SATURDAY'S SCORES
@#15 Purdue 90,
Morehead State 56
@Eastern Kentucky 89, Marshall 80
Tennessee State 72, @Lipscomb 71
Tennessee Tech 79, @Alabama A&M 74
@Murray State 86, Detroit 76
Belmont 85, @Pepperdine 77
@Arkansas 99,
Austin Peay 62
#15 PURDUE 90, MOREHEAD STATE 56
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Morehead State men's basketball fell, 90-56, at No. 15 Purdue on Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, the Eagles' losing streak moves to five games and their record falls to 2-5. The Boilermakers improve to 6-2 on the year.
Early in the game, the Boilermakers jumped out to a 25-9 lead, but the Eagles responded with an 8-0 run spurred by senior Xavier Moon and sophomore Lamontray Harris to trim that lead to 25-17.
But, Purdue extended their lead to 47-25 at the half and went on to win, 90-56.
Morehead State shot an impressive 8-of-20 from the three-point line, but Purdue began the game 6-of-6 from deep and finished 15-of-29 from beyond the arc.
The Boilermakers shot 56 percent for the game and 60 percent in the second half, while the Eagles shot 37 percent from the floor.
Purdue shot 7-of-14 from the free throw line, while MSU did not get to the stripe.
The Eagles barely lost the rebounding battle, 38-34, but they did manage to finish with more offensive rebounds than the Boilermakers, 10-9.
Sophomore Miguel Dicent led the way for Morehead State with a team-high 11 points and five assists, while senior DeJuan Marrero finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Harris nearly recorded his first career double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 89, MARSHALL 80
RICHMOND, Ky. - Sophomore forward Nick Mayo poured in a career-high 30 points and matched a career-high with 10 rebounds to lead the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team over visiting Marshall, 89-80, on Saturday afternoon at McBrayer Arena.
Mayo also dished out four assists and blocked a shot in the win. It is Mayo's second double-double of the year. He scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a win over Idaho State on November 22.
The Colonels (5-4) led for most of the game, only trailing Marshall for 1:38 of clock time. The Thundering Herd took one of their two leads in the first half, 25-24, but senior wing Jaylen Babb-Harrison rattled off eight straight points to put Eastern back in front 32-29. EKU went into the locker room at halftime up by a point, 39-38.
With the game tied, 43-43, early in the second half, Eastern exploded on an 13-3 run and grabbed a 13-point lead, 56-43, when senior guard Isaac McGlone drained a trey with 13:37 to play
The Colonels put their foot on the gas after that, eventually extending the lead to 16, 76-60, following a jumper in the paint by Mayo with 5:21 on the clock.
The Thundering Herd, however, was not done. Marshall made a thunderous comeback, going on a 15-2 run of its own to cut the lead to 78-75 with 2:34 remaining. Junior guard Dillon Avare silenced the run, and the comeback attempt, with a clutch three-pointer from the corner with 1:12 on the clock. That trifecta sparked EKU to an 11-2 run, as the Colonels sank seven free throws in the final minute to seal it.
Four different Colonels finished in double figures. Mayo's 30 led the way, but Babb-Harrison poured in 15, including going 5-of-5 at the free throw line, four of which came in the closing moments of the game and helped ice the victory for EKU. Freshman guard Asante Gist tallied 13 points while nabbing six rebounds, and McGlone accounted for 11 points and five assists.
Marshall (5-2) also had four players reach double figures, led by 19 from both Ryan Taylor and Jon Elmore. Ky're Allison scored 14, while Austin Loop dropped 10.
EKU shot over 50 percent (50.9 / 28-of-55)) from the floor for the second straight game, and the Colonels stifled the Thundering Herd to 37 percent (24-of-65) shooting from the field and 33 percent (12-of-36) shooting from deep.
Eastern also out-rebounded Marshall, 42-35, marking the fifth straight game the Colonels have out-rebounded their opponent. EKU only out-rebounded its opponent seven times all of last season.
It is EKU's first win over Marshall since February 16, 1977.
TENNESSEE STATE 72, LIPSCOMB 71
NASHVILLE - Tahjere McCall knocked down the game-winning jumper with 8.4 seconds left to lift the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to a 72-71 road win at Lipscomb at Allen Arena on Saturday. McCall was one of three Tigers with double-doubles on the evening as TSU improved to 7-1.
Trailing by one, McCall hit a contested pull-up jumper from the top of the key for a one-point lead. The Tigers came up with a stop on the other end on the last possession for Lipscomb (3-7). McCall scored 10 points and tied his career high with 11 rebounds. Wayne Martin tallied 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Jordan Reed recorded 11 points and 14 boards.
On the offensive end, Ken’Darrius Hamilton, Christian Mekowulu and Darreon Reddick scored 10 points apiece for TSU.
In the first half, the Tigers dug themselves an early eight-point hole as Lipscomb made its first three shots from three-point range for a 10-2 advantage. Mekowulu sparked TSU’s comeback with seven points on the Tigers’ 12-3 run later in the half to give the visitors a 14-13 edge with 13:18 left before halftime.
After falling behind, a 14-0 run that included eight points from Martin gave TSU a 35-28 lead with 3:19 showing on the clock. The Tigers maintained the lead, taking a 41-36 advantage into the locker room. Martin led TSU with 10 first-half points with Reed and McCall adding eight apiece in the first half.
Out of the intermission, TSU was able to stretch its lead to double digits on a Hamilton three pointer for a 54-43 lead just over six minutes into the second half.
Lipscomb rallied from a 13-point deficit to level the score at 64-64 with 4:02 to play.
TSU held a 70-69 lead with two minutes left before two Lipscomb free throws gave the Bisons a 71-70 advantage with 1:06 left setting up McCall’s late-game heroics.
The Tigers pulled down a season-high 50 rebounds and finished with 14 more boards than Lipscomb (34) in the game. The Bisons were led on offense by 19 points for Garrison Mathews.
TENNESSEE TECH 79, ALABAMA A&M 74
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - A late rally propelled the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to its first road victory of the 2016-17 campaign Saturday evening, as the Golden Eagles (3-6) rallied from a nine-point deficit for a 79-74 win against Alabama A&M (0-7).
The Bulldogs controlled the scoreboard much of the second half, but the Golden Eagles scratched and clawed its way back to force a stalemate with just under four minutes to play. Junior Mason Ramsey was a huge spark in the rally, jumping a pass for a steal and drawing a flagrant foul on the layup attempt on the other end of the floor.
Coming out of the media break, Ramsey knocked down one of two freebies to give Tech its first lead since the first half. Then, with a 68-67 advantage and just over two minutes showing on the scoreboard, the big man drew a major foul in the paint while knocking down an acrobatic hook shot. He hit the ensuing free throw to put the Golden Eagles up 71-67.
Both sides battled, but the Bulldogs once again pulled to within a single point before Aleksa Jugovic came up with a cold-blooded play. Up one with the clock nearing the one-minute mark, the junior recognized just enough space between himself and his defender and pulled up from three feet beyond the arc for a monster 3-pointer.
Once again, the home team had an answer, with Rakiya Battle knocking down a contested layup and drawing a foul for a chance at a crucial 3-point play. He hit the following free throw and with 46.3 seconds to play, Tech held a slim 75-74 lead.
No matter. The Golden Eagles simply weren't willing to lose this one. With 29.9 second glowing above on the scoreboard, senior Kajon Mack found himself with a slight opening from downtown and did not hesitate. The Tulane transfer buried the triple to once more provide Tech a four-point advantage, 78-74.
Mack visited the free throw line with 17.6 seconds to play after an Alabama A&M turnover, knocking down one of his two attempts. The Bulldogs tried to get off a 3-pointer on its next possession, but the Golden Eagle defense smothered the attempt and the ball bounced off the side of the rim and safely into the hands of Tech.
Jugovic dribbled out the final seconds in peace, providing the Golden Eagles with a valuable road victory.
On the night, Jugovic led the scoring effort with 21, his fourth consecutive 20-point outing. Senior Hakeem Rogers posted a season-high 15 points, hitting four big triples in the first half to help the Golden Eagles keep pace early.
Mason Ramsey tallied 13 points, proving key down the stretch with several big buckets and free throws. Courtney Alexander II also proved effective in the paint for the visitors, scoring 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting.
MURRAY STATE 86, DETROIT 76
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers used a 13-5 run end the first half, to escape trouble and eventually push their home winning streak to five in an 86-76 win Saturday over the Detroit Mercy Titans.
The game at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky, saw the Racers improve their season mark to 4-4, while UDM fell to 1-7.
The Racers have the coming week off to take final semester exams before playing at the Evansville Purple Aces Saturday (Dec. 10) at 3 p.m. in the Ford Center.
Jonathan Stark led all scorers with 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting. MSU posted five double-figure scorers as Damarcus Croaker posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Terrell Miller added 19 points and Gee McGhee added 12 points, while Bryce Jones scored 10.
Trailing by 11 with 3:57 left in the first half, the Racers dug in and finished the half with a 13-5 run. UDM's Corey Allen hit a 3-point basket at the buzzer to put the Titans in front 41-38 at intermission.
MSU regained the lead on an 8-4 run with 15:53 left on a basket by Stark.
Stark had a personal 9-0 run for the Racers, part of a larger 15-9 run for MSU to build a 72-61 lead with 6:11 remaining. The Titans never got any closer than four points the rest of the way.
BELMONT 85, PEPPERDINE 77
MALIBU, Calif. - Belmont University men's basketball rode a near flawless start to defeat Pepperdine, 85-77, Saturday night.
Led by senior Taylor Barnette, the Bruins made their first six 3-point field goals in racing out to a 20-5 lead. Junior Amanze Egekeze made Belmont's eighth 3-pointer in the opening 11 minutes to increase the Bruin lead to 36-13.
Behind the play of Lamond Murray, Jr. and Jeremy Major, Pepperdine got within 47-34 at halftime.
Belmont got a 3-pointer from junior Austin Luke to open second half scoring. The Waves would get within 61-55 on a Murray baseline jumper with 10:34 remaining before senior Evan Bradds (Jamestown, Ohio) sparked an 11-3 run to push the lead back to 14.
Bradds scored a game-high 24 points, adding 11 rebounds and five assists. Barnette scored a season-high 20.
Major and Murray each scored 21 for Pepperdine (4-4).
ARKANSAS 99, AUSTIN PEAY 62
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Despite a game-high 23 points from senior John Murry, Austin Peay State University men's basketball team couldn't keep pace with a high-octane Arkansas Razorback squad at Bud Walton Arena, Saturday.
The Govs fell 99-62 thanks in no small part to the Razorbacks desire to run; head coach Mike Anderson's "Fastest 40 minutes in basketball" philosophy was on display thanks to a 28-7 advantage in transition points. The Razorbacks were able to push the pace thanks to a sizable (47-31) advantage on the boards.
Austin Peay held tough early, taking and making a number of looks in space through the game's first six minutes. After Murry converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 14:04 mark, the Governors held a 15-14 lead.
Arkansas then went on a 23-5 to push the lead to 17, but the Govs displayed resiliency late in the first half. Austin Peay closed on an 11-4 run over the final 4:07, with Murry accounting for nine of those points, including a three with 29 seconds left in the half to cut the deficit to 10 going into the break.
The Razorbacks imposed their will early in the second half, opening the final frame on a 41-10 run that included 13 transition points. Murry and senior Assane Diop (seven points each) led the Governor attack in the second half. Adrio Bailey had 10 of his team-high 14 points in the second half for Arkansas.