN KENTUCKY 56
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - No. 11 Louisville closed the first half on a 20-0 run as the Cardinals pulled away to defeat the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team, 87-56, on Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center
EKU silenced the Yum! Center crowd early, as the Colonels ran out to a 7-0 lead when junior forward Zach Charles threw down a dunk at the 18:11 mark of the first half.
Eastern still led, 14-11, when freshman forward Marlon Adams converted a layup with 12:11 showing on the clock.
With the game tied, 16-16, Louisville guard Quentin Snider rattled off eight straight points to spark Louisville on a 20-0 run over the final seven minutes of the half. The host Cardinals took a commanding 36-16 lead into the locker room at the break.
UofL lead by double digits the rest of the way.
Sophomore forward Nick Mayo paced EKU with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and a block. The reigning Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year leads the Colonels in scoring this season at 18.9 points-per-game.
Freshman guard Asante Gist finished with 12 points, three assists and two steals, while Adams came off the bench to tally 10 points, three rebounds and two blocks. Freshman forward DeAndre Dishman pulled down a team-high eight rebounds in the loss.
Donovan Mitchell led four Louisville players in double figures with 15 points.
Louisville entered the game as one of the top defensive teams in the country, and it showed. The Cardinals stifled the Colonels to 35.6 percent (21-of-59) shooting from the floor – their third lowest percentage of the season.
EAST TENNESSEE STATE 78, MOREHEAD STATE 68
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Senior forward DeJuan Marrero recorded 17 points and 12 rebounds for his third straight double-double, but Morehead State men's basketball fell to East Tennessee State, 78-68, at Johnson Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The loss marks the eighth straight for the Eagles and their record falls to 2-8. ETSU improves to 9-2 on the year.
The Eagles trailed by as many as 23 points, but twice in the second half battled back from 20 points down to trim the ETSU lead to single digits.
Morehead State had the ball down eight at 76-68 with 1:54 to go, but junior guard Miguel Dicent's three-point attempt rimmed in and out and they did not score the rest of the way.
The Eagles shot just 32 percent from the floor and 5-of-20 from three-point range, while East Tennessee State shot 50 percent and 10-of-19 from beyond the arc.
After being outrebounded, 21-19, in the first half, Morehead State beat the Bucs on the glass, 25-15 in the second stanza. Overall, they outrebounded ETSU, 44-36, and had 19 second chance points to their six.
Senior guard Xavier Moon led the way with 19 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals, but shot just 8-of-21 and 1-of-6 from three-point range. He played all 40 minutes.
With 17 points and 12 rebounds, Marrero now has double-doubles in his last three games and five on the season. He shot 8-of-18 from the floor and also added three blocks.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 67, MISSOURI 64
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Montell Goodwin and Demetrius McReynolds hit big 3-pointers in the final minutes as Eastern Illinois shocked Missouri, 67-64, on Saturday afternoon in Mizzou Arena.
EIU improved to 7-4 on the season while Mizzou fell to 5-5. It was the Panthers third win over a Power 5 school with previous wins over Ole Miss and Wisconsin.
Goodwin snapped a cold streak from 3-point range for the Panthers in the first half as EIU opened the game 0-of-14 from 3-point range. Goodwin knocked a 3-pointer with 1:28 to play in the first half that tied the game at 30-30 in the first half. Mizzou led 32-30 at the half.
EIU opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers by Cornell Johnston and Goodwin. Johnston dropped in another 3-pointer to put EIU up 53-46 with 12:35 to play. EIU was 7-of-14 from 3-point range in the second half.
Mizzou tied the game with ten minutes left and the two teams traded the lead until the final four minutes. Willie Jackson had a put-back dunk that put Mizzou up three with 4:31 remaining.
Goodwin answered with a 3-pointer with 4:09 to play. After a break-away lay-up by Frankie Hughes put the Tigers up 63-61 with 3:31 to play, McReynolds gave the Panthers a lead with a 3-pointer at 3:14. Goodwin gave the Panthers their final bucket with 1:36 to play and Mizzou missed its final three shots.
Eastern Illinois fell behind by as many as ten points in the first half as the Panthers had a cold streak of 7:32 in which the Panthers failed to knock down a field goal. Mizzou took an 18-8 lead on a lay-up by K.J. Walton with 10:31 to play in the first half.
McReynolds snapped the Panthers cold streak with a jumper on the right baseline with 10:08 to play. McReynolds scored six straight points as the Panthers closed the Mizzou lead down to five points. McReynolds had ten first half points finishing the game with 16 points.
Mizzou led 32-30 at the half after shooting 46 percent from the floor in the first half. EIU kept the game close in the first half hitting 11-of-12 from the foul line. The Panthers shot 27 percent from the field in the first half including 1-of-15 from 3-point range. Montell Goodwin broke the seal for Panthers 3-pointers with 1:28 to play in the half that tied the game at 30-30. Goodwin led all players with 22 points.
Walton and Jackson led Mizzou with nine points each.
It was the first win by an OVC team over a Southeastern Conference opponent since Murray State beat Auburn on Nov. 15, 2012.
SAINT LOUIS 72, SIUE 58
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis used a 14-4 run late in the second half to push past SIUE men's basketball 72-58 Saturday at Chaifetz Arena.
The three-point basket proved pivotal for the Billikens, 4-7, hitting 9 of 20 for the game. When SIUE had cut a second-half double-digit lead to 55-50 with 8:52 to play after a 12-0 run, SLU responded with baskets from beyond the three-point arc from Mike Crawford and Elliott Welmer.
The Cougars, 4-7, showed an unwillingness to back down from Saint Louis. SIUE won the battle of the boards 40-38, including 14 offensive rebounds.
SLU, 4-7, grabbed a 43-29 lead by halftime, holding the Cougars to 25.7 percent shooting (9-35) from the field. The Billikens shot 57.1 percent (16-28) from the field in the opening 20 minutes.
Carlos Anderson was SIUE's spark on offensive with 14 points. Burak Eslik scored 11 points, and Devin Thornton added a career-best 11 points.
Reggie Agbeko matched his career high with 20 points for Saint Louis, hitting 8 of 11 shots from the field.
MURRAY STATE 88, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 84 (OT)
BROOKINGS, S.D. - The Murray State Racers took the lead in overtime, but fell 88-84 against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits Saturday at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D.
Jonathan Stark scored 32 points for the Racers and tied a Murray State single-game record with nine 3-point baskets.
The Racers (5-7), who made a run at ending SDSU's 33-game home win streak, are back at home Thursday when they host the Wright State Raiders at the CFSB Center at 7 p.m.
It was Stark's 3-pointer with 55-seconds remaining that tied the game at 72-72. After getting a defensive stop, the Racers had a chance to win the game, but Stark missed at 3-point try which sent them to their second overtime game this season.
MSU took its first lead of the game when Jones was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit all three from the free throw line for a 75-74 lead with 3:41 left. The lead grew to 79-76 on a rare four-point play by Stark when he was fouled on a 3-pointer. He made the shot and the ensuing free throw with 3:10 left. The Racers lost the lead for good with 2:34 left when SDSU's Reed Tellinghulsen made a free throw. The Racers cut the lead to 85-84 when Stark hit a 3-pointer with 26-seconds left, but MSU couldn't get another chance to either tie or take the lead.
The Racers tied the school record with 17 made 3-point baskets. The Racers set the record against Campbellsville in old Racer Arena with 17 threes in 1994.
MISSOURI STATE 71, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 66
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (4-7) made a ferocious run late, but came up short in a 71-66 loss to Missouri State (7-3) Saturday night at JQH Arena.
In-state foes SEMO and MSU hooked up for the second time in 10 days and it was a tale of two halves for the Redhawks in this one.
The Redhawks trailed by as many as 20 points before using a 12-0 run to narrow MSU's lead to 65-63. Antonius Cleveland scored eight-straight points to ignite the surge that ended on Denzel Mahoney's two free throws with 2:10 remaining.
SEMO had a chance to tie the game when William Tcheingang rebounded Dequon Miller's missed jumper. However, Cleveland was called for an offensive foul and exited the game with 1:08 left. Ryan Kreklow split two free throws to give the Bears a 66-63 edge shortly after Cleveland fouled out.
Daniel Simmons then missed a jumper on the Redhawks next possession. Ronnie Rousseau III rebounded the ball and Miller buried a 3-pointer from the left corner to widen MSU's lead to six with 34 seconds on the clock. The Bears made three more free throws in the final seconds to secure the win.
SEMO missed 23 field goals and shot just 28.1 percent in a cold first half that hurt in the end.
The Redhawks scored their first two baskets of the game to pull ahead, 4-0, and that was their only lead of the night. Meanwhile, MSU received a big lift from its bench, which accounted for 31 points. Kreklow (11) and Chris Kendrix (10) combined for 21. Kreklow nailed his first 3-pointers to key a 16-2 run that gave the Bears a 30-14 advantage.
MSU led by 16 twice more before heading into the locker room with a 38-23 advantage. SEMO fell behind at the half for the sixth-straight game and ninth time in 11 contests this season.
Cleveland netted a season-high 23 points. He shot 9-of-17 from the field, drained two 3-pointers and made 3-of-3 free throws. Cleveland also grabbed six rebounds in 38 minutes. Mahoney followed with 18 points, including 15 in the second half. He did not miss at the free throw line going 5-of-5.
Tchiengang contributed six rebounds and four points in 19 minutes. He made his first career start in place of Trey Kellum, who did not play due to a knee injury he sustained in practice this week.
Kreklow led MSU with 17 points and went 4-of-6 from downtown. Rousseau and Kendrix also scored double-digits with 15 and 12, respectively. Alize Johnson had a game-high 11 rebounds, but did not score a point in 23 minutes.
SEMO outscored MSU, 43-33, in the second half. The Redhawks forced 22 turnovers and collected 14 steals. It was the second-straight game and third time this season where SEMO forced 20 or more turnovers.
Additionally, the Redhawks made 10-of-10 free throws in the second stanza.
LIPSCOMB 81, TENNESSEE TECH 79
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Josh Williams stole what seemed to be a Golden Eagle victory Saturday evening, as Lipscomb shocked the Tennessee Tech men's basketball time in a heart-breaker, 81-79.
Trailing 79-78, Lipscomb's Garrison Mathews scooped up a loose ball after the Bisons' inbounds pass with four seconds left to play was knocked away from its target by Tech's Stephuan Adams. Mathews found an open Williams who buried the triple with two tenths of a second left.
The two sides fought tooth and nail throughout the night in a contest that featured 14 lead changes and a tied score eight times. The Golden Eagles forced 26 Lipscomb turnovers on the night, compiling 11 steals along the way, but Tech also struggled to maintain control of the ball, turning it over 21 times.
The Golden Eagles saw a slight uptick in its field goal percentage, shooting 46.7 percent from the floor while also knocking down 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. Lipscomb posted just slightly better numbers, finishing at 52.8 and 46.2 percent, respectively. Both sides struggled from the charity stripe, with Tech hitting 58.3 percent while the Bisons converted just 56.5 percent.
Williams led all scorers in the contest with 25 points, finishing 9-of-12 from the floor while junior guard Aleksa Jugovic led the Golden Eagles with 24 points. The native of Serbia finished 8-of-16 from the field and 6-for-11 from downtown. He also finished 2-for-2 from the free throw line, extending his streak to 17 consecutive makes from the stripe.
Making his debut in the Hooper Eblen Center, junior wing Curtis Phillips Jr. tallied a season-high 13 points, finishing 5-for-6 from the floor before fouling out. He also led all players with three steals. Senior guard Kajon Mack posted 18 points and six rebounds while fellow senior Hakeem Rogers concluded the night with 11 points.
UT MARTIN 97, BETHUNE-COOKMAN 72
MARTIN, Tenn. - Kedar Edwards compiled a triple-double while Javier Martinez was responsible for a career-high in points as the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team blew past Bethune-Cookman in a 97-72 win at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Edwards racked up 15 points, a career-best 11 assists and a game-high 10 rebounds tonight to become only the third Skyhawk to amass a triple-double, joining Lester Hudson (quadruple-double against Central Baptist on Nov. 13, 2007 and against Southeast Missouri on Feb. 16, 2008) and Deville Smith (at Northwestern State on March 19, 2015).
Martinez went off for a career-high 27 points on 12-of-16 shooting, accomplishing that feat in just 26 minutes of play. Fatodd Lewis (12 points), Matthew Butler (10 points) and Malik London (career-high 10 points) also reached double-figures in scoring.
Jalen Jackson added career-highs of eight points and seven assists for UT Martin (9-4), who handed out 27 assists while shooting 77.8 percent (21-of-27) in the second half.
Bethune-Cookman (3-9) was led by Reggie Baker’s 22 points while Diamante Lewis tossed in 19 points for the Wildcats, who connected on 40.9 percent (27-for-66) of their field goal attempts this evening.
UT Martin led for 38:45 of clock time tonight, scoring the first four points of the game on jumpers by Martinez and Butler. A fast break layup by Jackson at the 14:01 mark capped off a 10-2 run and provided the Skyhawks with a 16-7 advantage.
A pair of Martinez free throws with 9:40 to go in the first half extended UT Martin’s lead out to double-digits at 29-19. Bethune-Cookman sliced its deficit to four points but Martinez accounted for three layups in the span of 1:11 to swing the advantage back out to 36-26.
The Wildcats were able to close out the first half on a 7-0 run as the Skyhawks held on to a 42-39 lead at the break. Martinez tallied 18 points while Baker’s 20 points paced Bethune-Cookman.
After the Wildcats tallied the first five points of the second half to take their first lead of the contest, Edwards and Martinez combined to score nine consecutive UT Martin points to nudge the Skyhawks ahead by a 51-46 margin.
Martinez sank a fast break layup at the 16:14 mark to make the score 55-46 but Bethune-Cookman got back within four points (62-58) a little under three minutes later.
UT Martin answered with a 29-6 run – doing a majority of its damage with a lineup that consisted of Jackson, Butler, Lewis, Kahari Beaufort and London. An alley-oop layup from Edwards to London at the 3:40 mark provided the Skyhawks with their biggest lead of the night at 91-64 on the way to the victory.
EVANSVILLE 77, AUSTIN PEAY 69
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - A barrage of second-half three-pointers from Josh Robinson and Zach Glotta gave Austin Peay State University men's basketball team a late lead against Evansville, but a cold spell in the final minutes ultimately proved to be the Govs undoing in a 77-69 defeat at the Dunn Center.
In a back-and-forth contest that saw seven ties and 12 lead changes, the Governors got the upper hand early, working their way out to a 22-13 lead with 6:57 to go in the first half on the strength of an 11-0 run that included three-pointers from Glotta and junior Tre' Ivory.
But Evansville would outscore the Govs 23-9 over the final 6:38 of the half to take a 36-31 lead into the break after a physical opening 20 minutes that saw the teams combine for 23 fouls; Evansville was in the bonus for the final 15:35 of the half.
The second half followed a similar pattern; the Govs, using timely shooting from Glotta and Robinson, went on a 24-9 run that not only erased an eight-point Purple Aces lead but gave the Govs a seven-point cushion of their own. Glotta scored 11 of his 14 points during this stretch, including a banked-in three-pointer to give Austin Peay its first lead of the second half.
Up seven with 5:58 remaining after Robinson hit a trio of free-throws, the Govs were held without a bucket for the remainder of the contest and committed six of their 13 turnovers during this stretch. Jaylon Brown (game-high 25 points) and Christian Benzon (18) did the damage late for Evansville, scoring 17 of the Purple Aces final 19 points.