FRIDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 80, Central Connecticut 78 (Montego Bay)
Morehead State 99, UMKC 89 (Cheney, Wash.)
Southeast Missouri 77, Jacksonville 71 (Mobile, Ala.)
@Mercer 77,
UT Martin 60
@#7 North Carolina 108,
Tennessee Tech 58
#12 Kansas State 95,
Eastern Kentucky 68 (St. Thomas, V.I.)
@Murray State 106, Spalding 36
AUSTIN PEAY 80, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 78
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica - It's been four games, but Austin Peay State University men's basketball team has already been through a season's worth of intrigue and suspense, the latest in a heart-stopping 80-78 win against Central Connecticut to kick off the island portion of the 2018 Jamaica Classic at the Montego Bay Convention Center.
The Govs evened their record at 2-2 on the season after erasing a nine-point first half deficit, while Central Connecticut falls to 2-2 on its season.
Things did not start promisingly for the Govs, who were 1-for-11 from the floor to start the game. However, Austin Peay settled after the rough start—and the 9-2 hole the Governors found themselves in—and soon had the game within a bucket. What ensued was an up-and-down first half marked by pace and ball control—even though the Governors 37.8 percent mark from the floor was far below Central Connecticut's 51.7 percent mark, Austin Peay got myriad second-chance opportunities thanks to 10 offensive boards and committed just two turnovers during the game's first 20 minutes.
A three-minute burst saw the Blue Devils stake their largest lead of the game thanks to a 9-2 run, but the Govs rallied once more, tying the game with just under three minutes to go in the half on a Terry Taylor layup and briefly taking the lead on free-throws from senior Zach Glotta and a Taylor three. However, Central Connecticut's Deion Bute beat the buzzer with a layup to send the game into halftime tied.
Where Austin Peay was ice cold to start the first half, the Govs came out blazing in the second, hitting six of their first eight shots to take a four-point lead, growing it to nine by the 12-minute media timeout. No Gov can claim total credit for the early barrage, as seven of the eight Govs who saw action scored during the first 8:21 of the half.
Central Connecticut did not go away quietly. As the teams traded buckets in the second half, the Blue Devils began to chip away at the Austin Peay lead, cutting it to two points with 1:17 remaining.
After a missed jumper by Glotta, the Blue Devils held the ball for a long possession that included three second-chance opportunities before senior Steve Harris was able to corral the rebound, forcing Central Connecticut to foul Glotta, who made both. On the ensuing possession, Tyson Batiste hit a three to keep the Blue Devils within a point, but grad transfer Jarrett Givens hit both free-throws when he was fouled in the back court.
Up three with 6.2 seconds left, Austin Peay wisely fouled Tyler Kohl to send him to the line for a 1-and-1; he made the first and then, ball-faking a quick shot to draw people into the lane, was whistled for a lane violation per the NCAA rule book. The Govs were able to run out the clock for the victory.
MOREHEAD STATE 99, UMKC 89
CHENEY, Wash. - Senior point guard A. J. Hicks poured in a career-high 28 points, and the Morehead State men's basketball team was on fire from three-point range Friday night en route to a 99-89 victory over Missouri-Kansas City in the 2K Empire Classic Cheney Subregional at Eastern Washington's Reese Court.
Hicks, who already surpassed his previous career high-water mark of 21 with 23 markers at the half, propelled the Eagles to a 2-2 record now. He also added five assists.
UMKC slipped to 0-4. It marked MSU's first-ever win over UMKC in the short four-game series, with the last meeting coming all the way back in 1992-93.
Morehead State drilled 11 triples in the opening 20 minutes and finished at 15-of-26 from outside the arc, the most three-pointers since nailing 15 at Tennessee State on Feb. 15, 2018.
Junior guard Jordan Walker also had an efficient night shooting, hitting 5-of-6 three-pointers and scoring 23 points. That's on the back of registering 24 in his last game Saturday at Syracuse, and he also handed out a team-best six of the Eagles' 15 dimes.
Senior forward Lamontray Harris tallied his 10th career double-double, concluding the 40-minute war with 11 points and a season-best tying 13 rebounds. The 'Roos did manage to out-rebound the Eagles 42-33.
Junior guard Djimon Henson (11) and sophomore forward Malek Green (10) also rounded out the double-figure scoring performances.
The Eagles blasted out of the game in the first half, using an 11-of-19 effort from beyond the arc, to push ahead 62-39 by halftime. They had to withstand a furious UMKC rally in the second half that saw the 'Roos trim the Eagle cushion all the way to seven (86-79) with 4:40 left.
But, the Eagles got a three-pointer by Walker a minute later and never led the lead dip below 10 the remainder of the contest.
Morehead State hit 47 percent (37-of-68) for the game, while the 'Roos hit 50 percent.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 77, JACKSONVILLE 71
MOBILE, Ala. - Southeast Missouri (2-2) used a late 12-2 run to get past Jacksonville University (0-4), 77-71, Friday afternoon in the first game of the Goldie and Herman Ungar Classic at the Mitchell Center.
In a game that featured eight ties and five lead changes, SEMO was ahead, 65-64, when a free throw by Gabe McGlothan and five-straight points by Ledarrius Brewer widened the Redhawk lead to seven.
Brewer put down a dunk off a missed McGlothan free throw and then drained a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound by Alex Caldwell to make it 71-64 in favor of SEMO at the 3:35 mark.
Mark Laros and McGlothan each threw down a dunk and Caldwell added two free throws to extend SEMO's lead to 77-66 with 39 seconds to go before the Redhawks sunk the Dolphins for good.
JU jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the opening four minutes of the game. Jace Hogan, the older brother of SEMO's Skyler Hogan, made three layups to cap the run.
SEMO, down seven at 31-24 with 3:30 left, scored nine of the final 10 points in the first half to take a 33-32 edge at the break.
Caldwell, Hogan and Jonathan Dalton each made a 3-pointer with Dalton's shot giving the Redhawks their first lead of the game with 54 seconds left.
Caldwell made four of his first five shots and buried three 3-pointers for 11 points in 13 first-half minutes.
JU, which hit 10 of its first 15 field goals, cooled off to go 4-of-19 from the floor for the remainder of the opening stanza.
SEMO outscored JU, 16-3, at the free throw line. That total included a 14-2 advantage in the second half.
Caldwell, who posted his third double-digit scoring game off the bench, led the Redhawks with 17 points on 5-of-6 field goals, a perfect 3-of-3 three-pointers and flawless 4-of-4 free throw. He also grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists.
Brewer followed with 16 points and seven rebounds. He shot 7-of-19 from the field.
Hogan and Laros added 14 and 11 points, respectively. Laros put up double figures in the scoring column for the second-straight game. All of Laros' points came in the second half.
SEMO shot 40 percent (26-of-65) from the field for the game and had 12 second chance points in the final seven minutes. The Redhawks outrebounded the Dolphins by a +14 margin (49-35) as well.
Hogan led JU with 18 points.
MERCER 77, UT MARTIN 60
MACON, Ga. - Down one of its leading scorers, the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team hung tough throughout tonight's contest but Mercer caught fire in the second half in a 77-60 win at Hawkins Arena.
The Skyhawks (1-2) trailed by just five points with a little over 11 minutes to play this evening. However, the host Bears sank six of their 11 trifectas in a 6:39 span down the stretch on their way to the win.
Quintin Dove led UT Martin in scoring tonight, chalking up 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Derek Hawthorne, Jr. collected 13 points, seven rebounds and a team-high five assists while Jailen Gill nearly came away with a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Skyhawks, who were missing Kevin Little because of an injury, outrebounded the Bears by a 38-33 margin but shot 40 percent (24-of-60) from the floor.
Mercer (2-2), who advanced to the postseason a year ago, placed four scorers in double figures. Djordje Dimitrijevic (18 points), Ross Cummings (17), Ethan Stair (12) and Jaylen Stowe (11) each helped lead the Bears with big scoring nights.
A Jeremy Joyner layup capped off an early 9-3 run and gave UT Martin a three-point advantage a little over seven minutes into the game. Mercer led by seven points with 2:19 to play in the half before Hawthorne (three-pointer) and Parrish Hewitt (layup) helped the Skyhawks get within five points (40-35) at the break. Hawthorne's nine points guided UT Martin while Dimitrijevic's 10 points led the Bears in the first 20 minutes.
Joyner threw down a dunk at the 17:16 mark of the second half to make the score 43-39 but Cummings responded with a three-pointer on the ensuing possession. That was the first of five treys in the second half for Cummings, who sank three trifectas in less than four minutes to help Mercer put the game away late.
#7 NORTH CAROLINA 108, TENNESSEE TECH 58
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team took on one of the nation's best Friday evening, and No. 7 North Carolina showed just why it had earned a top-10 national ranking heading into the week, defeating the Golden Eagles 108-58 at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Keys to the contest, as they have been so far this season, were rebounding and turnovers. The Tar Heels (4-0) beat the Golden Eagles (0-4) on the glass, 54-24, including an 18-9 mark on the offensive end. Carolina also forced the Tech squad into 22 turnovers on the night.
Those two factors, compounded with a spectacular shooting night from the floor were enough for the nation's No. 7 ranked team to gather its third double-digit victory of the season. UNC shot 55.4 percent from the field, despite Tech holding the home team to just 21.7 percent from downtown.
The Tar Heels held the Golden Eagles to 35.9 percent shooting from the floor 16.0 percent efficiency from beyond the 3-point arc.
Despite the tough loss, there were moments throughout the contest that showed plenty of promise for the young Golden Eagle squad.
After being limited to just four field goal attempts and five total points in the first half, senior Micaiah Henry made his presence felt over the final 20 minutes. Playing the entire second stanza, the Tech big man dropped 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting while snagging four rebounds.
Henry finished the evening with an even 20 points, his third 20-point outing of the season and his career. He blocked two more shots and corralled five total boards.
Showing no fear as he attacked the lane and the basket, freshman Jr. Clay marked Tech's other double-digit scorer on the night. The point guard tallied 10 points and two assists while hitting all four of his free throw attempts. He also recorded two steals.
Fellow freshman Jared Sherfield made two steals and finished with a season-high seven points. Senior forward Courtney Alexander II also posted seven points in the contest.
#12 KANSAS STATE 95, EASTERN KENTUCKY 68
ST. THOMAS, V.I. - No. 12 Kansas State pulled away in the second half for a 95-68 win over the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team on Friday night at the 2018 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.
EKU (2-2) trailed by only one, 23-22, when junior Lachlan Anderson converted a layup with just under six minutes to play in the first half.
K-State (3-0) responded with a 12-2 run to go up by 11, 35-24, on a jumper by Xavier Sneed with 1:43 on the clock.
Four consecutive free throws by senior Nick Mayo, all with under a minute to play in the first half, trimmed EKU's deficit to nine, 37-28, at the break.
Junior Dujuanta Weaver connected on a three-pointer right out of halftime to get it down to six, 37-31. A three-point play by Mayo kept it a six-point game, 47-41, with 14:51 remaining.
That is when K-State began to pull away. The nationally-ranked Wildcats exploded on a 24-5 run, capped by a Sneed layup that made it 71-46 with 9:45 on the clock.
K-State kept the Colonels at bay the rest of the way, taking its largest lead of the night, 93-62, on a jumper by James Love with 1:46 left.
Weaver paced EKU with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting from deep. Mayo contributed 11 points, five boards and four assists.
Sneed led five Wildcats in double figures with 16 points.
MURRAY STATE 106, SPALDING 36
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers ran away with a 106-36 victory Friday over the Spalding Golden Eagles at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
In a game that got out of hand quickly, the Racers saw 12 players score and five make double-doubles including Ja Morant with 18 points in only 16 minutes of court time. Anthony Smith scored 14 points and Devin Gilmore set his career high with a double-double off the bench with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Freshmen KJ Williams and Jalen Johnson came off the bench to score 12 points each.
The Racers tied a school record against the overmatched Golden Eagles with a 62-13 lead in the first half as they hit 23-of-37 shots for 67 percent, while holding Spalding to 14 percent on 3-of-22. The Racers finished the game with a 44-23 second half.