SUNDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 108, Boyce College 64
Eastern Illinois 90, @Illinois-Chicago 76
@Samford 81,
Jacksonville State 77
@#10 Indiana 83,
Southeast Missouri 55
@Tennessee Tech 98, Crowley’s Ridge 51
UT MARTIN 108, BOYCE COLLEGE 64
MARTIN, Tenn. - Matthew Butler poured in 30 of his career-high 35 points in the first half to help the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team break the game open in a 108-64 triumph over Boyce College at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
Butler became the first Skyhawk to score at least 35 points since Benzor Simmons accomplished the feat at Evansville on Dec. 19, 2009. The junior guard out of Memphis, Tenn. went 13-for-19 from the floor, including seven 3-pointers in 10 attempts. He knocked down both of his free throw attempts while also tying a career-high with seven rebounds in 32 minutes of play.
All 11 Skyhawks who saw playing time scored today as UT Martin (8-2) won its 11th consecutive home game. Malik Pugh accumulated career-highs of 19 points and 10 assists for his first career double-double while Kedar Edwards racked up 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals. Mike Fofana (career-high 11 points and eight rebounds) and Malik London (career-best nine rebounds and four blocked shots) also chipped in for a Skyhawk offensive attack that connected on 59.5 percent (44-of-74) of their field goal attempts.
Boyce College (3-6), a National Christian College Athletic Association school located in Louisville, Ky., was led by Trey Stewart’s 19 points. Adam Rabke (14 points) and Bryce Wells (10 points) also recorded double-digits in the scoring column for a Bulldog squad that sank 12 three-pointers but committed 22 turnovers.
UT Martin never trailed in the contest but the first five minutes of the contest were tight. Butler poured in five points to help the Skyhawks take a 6-0 lead but Boyce College got within a bucket at 10-8 at the 15:14 mark.
Butler and Pugh then helped UT Martin go on a 24-2 run, as the backcourt duo joined forces to score 20 points during the Skyhawk spurt. A layup by Kahari Beaufort with a little over seven minutes to play in the first half provided UT Martin with a 43-14 edge.
The Bulldogs bounced back to score 12 of the next 14 points but Edwards helped the Skyhawks go on a 21-1 run over the final 4:36 of the opening half. The senior out of Brooklyn, NY tossed in eight points during the run to help UT Martin claim a 66-27 halftime advantage.
Butler was 6-of-7 from three-point land in the first half, as his 30-point outburst eclipsed his previous career-high of 25 points set at Ole Miss in the 2016-17 season opener. Edwards and Pugh each added 13 points apiece for UT Martin while Stewart (11 points) paced Boyce College.
Fofana scored on back-to-back trips down the floor to pad the Skyhawk lead to 41 points (78-37) with 14:19 left to play. Butler, Jalen Jackson and Edwards each splashed three-pointers in the span of 80 seconds before London scored UT Martin’s next four points.
Nick Detlev scored six of nine Skyhawk points during one stretch before a fast break layup by Dante Bailey provided UT Martin its biggest lead of the game at 106-60 with 1:10 to go.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 90, ILLINOIS-CHICAGO 76
CHICAGO - Cornell Johnston scored 21 points including five straight that stopped a UIC second half surge as Eastern Illinois picked up a 90-76 road win on Sunday afternoon at UIC.
EIU improved to 5-3 on the season while UIC fell to 4-4 on the year.
Leading 41-30 at the half the Panthers opened the second half on a 12-3 run with Montell Goodwin knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers that pushed the Panthers lead to 53-33 with 17:25 to play. Goodwin was one of four EIU players in double figures finishing with 19 points, all in the second half.
EIU led by as many as 23 points with 14:24 to play in the second half on a 3-pointer by Casey Teson. EIU was 8-of-12 from 3-point range in the second half and 12-of-22 for the game finishing at 54.5 percent.
UIC slowly chipped away at the big lead by getting to the foul line and getting points in transition. UIC was 23-of-34 from the free throw line for the game including 14-of-18 in the second half. A 3-pointer by Dominique Matthews with 4:34 to play cut the Panthers lead down to ten points at 73-63.
Johnston answered with a 3-pointer on the next EIU possession and following a Panthers steal on the defensive end of the floor, Johnston hit a runner in the lane. Johnston added another 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the final three minutes of the game. Johnston led all players with 21 points adding nine assists.
As a team EIU was 9-fo-10 from the free throw line in both halves finishing 18-of-20. Goodwin was 7-of-8 at the stripe. Teson was 4-of-4 from the foul line finishing with 12 points. Ray Crossland was the fourth EIU player in double figures with 11 points.
After being out-rebounded by Bradley on Tuesday by 23 rebounds, the Panthers attacked the glass. EIU finished the game with a 46-37 rebound margin. Aboubacar Diallo pulled down a career high 14 rebounds while Patrick Muldoon added a career high 10 rebounds.
Marcus Ottey was the Flames top scorer with 16 points off the bench. The Panthers held Dikembe Dixson to ten points with four points in the first half. Dixson entered the game as the fourth leading scorer in the NCAA at 24.4 points per game. UIC finished the game shooting 39 percent from the floor.
SAMFORD 81, JACKSONVILLE STATE 77
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team fell to in-state rival Samford on Sunday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center, despite holding the Bulldogs to 17 points below their home-scoring average this season.
Even facing a seven-point halftime deficit, JSU (5-4) led or was tied with the Bulldogs for more than 20 minutes of action before Samford (5-4) closed out the game late for an 81-77 win.
Senior Greg Tucker's 20 points led the charge of four Gamecocks to post double-digit scoring figures. Freshman Ashton Spears was next with a career-high 14.
The Gamecocks controlled the opening possession, which resulted in junior Malcolm Drumwright's first basket to hand JSU the early 2-0 advantage. The Bulldogs would even the score at 9-9 with just over 15 minutes to play in the half, following their third-straight three to open the game. Drumwright responded with a triple of his own on the ensuing possession to reclaim JSU's lead. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native started strong, including adding another three at the nine-minute mark to give JSU its largest cushion, 28-20.
However, SU would use a 16-2 run over the next four minutes and change to take a 36-30 lead. The Bulldogs first lead of the afternoon came at 32-30 on Christen Cunningham's steal and fastbreak layup.
Birmingham's Ashton Spears brought a halt to Samford's run, drilling a three with 4:55 to play. The freshman would continue with back-to-back buckets to fuel a 7-0 streak for the visitors to make it 37-36 late in the opening half. For Spears, the seven points in 1:38 far surpassed his previous career-best of two points.
Despite a 63-percent shooting half, JSU entered the locker room at halftime trailing 45-38, after only managing a single free throw down the stretch.
JSU opened the second stanza on an 8-1 run, courtesy of a couple of baskets from Durham, to even things at 46-all. The Gamecocks regained the lead after breaking the press and finding Cunningham below the bucket for an easy slam to make it 52-50.
A technical foul against the Gamecocks with just over 12 minutes remaining gave Samford the chance to even the score again at 56. Overall, the back-and-forth contest featured 13 ties and 11 lead changes.
Samford slowly increased its advantage back to six, only to see Tucker reel off six straight to make it 67-67 with 4:30 remaining. Unfortunately, the Gamecocks hit another scoring drought toward the end of the second half similar to first. Down seven, Spears buried a three with 54 ticks remaining to give Jax State one last chance, but the Dogs sealed the deal going 6-for-6 from the line in the final minute.
#10 INDIANA 83, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 55
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Robert Johnson scored a game-high 17 points and Thomas Bryant added 10 rebounds to lead #10 Indiana (7-1) to an 83-55 win over Southeast Missouri (4-4) Sunday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
SEMO missed 10 of its first 11 field goals and made just two shots in the first 8:24 of the game.
After trailing 20-4 following that stretch, the Redhawks managed to get within five on two occasions over the remainder of the first half. SEMO used a 17-6 run to bring IU's lead to 26-21 on Jamaal Calvin's 3-pointer with just under six minutes to play.
William Tchiengang rebounded a missed layup by Daniel Simmons and scored to narrow the Hoosiers lead to 28-23 at the 4:52 mark.
IU then answered with an 11-3 surge to take a 39-26 halftime advantage.
The Hoosiers shot 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field and received nine points from both Juwan Morgan and James Blackmon Jr. in the first half. SEMO fell behind at the half for the third-straight game and sixth time in eight contests this season.
IU again held SEMO under 30 points in the second half, where it led by as many as 32 before closing out the win.
The Hoosiers started the final stanza on a 15-8 run to pull ahead, 54-34, on Blackmon's layup with 14:05 on the clock. Freddie McSwain Jr.'s layup gave IU its largest lead (83-51) at the 1:40 mark.
Johnson shot 7-of-13 from the field and made a game-high three 3-pointers to lead four IU players in double figures. He had seven rebounds, as well. De'Ron Davis contributed 14 points off the bench, while Morgan and Bryant pitched in 11 apiece.
The Hoosiers finished at 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field and outrebounded SEMO, 44-33. In addition, IU held the Redhawks to a season-low 55 points.
Freshman Denzel Mahoney led SEMO with 16 points and Antonius Cleveland chipped in 13 points and five rebounds.
The Redhawks were also 5-of-25 from 3-point range and attempted a combined 87 threes in their last three contests alone.
SEMO's .313 field goal percentage (20-of-64) was its lowest this year.
TENNESSEE TECH 98, CROWLEY'S RIDGE 51
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Despite the difficult task of playing its second game in less than 24 hours, the Tennessee Tech men's basketball was up to the challenge Sunday afternoon, dispensing Crowley's Ridge, 98-51, behind a team effort across the board.
The Golden Eagles (4-6) led from wire-to-wire against the Pioneers (1-8), with nine of the 10 players to participate scoring points and hauling in a rebound. Tech set multiple season-high marks in the contest as a team, including points (98), rebounds (59) and 3-pointers made (12).
Tech outscored the Pioneers 46-27 in the first half, but really turned up the heat over the final 20 minutes, gaining a 52-24 advantage. The Golden Eagles also dished out more than 20 assists for the third time this season, totaling 24 dimes, not to mention nine blocks and eight steals.
Senior Hakeem Rogers led the strong offensive attack on the day, scoring a career-high 28 points while tying the Golden Eagle program record for 3-pointers in a single game, finishing 8-for-13 from downtown. He also tallied a career-best four steals and finished with four rebounds, three steals and a block.
Another key to the contest was the coming out party for freshman Colton Blevins, who posted not only his first career double-double, but also the first such mark on the team this season. The big man dumped in 12 points but was even more effective on the glass, hauling in a career-high 12 rebounds.
Both Aleksa Jugovic and Markell Henderson added 13 points apiece, with Jugovic knocking down three triples and hitting both free throw attempts. Henderson also went 100 percent at the line, converting all four of his attempts at the charity stripe.
Tech's fifth player in double figures was big man Ja'Cardo Hawkins. The junior finished with 10 points while just missing out on his own double-double after grabbing eight rebounds. He also dished out three assists.
As he has shown a knack for doing in his time on the court, sophomore Savonte Frazier flirted with triple-double numbers. The point guard posted a career-high nine assists while scoring seven points and grabbing six rebounds. He also blocked his second career shot.