MONDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 94, @Richmond 61
@Ole Miss 85,
Eastern Kentucky 75
@Virginia 93,
Austin Peay 49
@Louisiana Tech 96,
Southeast Missouri 95 (OT)
Belmont 69, Vanderbilt 60
Middle Tennessee 72,
@Murray State 67
@Tennessee State 92, Reinhardt 53
@TCU 100,
Tennessee Tech 63
JACKSONVILLE STATE 94, RICHMOND 61
RICHMOND, Va. - An early start time and an arena full of school kids had no ill effect on Jacksonville State in its first road contest of the young season with a dominating 94-61 win over Richmond on Monday afternoon.
RU's Robins Arena was full of nearly 2,000 local school-aged kids as part of Dream Big Day at RU. The Gamecocks were able to silence the crowd by shooting 57 percent from the field and limiting the Spiders to just 38 percent. The 33-point win is the largest margin of victory for Jax State in a true road contest in its NCAA Division I history. It is also the largest winning margin on the road since beating Alabama-Huntsville 119-81 during the 1989 season under Bill Jones in the NCAA Divison II era. JSU moves to 2-0 on the season, while RU remained winless on the season at 0-2.
The Gamecocks will remain in the northeast part of the country with a Wednesday contest in Buffalo, New York. JSU will take on the Bulls of Buffalo at 6 p.m. CST.
The Gamecocks led for nearly 38 minutes of the contest and took control of the contest in the final 11 minutes of the opening half with a 35-11 scoring run to close out the half to take a 50-29 lead in to the halftime break. JSU's ability to shoot 63 percent (19-of-30) from the field, was aided by five of the squads 12 three pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
JSU knew the Spiders would try to make a run to get back in to the contest to start the second half but the hot shooting continued as it shot just over 50 percent from the field. The Gamecocks pushed the double figure lead out to as many as 35 points just under the midway point of the game at 70-45.
For the second consecutive game, JSU played majority of its roster as 12 players saw action and 10 of the 12 recorded points in a total-team scoring effort. After having five Gamecocks in double digits in the scoring column in the season opener against Tennessee Wesleyan on Friday night, JSU had four players on Monday, led by senior Norbertas Giga with a game-high 18 points. Junior Christian Cunningham turned in his eighth double-double of his career with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Cunningham filled up the stat sheet with four blocks and a pair of steal versus the Spiders.
Junior transfer Marlon Hunter, who made his girst career start in a Gamecock uniform collected 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior Jamall Gregory, who was playing near his hometown of Washington D.C., rounded out the four Gamecock double figure point producers with 10 points.
Sophomore Tyrek Edwards and freshman Cam Martin sparked the JSU bench with nine points off the bench. Senior Malcolm Drumwright pitched in eight points while Jason Burnell added eight points.
RU's Grant Golden, Jacob Gilyard and De'Monte Buckingham all finished with 13 points each.
OLE MISS 85, EASTERN KENTUCKY 75
OXFORD, Miss. - Junior Nick Mayo recorded his second consecutive double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds; however, it was not enough, as the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team fell at Ole Miss, 85-75, on Monday night at the Pavilion.
EKU (1-1) showed no quit in a hostile Southeastern Conference environment. Trailing by 19, 80-61, with just under five minutes to play, the Colonels ended the game on a 14-5 run.
Mayo and freshman Dedric Boyd led all players in the game with 19 points each. Mayo was extremely efficient in getting his second double-double in as many games. The 6-9 native of Oakland, Maine was 7-of-9 from the field, 1-of-1 from deep and 4-of-5 from the free throw stripe. He also had 10 rebounds, two assists and one block to his name.
Boyd continued to flash elite scoring ability against the Rebels. The 6-4 guard from Brownsville, Tennessee knocked down a pair of triples and got to the rim against an imposing Ole Miss frontcourt.
Junior Jackson Davis, meanwhile, recorded his first double-figures game as a Colonel, coming off the bench to score 11 points. He also had three rebounds, a team-best two blocks and a steal.
Freshman JacQuess Hobbs made his first career start at point guard and responded admirably, compiling a line of seven points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
EKU outshot Ole Miss (2-0) in every category, going 26-of-51 from the floor (51 percent), 6-of-12 from behind the arc (50 percent) and 17-of-22 from the free throw line (77.3 percent).
The Rebels, however, won the turnover battle, 12-8, and converted those 12 turnovers in 18 points.
DeAndre Burnett paced four Ole Miss players in double figures with 17 points.
The Rebels led by as many as 10 points in the first half, 37-27. However, EKU ended the half with four consecutive free throws by Davis to cut the deficit to six, 40-34, at the break.
The Colonels got to within four, 42-38, when Boyd connected on a pair of foul shots early in the second half. However, Ole Miss responded with a 10-2 run and grabbed a 12-point advantage, 52-40, with 15:21 remaining.
Ole Miss led by at least nine points the rest of the way.
VIRGINIA 93, AUSTIN PEAY 49
CHARLOTTSVILLE, Va. - Senior Tre' Ivory and freshman Dayton Gumm supplied a steadying presence in the backcourt, but it was not enough for the Govs to overcome Virginia, Monday, in the second game of the NIT Tip-Off Classic.
Unfortunately, the Govs were on the wrong side of the 93-49 final from John Paul Jones Arena, bringing an end to what on its face will be the most difficult two-game stretch in head coach Matt Figger's first season at the helm.
Virginia simply got out to a torrid start; after missing their first three three-point attempts, the Cavs were 8-for-14 from beyond the arc the rest of the night.
The turnover battle was decidedly one-sided; Austin Peay committed 20, leading directly to 29 Virginia points, while the Cavaliers nine turnovers only yielded six Governor points.
Gumm supplied a spark off the bench. In his second game, the Bowling Green native poured in 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting, marking the second night in a row a newcomer from Bowling Green led the Govs in scoring.
LOUISIANA TECH 96, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 95 (OT)
RUSTON, La. - Denzel Mahoney scored 25 points and freshman Ledarrius Brewer dropped in 20 as Southeast Missouri (1-1) took Louisiana Tech (2-0) to the wire in a thrilling 96-95 overtime loss Monday.
Freshman Justin Carpenter, who had a huge night for SEMO as well, made two free throws with 30 seconds and the Redhawks later got a big stop to send the game to overtime.
Louisiana Tech went on a 7-0 run, did not miss a field goal (5-of-5) and made 7-of-10 free throws to escape in the overtime period.
Jalen Harris, who led the Bulldogs with 26 points and eight rebounds, made six of his 11 free throws in the last 44 seconds of overtime. Harris finished 11-of-14 at the charity stripe for the game.
Ray Kowalski buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer before the Redhawks lost by a point. SEMO never backed down against a strong Louisiana Tech club that won 23 games each of the last two seasons.
Both teams went back-and-forth to 13 ties and 10 lead changes, and scored a combined 86 points in the paint. Eight different players scored double figures between the two teams, including four with 20 or more.
Carpenter gave SEMO a big lift in the first half coming off the bench to score 10 points, grab five rebounds and get a block in just 12 minutes.
The Redhawks trailed, 37-32, with less than two minutes remaining in the first half before going on a 7-2 run to tie the game. Mahoney drove hard to the basket for two and Brewer made two free throws before Kowalski drained a 3-pointer to make it 39-39 at the half.
SEMO and Louisiana Tech tied, 40-40, in the second half before heading into overtime all knotted up at 79.
Mahoney led the Redhawks scoring over 20 points for the second-straight game this season. He also pulled down seven rebounds, dished out three assists and had a steal in 36 minutes.
Brewer knocked down four 3-pointers and grabbed six rebounds in his first 20-point game at SEMO. Carpenter followed with 17 points and six rebounds, while Kowalski added 12 points and Daniel Simmons chipped in 11. Jonathan Dalton contributed seven assists, matching a career-high.
As a team, the Redhawks had 20 assists on 36 made field goals.
Daquan Bracey followed Harris with 20 points and Derric Jean pitched in 14 for the Bulldogs. Louisiana Tech shot 28-of-34 free throws compared to SEMO's 14-of-19 and held a +14 advantage in free throws made.
BELMONT 69, VANDERBILT 60
NASHVILLE - Belmont University men's basketball rode the strong play of Dylan Windler and Amanze Egekeze to post a 69-60 victory over Vanderbilt Monday night at the Curb Event Center.
An arena-record crowd of 5,266 witnessed Belmont's fourth victory over an SEC opponent, and second straight.
Windler and Egekeze combined on 46 points and 18 rebounds as Belmont held the Commodores to 35 percent shooting.
An Egekeze 3-pointer capped a 7-0 Bruin run to give the hosts a 23-16 lead late in the first half. In fact, Egekeze capped his 18-point first half with a baseline 3-pointer to give Belmont a 32-27 halftime lead.
A Joe Toye layin got Vanderbilt within 37-34 with 15:52 remaining, but Windler drives and timely shooting of Nick Hopkins kept the Commodores at bay. Consecutive drives from Kevin McClain and Austin Luke pushed the margin to 60-50 with 2:19 left.
Windler had 24 points and 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double to open the season.
Saben Lee led Vanderbilt (1-1) with 19 points.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 72, MURRAY STATE 67
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Middle Tennessee took the lead on David Simmons' layup with less than six minutes left in the game and held on to beat Murray State, 72-67 for its second win of the season Monday night.
Terrell Miller Jr. got to the basket and his layup pulled Murray State even at 59-59, but Simmons did the same to make it 61-59 and Karl Gamble added two free throws to pad the lead.
Gamble added a three-point play that gave the Blue Raiders a 68-62 advantage, but Jonathan Stark got the Racers within one, 68-67 with under a minute left. Nick King hit a jumper and Simmons hit two free throws for the final margin.
King finished with 31 points for Middle Tennessee, which hit just 1 of 12 three-point attempts.
Ja Morant scored 16 points for Murray State, which opened with a 118-61 rout of NAIA member Brescia Friday night.
TENNESSEE STATE 92, REINHARDT 53
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team led start to finish in a convincing 92-53 victory over Reinhardt on Monday night in the home opener at the Gentry Center.
TSU (1-1) had three players score in double figures led by a career-high 22 points from Delano Spencer on 8-for-10 shooting. Ken’Darrius Hamilton (19 points) and Kamar McKnight (14 points) also added double-digit scoring for the Tigers.
Tennessee State shot 36-for-66 (54.5 percent) from the floor and held a 40-10 advantage on points in the paint. All 12 players who saw the floor scored on the night for TSU.
TCU 100, TENNESSEE TECH 63
FORT WORTH, Texas - Length and an unconscious shooting effort proved too much for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to overcome Monday evening, as the Golden Eagles (1-1) fell in their first road contest of the season at TCU (2-0), 100-63.
The reigning National Invitational Tournament champions used an eye-popping performance from its outside game to do the damage on the night, finishing 16-for-29 overall. The team really set the tone early with an 8-for-15 showing in the first half. Overall, TCU, which received several votes in both major preseason polls, shot 67.7 percent from the field in the first stanza, blocking five shots and forcing 10 TTU turnovers.
The Golden Eagles struggled to get much going inside over the first 20 minutes, scoring 10 points in the paint while being held without a free throw attempt.
Tech opened the second half with more consistency on the offensive end, scoring 11 points over the first four minutes, thanks in large part to a trio of triples from senior guard Aleksa Jugovic and graduate guard Kajon Mack.
On the other side, the Horned Frogs continued its deadly shooting touch from the floor, and, more specifically, from down town. TCU hit seven of its first eight treys of the half, extending its lead while continuing to shoot well from inside as well.
Jugovic, Mack, and senior forwards Mason Ramsey and Curtis Phillips Jr. all tied for the team lead with 12 points apiece, with Jugovic draining four 3-pointers. Jugovic also dished out five assists and made two steals while Mack tallied four dimes and four rebounds.
Junior forward Courtney Alexander II corralled a team-high 11 rebounds, bumping his season average into double figures.
Bane led all scorers on the night with 24 points, finishing 6-of-10 from 3-point-range and 9-of-13 from the floor. Overall, five Horned Frog players finished in double figures.