FRIDAY'S SCORES
@#17 Xavier 101,
Morehead State 49
@Southeast Missouri 81, Missouri Baptist 69
Eastern Kentucky 73, @Rice 72
@Jacksonville State 100, Tennessee Wesleyan 42
@Murray State 118, Brescia 61
@#20 Purdue 105,
SIUE 74
@Marshall 102,
UT Martin 91 (OT)
@Tennessee Tech 94, Midway University 56
@#3 Kansas 92,
Tennessee State 56
@Vanderbilt 73,
Austin Peay 54
@Washington 86,
Belmont 82
#17 XAVIER 101, MOREHEAD STATE 49
CINCINNATI - No. 17 Xavier hit its first five three-pointers and raced out to a 15-1 lead as the Morehead State men's basketball team opened the 2017-18 season with a 101-49 setback at the Cintas Center.
The Musketeers shot 76 percent in the first half (22-of-29) and 11-of-14 from three-point range in taking a 62-24 lead into the locker room.
Sophomore guard Jordan Walker led the Eagles with 18 points, hitting three triples. Freshman Malek Green, who played high school ball in Cincinnati, tallied seven points, four rebounds and two blocked shots. The Eagles offense was limited to 24 percent from the floor.
Travon Bluitt paced the hosts with 25 points, including 21 in the first half.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 81, MISSOURI BAPTIST 69
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (1-0) made 19-of-21 free throws and that was the difference in the game as the Redhawks pulled out a 81-69 season-opening victory over Missouri Baptist Friday.
SEMO, which opened a season at home for the first time in 12 years, snapped an 11-game losing streak in season-openers. The Redhawks also posted their 26th-straight win against non-Division I opponents.
The Redhawks fell behind by six points in the first 2:33 of the game. Jonathan Dalton's 3-pointer gave SEMO its first lead of the season at 10-9 with 14:03 remaining and the Redhawks never looked back.
Dalton's trey ignited an 18-8 surge as SEMO pulled ahead by double-digits. Ledarrius Brewer's 3-pointer gave the Redhawks a 28-17 advantage at the 4:37 mark. SEMO later headed into the locker room ahead, 37-27.
The Redhawks edged the Spartans, 44-42, in the second half and knocked down 12-of-13 free throws.
SEMO opened the second stanza on a 9-2 run and took its biggest lead of the night when Denzel Mahoney's jumper made it 48-31 with just under 15 minutes left.
Mahoney led all scorers with 21 points and went a perfect 11-of-11 at the free throw line. He shot 5-of-9 from the field, dished out one assist and also had a block in 32 minutes. Brewer followed with 14 points, three assists and two steals in 26 minutes off the bench. He knocked down three of SEMO's eight 3-pointers.
Daniel Simmons and Jonathan Dalton added 13 and 11 points, respectively. Tonight marked Simmons' first career start. Dalton finished with a game-high seven assists, as well. In addition, Mark Laros narrowly missed a double-double in his first career start with nine points and nine rebounds.
Jahmouri Robinson led Missouri Baptist with 14 points.
SEMO and Missouri Baptist each shot 50 percent from the field. The Spartans, however, shot just 56.5 percent (13-of-23) at the free throw line compared to the Redhawks sizzling 90.5 percent clip.
The Redhawks improved to a perfect 18-0 all-time against Missouri Baptist. This year marked the first time these teams met since Nov. 19, 1990.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 73, RICE 72
DALLAS - Freshman Dedric Boyd calmly sank three free throws with five seconds on the clock to lift the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team to a come-from-behind 73-72 victory at Rice on Friday night in the Colonels’ season opener at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Trailing 72-70 with the clock winding down, EKU (1-0) put the ball in the hands of Boyd, who was playing in his first collegiate game. The guard from Brownsville, Tennessee got his defender in the air and drew a foul while shooting behind the three-point line. He buried all three subsequent free throws to give the Colonels their first lead of the game with five seconds remaining.
Eastern then got a stop at the other end to secure the season-opening victory on the road against a Rice team that won 23 games last year and advanced to the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI).
Junior Nick Mayo led all players in the game with 25 points, while also grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds. It was his sixth-career double-double. Mayo also contributed three assists, two steals and one block.
Boyd finished with 20 points and six boards in his collegiate debut. Sophomore DeAndre Dishman added 11 points and seven rebounds in the win.
EKU shot just 38.5 (25-of-65) percent from the floor and 22 percent (6-of-27) from deep in the game; however, the Colonels did knock down 17-of-19 (90 percent) shots from the free throw line.
Connor Cashaw paced four Rice players in double figures with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Rice (0-1) led by 11 with 2:32 remaining in the first half; however, EKU ended the half on a 6-0 run as a jumper by Boyd and four straight free throws by Mayo sent the Colonels into the locker room down by only five, 36-31.
The Owls regained the momentum in the second half, though, and snatched their largest lead, 61-48, when Ako Adams connected on a pair of foul shots with 8:12 remaining.
The Colonels responded with a 17-5 run. The spurt was ignited by a Mayo dunk at the 7:56 mark and ended when Mayo converted a layup to make it 66-65 with 3:07 on the clock.
Rice went back up by four, 70-66; however, Mayo converted four straight free throws over the next minute to tie it, 70-70, with 1:17 left in the game.
Two free throws by Rice’s Robert Martin with 24 ticks on the clock set the stage for Boyd’s late-game heroics.
It is EKU’s sixth consecutive season-opening win.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 100, TENNESSEE WESLEYAN 42
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team began their reign as Ohio Valley Conference champions Friday night with a 100-42 win over Tennessee Wesleyan at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
JSU put on a defensive clinic, forcing 14 turnovers and out-rebounding the Bulldogs 55-43. Big man Christian Cunningham recorded four of the night's seven blocked shots. The 43 TWU points were the least scored against the Jacksonville State offense since holding Cal State Fullerton to 38 points in Las Vegas on Nov. 25, 2016.
The offense delivered a balanced attack, as well, as 12 of the 13 Gamecocks to see game action scored points. It was the first time in 380 games the Gamecocks scored 100 or more points. The last time JSU hit triple digits was Nov. 23, 2004 in a 112-94 win over Shorter at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Five Gamecocks - Jamall Gregory, Maurice Dunlap, Malcolm Drumwright, Jason Burnell and Marlon Hunter - each score 10 or more points in the 58-point victory. Dunlap and Hunter led the way with 12 points each, Gregory and Drumwright both had 11, and Burnell tallied 10. It was also the first time the Gamecocks had five score in double figures since last season at Tennessee Tech.
Tennessee Wesleyan claimed an early 1-0 lead and tussled with the advantage until the 16:34 mark of the first half. Sophomore Ashton Spears knocked down a three-pointer to put the Gamecocks ahead 6-4, and head coach Ray Harper's squad never looked back.
JSU began a 14-0 run with Spears' three-ball, to push its lead to 17-4 before the midway point of the first period. Spears ended the first half with eight points, tied for the team lead in scoring with Drumwright's eight points.
Jacksonville State took a 44-21 lead into the locker room at half time thanks to a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Gregory. With Gamecocks up 20, 41-21, Tennessee Wesleyan's Andre Applewhite was blocked by Burnell with less than three seconds left in the period. Gregory grabbed the loose ball, heaved it from three-quarters the length of the court and banked it in.
Along with a Tyrik Edwards free throw and Gregory's ridiculous three-pointer from the first half, the Gamecocks tallied a 41-0 run and held the Bulldogs scoreless for 4:17.
JSU outscored Tennessee Wesleyan 56-21 in the second half en route to its first win of the season. In total, the Gamecock defense held TWU to 20.3% shooting, while the JSU offense hit 55.2% of its shot and was 13-for-39 from beyond the arc.
Along with last year's season opening win over Tulsa on the road, it is the first time the Gamecocks have won back-to-back season openers since topping Miles College and Reinhardt in consecutive season in 2011 and 2012. Since joining the Division I ranks in 1995, Jacksonville State is 8-14 in season openers.
MURRAY STATE 118, BRESCIA 61
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers began their 93rd season of basketball Friday by winning the season and home opener 118-61 over the Brescia Bearcats as they also began the 20th season in the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
Byron Hawkins led a Racer attack that scored the third-largest margin of victory in the history of the CFSB Center with 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting including a red-hot 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Jalen Dupree added 17 points and eight rebounds, while Terrell Miller, Jr. added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Shaq Buchanan added 11 points and Anthony Smith tossed in 10. Ja Morant led the way with 11 assists as the Racers compiled 26 assists on their 40 field goals.
Leading 18-14 with 12:23 left in the first half, the Racers hit the gas pedal and knocked out a 17-0 run over the next 4:31 to gain 35-14 lead. The run to the end of the half over the final 12:23 was 42-16 for Murray State when they reached the intermission leading the Bearcats 60-30. Hawkins scored 20 points in the half on 7-of-9 shooting.
Any thought of the Racers cruising in the second half were quickly extinguished when they hit the Bearcats with a 25-2 run to start the half to get an 85-32 lead with 15:20 left.
The Racers largest lead was the final of 118-61.
#20 PURDUE 105, SIUE 74
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Three SIUE players scored in double figures and SIUE won the rebounding battle, but No. 20 Purdue proved too much for the Cougars. The Boilermakers earned a 105-74 win in the season opener for both teams Friday at Mackey Arena.
Redshirt-sophomore Julian Torres led the Cougars in his SIUE debut. Torres, who sat out last season after transferring from UIC, scored a game-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting. He was 4 for 4 from three-point range.
Daniel Kinchen and Justin Benton also turned in double-digit scoring performances for the Cougars. Kinchen, also making his SIUE debut, scored 17 points. He was 7 for 17 from the field and added four three-pointers of his own. Benton scored 15 points. He was 7 for 13 from the floor.
Overall the Cougars were 31-81 (38.3) combined from the field, including knocking down 10 of 31 three-point attempts. The 10 three-pointers made were the most for a Cougar team since the 2015 season.
The Cougars outrebounded Purdue 40-39, which included a 25-17 advantage in the first half.
Purdue connected on 59 percent (36-61) of its shots. The Boilermakers were nine for 19 from three-point range.
Purdue was led by Dakota Mathias, who scored 18 points. He was 5 for 8 from the field. He was 6 for 6 at the free throw line. The Boilermakers were 24-32 as a team from the free throw line.
MARSHALL 102, UT MARTIN 91 (OT)
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball squad led for over 27 minutes of clock time this evening but could not halt a late Marshall charge in a 102-91 loss in the season opener at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Skyhawks (0-1) came out of the gate strong, securing a 46-31 halftime lead. UT Martin maintained a four-point advantage with less than two minutes to play in regulation before the Thundering Herd went on top by three points with 5.5 seconds remaining. Skyhawk graduate transfer Dominique Williams then came up with a clutch play, sending the contest into overtime after swishing a trifecta from the left wing right in front of the UT Martin bench at the buzzer.
However, Marshall (1-0) was able to outscore the Skyhawks by a 19-8 margin in the extra period to escape with the win.
Williams was the star for UT Martin tonight, pouring in 25 points (on 10-of-12 shooting) to go along with six rebounds in 37 key minutes off the bench. Matthew Butler tossed in 20 points and a team-best four assists while playing all 45 minutes, notching his fourth 20-plus point game in his Skyhawk career. Terrence Parker (12 points, 10 rebounds in 28 minutes) and Delfincko Bogan (10 points, three assists, two steals in 33 minutes) also gave UT Martin a spark off the bench as the Skyhawks shot 53.1 percent (34-of-64) from the floor.
Marshall was led by reigning Conference USA Player of the Year Jon Elmore, as the junior tallied game-highs of 38 points and eight assists. CJ Burks (23 points), Adjin Penava (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Jarrod West (10 points, five assists) also paced the Thundering Herd, who connected on 75 percent (6-for-8) of their field goal attempts in overtime.
Butler knocked down a jumper at the 18:36 mark to give UT Martin its first points of the season. The redshirt senior from Memphis, Tenn. followed with back-to-back three-pointers to hand the Skyhawks an 11-9 advantage at the 15:57 mark of the first half.
Treys on back-to-back possessions from Bogan and Butler resulted in a 21-17 UT Martin lead with 10:33 left to play in the first half. The Skyhawks would not trail for the next 23 minutes of clock time, as a pair of Parker free throws at the 3:36 mark extended UT Martin’s lead out to double-digits (36-26).
Elmore answered with a layup on Marshall’s next trip down the floor but the Skyhawks closed out the half on a 10-3 run. Jerome Davis piled up four points during that stretch, leading to a 46-31 UT Martin advantage at the break.
The Skyhawks shot a blistering 58.3 percent from three-point range (7-of-12) in the opening half, as Butler’s 11 points guided UT Martin. Elmore provided 13 points for the Thundering Herd, who misfired on its last 12 three-point attempts of the first half (2-for-15 overall).
Marshall began the second half on a 9-0 run until Williams canned a jumper at the 17:26 mark. The Skyhawks’ lead was whittled down to two points (50-48) with 15 minutes to play in regulation but two straight buckets by Butler and Darius Thompson provided UT Martin with some breathing room.
A free throw at the 7:40 mark generated the Thundering Herd’s first lead of the second half. A little over a minute later, Butler calmly nailed a jumper to tilt the score back in favor of the Skyhawks. Butler later added a big three-pointer that made the score 72-68 at the under-4-minute media timeout.
The score was knotted at 72-72 with 3:15 remaining in regulation until Williams and Mike Fofana came up with big scores to put UT Martin back ahead, 76-72 with two minutes to go.
The Thundering Herd then charged back for a 9-2 run before Williams’ heroics tied the score at 83-all and sent the contest into overtime.
Any momentum the Skyhawks may have gained was quickly erased, as Marshall dialed up the first nine points in the extra period. A pair of Williams free throws at the 2:25 mark ended UT Martin’s drought but seven points was as close as the Skyhawks would get the rest of the way.
TENNESSEE TECH 94, MIDWAY UNIVERSITY 56
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - As the old cliché goes, it was a total team effort for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Friday evening. But as cliché as its sounds, that's exactly the kind of effort that led the Golden Eagles to a dominant, 94-56, season-opening victory over Midway University.
A relatively tight contest through the first seven minutes, Tech started to pull away as the first half progressed, taking a 48-32 lead into the locker room. Tech opened the second half on a 29-3 run that put the contest away for good.
As a team, the Golden Eagles shot 55.2 percent from the floor, 37.0 percent from downtown and 71.4 percent from the line. Five Tech players scored in double figures and 10 of the 11 players to see the floor scored at least two points.
Junior forward Courtney Alexander II, who started the contest and played a game-high 25 minutes, attempted just a single shot, instead cleaning up the garbage around the rim and facilitating to his teammates. He finished with nine rebounds and five assists.
The win gives Tech its 39th in 41 home openers in the Eblen Center, and winning always feels good.
Curtis Phillips Jr. led all scorers on the night with 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting, adding six rebounds and three assists. Mason Ramsey had a monster first-half, pouring in 16 points while hitting seven of his first eight shots.
Making his Golden Eagle debut, Shaq Calhoun chipped in 15 points and four rebounds off the bench, sinking 3-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc. Senior guard Aleksa Jugovic and graduate guard Kajon Mack both scored 10 points in limited action. Mack flirted with a triple-double despite playing just 21 minutes, adding seven assists and six rebounds to the mix.
Returning an Ohio Valley Conference-best 77.3 percent of its minutes played certainly seemed to help the veteran-laid squad, as did mixing in the production of the new players on the roster. And Coach Payne knows the value in having so much experience back.
#3 KANSAS 92, TENNESSEE STATE 56
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Squaring off with national power Kansas, the Tennessee State men’s basketball team was handed a 92-56 loss at historic Allen Fieldhouse on Friday night in the season opener.
TSU (0-1) fell behind early as Kansas (1-0), ranked fourth in the Associated Press Top 25 and third in the USA Today Coaches Poll, grabbed a 12-2 lead and never looked back. The Tigers were led in scoring by Darreon Reddick with 20 points and Delano Spencerwith 14 off the bench.
Tennessee State trailed 56-27 at the half and Kansas maintained its distance from the Tigers throughout the second half. The Tigers battled in the final 20 minutes, as the score was 36-29 in favor of the Jayhawks in the second half.
Christian Mekowulu led TSU on the glass with seven rebounds, while Armani Chaney picked up four steals on the night. TSU’s defense forced 20 turnovers for the game.
VANDERBILT 73, AUSTIN PEAY 54
NASHVILLE (AP) - Jeff Roberson, Riley LaChance and Clevon Brown each scored 13 points, leading Vanderbilt to a 73-54 win over Austin Peay in the season opener Friday night.
Roberson posted a double-double with 10 rebounds for the Commodores, who hit 9 of 25 3-pointers.
The loss spoiled the debut of Austin Peay's first-year coach Matt Figger.
Roberson hit a 3-point milestone on Vanderbilt's first shot 18 seconds into the game, giving the Commodores 1,000 consecutive games with a 3-pointer. Princeton and Nevada-Las Vegas are the only other teams with a 3-pointer in every game since the inception of the 3-pointer in 1985.
Vanderbilt has won 16 of 17 games against Austin Peay in the series.
Freshman Terry Taylor was Austin Peay's only scorer in double figure with 15 points.
The Commodores took charge early, taking a 41-28 halftime lead.
WASHINGTON 86, BELMONT 82
SEATTLE - The Belmont University men's basketball nearly took down another major conference program, but dropped an 86-82 decision at Washington Friday night.
The Bruins held Washington without a field goal for the first 5:03 of the game in building a 7-1 lead. A thunderous slam by junior Dylan Windler (Indianapolis, Ind.) pushed the margin to 11-6 before the hosts got their footing.
Two David Crisp free throws pushed the Huskies ahead, 22-17, before freshman Nick Hopkins sparked a Belmont response. Consecutive 3-pointers in a 33 second span gave the Bruins a 23-22 lead with 7:14 left in the half.
Behind Hopkins and junior Mack Mercer, Belmont scored nine of the final 13 points of the half in taking a 43-35 halftime lead. After a cold start, Belmont shot 47 percent (16-for-34) in the opening 20 minutes - including six 3-pointers. Hopkins had 14 firsf half points, while Windler nearly had a doube-double in the opening 20 minutes.
After Washington inched within 54-50, consecutive baskets from Windler and senior Amanze Egekeze stretched the lead back to eight, 58-50, with 11:03 remaining. Another Hopkins' 3-pointer, and scores from Egekeze and Mercer - the latter of which fouled Dickerson out of the game - gave Belmont a 67-58 advantage.
Each team endured a brief dry spell before sophomore Michael Benkert sparked a Bruin fast break where senior Austin Luke found Hopkins for a corner 3-pointer and a 70-61 Belmont lead with 5:39 left.
That is when Jaylen Nowell almost single-handedly began a Washington push. Four quick points got the Huskies within 72-69 with 3:39 remaining. Then out of the under-four media timeout, following a Nowell missed free throw, Carlos Johnson scored an offensive rebound basket to close the margin to one. Luke and Johnson exchanged driving baskets, before a scramble play-second chance opportunity fell in the waiting hands of Nowell, who sank a deep 3-pointer to give the Huskies a 76-74 lead with 2:24 remaining.
McClain answered right back for Belmont, rimming home a baseline 3-pointer to put the Bruins back up one. But Nowell continued his offensive run, spinning and sinking a long, contested 2-pointer to give Washington a 78-77 edge with 1:38 to go. The next Bruin possession resulted in a lengthy official review, whereby Belmont regained possession and a fresh shot clock. Windler then delivered a tough baby hook inside to give the Bruins a 79-78 lead with 52 seconds left.
Washington was unquestionably going to Nowell, who drove right and eluded two Bruin defenders to score at the rim with 32 seconds remaining. Trailing by one and with the shot clock essentially in sync with the game clock, Luke elected to race into the front court and attempt a quick-hitting 3-pointer. It rimmed off and Washington secured the rebound. David Crisp added two free throws with 22 seconds left to push the margin to 82-79.
Belmont proceeded to execute a Coach Byrd play to perfection, freeing McClain for an easy two with 14 seconds remaining. Following a Belmont timeout, the Bruins pressed for a steal on the Washington inbounds play, but the Huskies maintained possession before being fouled. Nowell's two free throws with eight seconds left bumped the margin back to three. The Huskies called timeout and elected to foul before Belmont could attempt a game-tying 3-point shot.
With four seconds left, Luke made the first of two free throws to close the margin to two. He proceeded to intentionally miss the second free throw in hopes of Belmont securing an offensive rebound and one final attempt to tie or win.
Washington collected the rebound, and Matisse Thybulle's two free throws with three seconds left secured the result.
Hopkins led four Bruins in double figures with 22 points. Windler recorded his fourth double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Egekeze had 17. McClain scored 11.
Nowell led Washington (1-0) with 32 points.