THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 97, UT Martin 73
Tennessee State 79, @Tennessee Tech 62
@Morehead State 73, Southeast Missouri 69
Murray State 83, @Eastern Illinois 61
@Jacksonville State 91, Belmont 80 (OT)
Austin Peay 79, @SIUE 71
EASTERN KENTUCKY 97, UT MARTIN 73
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team rolled past UT Martin, 97-73, in the Colonels’ Ohio Valley Conference home opener on Thursday night at McBrayer Arena.
EKU (8-10, 1-4 OVC) overwhelmed the visitors early in the game. With UTM (5-11, 0-5 OVC) leading, 17-15, at the 10:35 mark of the first half, the Colonels exploded on a 33-3 run to put the game out of contention.
Senior Nick Mayo sparked the run with a jumper, and Mayo ended with another jumper that made it 48-20 with 2:53 on the clock.
Eastern held UT Martin scoreless for nearly six minutes during the decisive stretch.
A three-pointer at the buzzer by junior Lachlan Anderson sent the Colonels into the locker room at halftime up by 25, 55-30.
EKU did not let off the brakes in the second half. Junior Dujuanta Weaver drained a three-pointer to open the stanza and the Colonels cruised the rest of the way.
Eastern grabbed its largest lead of the night when Mayo buried a triple to make it 73-38 with 14:59 to play.
Ten Colonels scored in the lopsided victory. Weaver led the balanced effort, connecting on a career-high six three pointers to match his career-high with 18 points.
Freshman Houston King made his first career start and responded with 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep. Fellow freshman Jomaru Brown came off the bench to tally 14 points and a team-best five steals. Mayo, meanwhile, did it all for the Colonels in the win: 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks. Junior Kelvin Robinson (eight points, eight assists) and freshman Tre King (eight points, nine rebounds) were both close to double-doubles.
As a team, EKU shot 15-of-34 (44.1 percent) from three-point range in the win. The Colonels turned UT Martin over 23 times, and converted those turnovers into 31 points. EKU had 25 assists and only 13 turnovers on the night.
Jailen Gill paced UTM with 19 points and eight rebounds in the game.
TENNESSEE STATE 79, TENNESSEE TECH 62
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State men’s basketball team garnered its first Ohio Valley Conference road win at Tennessee Tech, 79-62, Thursday night in the Eblen Center.
Stokley Chaffee, Jr. led the team in scoring (13), rebounds (8) and blocks (1), with five of his fellow Tigers (5-12, 2-3 OVC) assisting with double-digit stat lines.
A phenomenal second half had the Eblen Center quiet as TSU increased its nine-point halftime lead to 27 with a 13-0 run. Chaffee’s work in the paint and the guards’ work beyond the arc, combining for 45.5 percent from the distance, helped the Tigers close the game.
MOREHEAD STATE 73, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 69
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Down one more than a baker's dozen with 11:26 to play, the Morehead State men's basketball Eagles played an inspired brand of basketball in the closing stretch of their conference home opener, en route to a 73-69 victory over Southeast Missouri Thursday night at Johnson Arena.
Both teams move to 6-12 overall on the year. MSU improved to 2-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play, while the SEMO Redhawks fell back to 1-4 on the league slate.
Down 52-38 at the midway point of the second half, the Eagles outscored the visiting Redhawks 23-6 over the succeeding seven minutes to turn the tide back in their favor. Freshman Ja'Cori Wilson once again found himself starting a significant run, finding the cup going back door on a feed from senior Lamontray Harris. During this stretch, MSU nailed 5-for-9 from behind the arc, including three consecutive makes from long range from the Louisville product Harris.
Senior A.J. Hicks dished out a career-high 11 assists, while also coming up just one point shy of a double-double, finishing with nine markers. Tonight's efforts broke Hicks' previous mark that he set this year, tabbing nine assists twice already this season (vs. IUPUI, at UConn). The Eagles finished the evening with 19 of their 24 field goals coming with assists.
Harris paced Morehead State in scoring with 19 points on 7-for-11 (.636) shooting, six rebounds, and three blocked shots. Joining the Eagles in double figures was sophomore De'Von Cooper, tallying 16 points (tying a career high) on a 5-of-9 (.556) clip.
Sophomore James Baker notched 11 points, coming up just one point short of a career high. Junior Jordan Walker chipped in with 10 points, including a four-point play that reversed the momentum in favor of the home squad with 5:55 remaining in the contest.
The Eagles finished the tilt connecting on 24-of-53 (.453) shots, 11-of-25 (.440) from long range, and 14-of-19 (.737) at the charity stripe.
MURRAY STATE 83, EASTERN ILLINOIS 61
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Murray State Racers moved their win streak to six games Thursday with an 83-61 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers at Lantz Arena in Charleston.
The Racers (14-2, 5-0 OVC) sophomore Ja Morant led the way with 27 points and nine assists as Murray State won their 16th consecutive OVC game (including nine straight road games). Murray State also got 17 points from Shaq Buchanan on 4-of-8 shooting from the 3-point line and a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds from freshman big man KJ Williams. Morant, was one assist from a double-double as he had nine assists.
The Racers play Saturday at SIUE ending a four-game road swing over the last two weeks. Tip time for the Racers and Cougars is 7 p.m. at the Valdabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois.
At an OVC opponent home floor that has been a very tough place to win in the past, the Racers were hot in the first seven minutes with a 22-9 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers from Morant and Brion Whitley. The Racers got consecutive baskets from Williams, Morant and Buchanan for a 20-point advantage at 2:20 before half.
After leading 48-29 at the intermission, the game got a shot in the arm that only Morant can deliver. At the 18:26 mark, Morant got a steal and went in for a highlight dunk that seemingly shook Lantz Arena. The dunk was the ESPN SportsCenter lead story later in the night. Additionally, his under the rim flip layup was the No. 4 play on SportsCenter's Top-10 and his dunk was the No. 1 play. It marked the third time this season he has had the No. 1 play following dunks he had at Alabama (Nov. 26) and at UT Martin (Jan. 10).
With the lead down to 12 (58-46) at the 10:31 mark, MSU snuffed the EIU rally with 14-4 run which included three consecutive 3-point baskets from Buchanan for a 72-50 lead with 7:31 remaining. MSU's largest lead came with 4:13 left at 78-54.
With Morant recording his ninth game of the season of 25 points or more, the Racers shot 52 percent (34-of-65) and 43 percent (9-of-21) from the 3-point line. MSU continues to have high marks defensively as they held EIU to 36 percent from the field (24-of-66) and 33 percent from the 3-point line (8-of-24).
JACKSONVILLE STATE 91, BELMONT 80 (OT)
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team overcame a 14-point deficit to top Belmont 91-80 in overtime-thriller on Thursday at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Gamecocks (13-5, 5-0) earned their fifth consecutive win over Belmont (12-4, 3-2 OVC) and improved to 5-0 in Ohio Valley Conference play with a 16-5 OT period.
Seniors Jason Burnell and Jamall Gregory each tallied career-highs, scoring 30 and 25, respectively. Burnell's 30 is the most scored in a game since former Gamecock Norbertas Giga posted 30 against Louisville in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
JSU trailed 47-13 at the half following a poor defensive period. Belmont was 18-for-37 and hit eight 3-pointers en route to the 14-point advantage. Kevin McClain tallied 16 points and was 4-for-4 from long range to lead the Bruins in the opening stanza.
The Gamecocks and Bruins traded baskets through the first seven minutes of the second as Belmont was able to keep the JSU deficit to 11, 59-48. It wasn't until redshirt senior Detrick Mostella was called for a foul that Harper did not agree with, giving the fiery coach the chance to pick up a technical foul at 13:05.
Following Harper's tech, Jacksonville State went on a 20-9 run to tie the game 67-67. Gregory scored nine during the stretch, while the defense forced three of Belmont's seven turnovers.
Each team scored eight points through the remaining five minutes to send the game to overtime. Belmont's Nick Hopkins bucketed a 3-pointer with 48 seconds remaining to tie the game 75-75. Hopkins took a second 3-point shot with two seconds to play, but had it clang off the rim.
Following a dismal first-half score, the Gamecocks routed the Bruins 42-28 in the second. And JSU's scoring did not end with regulation.
Jacksonville State walloped Belmont 16-5 during the five-minute overtime period. The Bruins' Dylan Windler snagged the first point of OT with a free throw, but it was all Gamecocks after that.
Burnell tallied seven during JSU's 16-4 run to close out the game, including a dagger 3-pointer to begin the stretch. Senior Marlon Hunter pitched in four while just Nick Muszynski and McClain accounted for Belmont's four points.
It is the second season in a row the Gamecocks have swept the season series against Belmont.
Jacksonville State extends its program-record OVC streak to 5-0 and is now just one win away from tying the school record for best start to a Division I conference schedule. The Gamecocks have now won 13 of their last 15 games - their best stretch of the program's Division I era.
AUSTIN PEAY 79, SIUE 71
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - Terry Taylor had a career-high 33 points with 12 rebounds and Austin Peay broke open a tight game in the second half to defeat SIU-Edwardsville 79-71 on Thursday night.
With the win, the Governors (13-5, 5-0 OVC) keep pace with Murray State and Jacksonville State, both 5-0, atop the Ohio Valley Conference.
There were 10 ties and 11 lead changes in the game, with eight ties and five lead changes in the first half alone. The last lead of the first half went to the Govs when Steve Harris hit a 3-pointer and a foul shot for a 38-35 lead.
Austin Peay took the lead for good when Taylor hit two free throws for a 53-51 advantage with 11:03 remaining in the game. The Govs would lead by 11 twice, the second time with 1:27 left.
Cameron Williams scored 16 points and Tyrese Williford added 13 for the Cougars (5-12, 1-4).
Chris Porter-Bunton added 11 points and Harris finished with 10 for Austin Peay.
Taylor, a sophomore swingman, had a previous career-best 32 points twice this season.