THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 90, Morehead State 69
@Eastern Illinois 92, UT Martin 87 (OT)
Tennessee Tech 66, @Tennessee State 64
@SIUE 94, Southeast Missouri 88
@Austin Peay 93, Eastern Kentucky 75
Jacksonville State 83, @Belmont 73
MURRAY STATE 90, MOREHEAD STATE 69
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers rolled to their 17th consecutive home win in their Ohio Valley Conference opener over the Morehead State Eagles 00-00 at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers (10-2, 1-0 OVC) have won their OVC opener now in 11 straight seasons.
Darnell Cowart scored a career-high 20 points and nine rebounds as the Racers scored an amazing 64 of their 90 points in the paint. Ja Morant had a night of 16 points and 13 assists, while Shaq Buchanan scored all of his 15 points in the second half and KJ Williams scored 14 points.
Trailing by a point with 8:40 remaining in the first half, the Racers went on quite a run to change the game.
Tevin Brown drilled a 3-pointer, which gives him at least one in his first 12 games as a Racer, for a 30-22 MSU lead. Morant hit Williams twice for dunks in the final minute to give the Racers a 23-6 run to the end of the half and a 45-26 lead.
In the second half, the Racers' lead grew to 30 when the score was 69-39 with 10:58 left.
The Racers won the rebound stat 43-30 and managed the Eagles' offensive rebound game. The Eagles had seven offensive rebounds in the first seven minutes, but they had none over the next 14 minutes.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 92, UT MARTIN 87 (OT)
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Shareef Smith came up with a steal and made a game tying lay-up with six seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for Eastern Illinois on Thursday night. The Panthers then doubled up UT Martin in the extra period to win 92-87 at Lantz Arena.
EIU improved to 8-6 overall, 1-0 in the OVC. UTM is now 5-7 overall, 0-1 in the league.
UT Martin led by six points with one minute remaining in regulation after Delfincko Bogan connected on a 3-pointer that made it 80-74. The Panthers would finish the final minute with an 8-2 run to tie the game at 82-82 after 40 minutes of action. Smith had two lay-ups to start and finish the run while Josiah Wallace and Ben Harvey both knocked down free throws. Preston Parks sank a pair of free throws to account for UTM’s scoring.
In the overtime period Mack Smith and Rade Kukobat both dropped in 3-pointers while Harvey and Shareef Smith converted at the foul line to give EIU its first OVC opening win in the last four seasons. Shareef Smith had 16 points and six assists while Kukobat scored 14 points off the bench.
Wallace carried the Panthers offense in the first half as he scored 18 of his game-high 27 points to give the Panthers a 38-37 lead at the break. The lead changed hands four times with two additional ties in the first half. UTM was able to convert ten EIU turnovers into 15 first half points as they had eight of their 11 steals in the opening half.
The Panthers extended their lead to seven points just over five minutes into the second half on a Cam Burrell jumper from the top of the key. UT Martin slowly crawled back into the contest with good outside shooting. Bogan gave the Skyhawks the lead with 10:34 to play on a 3-pointer. Bogan was one of five UTM players in double figures with 15 points.
Another 3-pointer by Bogan with 7:01 to play pushed the Skyhawks lead to nine points at 67-58. UTM finished the night 15-of-41 from 3-point range. Parks had five 3-pointers finishing with 21 points while Kevin Little had four 3-pointers to add 12 points.
Mack Smith rounded out the double figure scorers for EIU with 12 points, all coming on 3-pointers. Fatodd Lewis just missed a double-double for UTM with 14 points, nine rebounds.
TENNESSEE TECH 66, TENNESSEE STATE 64
NASHVILLE - It took until the final buzzer to know once and for all how the 2018-19 Ohio Valley Conference season would start for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team, but in the end, the Golden Eagles (5-9, 1-0) kicked off its newest quest for a league crown with a nail-biting, 66-64 victory over in-state rival Tennessee State (3-10, 0-1) Thursday evening.
A contest that never featured a double-digit lead and saw a couple of teams battling it out defensively, it was the purple and gold that came out on top, although not without a stunning ending to the night. It seemed only fitting that a series that had seen the past two games contested in Gentry Center reach an overtime period would come down to the final play with under a second left in the game.
Trailing by five, the Tigers' Tripp Davis drew a foul on a 3-point attempt with four seconds to play and went on to make the first two attempts, cutting the Tech advantage to 66-63. His third attempt clanked off the rim, but with the ball popping off of several players' finger tips, Davis corralled his own miss and drew another foul.
After a timeout, Davis would sink his first attempt, knowing he would have to miss his second try intentionally with just seventh tenths of a second remaining in regulation and hope for a tip in. He nearly received just that as Stokley Chaffee Jr. grabbed the intentional miss and threw up a shot that caught every bit of the rim.
Thankfully for the Golden Eagles, it caught too much, rolling off and preserving a tough, well-earned victory to kick off the conference season. It also represented Tech's first road victory of the season.
Tech won the contest thanks in large part to winning the turnover battle and making the same amount of field goals and 3-pointers as the Tigers. Both sides struggled from the charity stripe on the night, with the Golden Eagles managing to hit two more tries for the two-point margin of victory. Tech finished 22-of-36 for a 61.1 percent showing while TSU shot 20-of-32 for a 62.5 percent clip.
The Tigers owned the glass on the night, out-rebounding Tech 45-23 to garner an extra 10 field goal attempts in the contest. Tech's ability to finish with a more consistent touch – finishing at 47.6 percent from the field as opposed to Tennessee State's 38.5 percent – proved a huge difference. So did the turnover battle, as Tech forced a whopping 23 miscues by the Tigers while committing just 14 of its own.
While it took a strong team effort, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, it was freshman point guard Jr. Clay that made the offense hum for the Golden Eagles. The rookie dropped a season-high 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting, including a remarkable 19 in the second half alone.
Chipping in with double-digit performances were graduate transfer Malik Martin and junior sharpshooter Corey Tillery. Both finished with 10 points apiece.
SIUE 94, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 88
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Some sizzling shooting supplied plenty of punch as SIUE outscored Southeast Missouri, 94-88, in the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball opener for both teams Thursday at the Vadalabene Center.
The free-wheeling shootout featured the most points SIUE has scored in an OVC game, covering eight seasons.
Cameron Williams and David McFarland led the way as SIUE recorded its season-high team scoring in improving to 5-8 and winning its third in succession for the first time since Dec. 6-19 of 2017.
Williams, a freshman, tallied a season-high 27 points and McFarland, a senior, contributed 22 points. SEMO dropped to 5-9 and had its four-game winning streak against the Cougars snapped.
All figured, the Cougars made 35 of 60 shots, or 58 percent. They also sank 10 of22 attempts from 3-point range and converted 14 of 16 free throws. The Redhawks connected on 30 of 58 shots, or 52 percent. They made 13 of 26 treys and hit on 15 of 18 free throws.
The offense, however, courted the most attention since both teams combined to make 65 of 118 shots, including 23 of 48 from 3-point land. They also teamed up to sink 29 of 34 foul shots.
Williams' confidence seemed to be brimming. He made 10 of 12 shots, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. Williams also hit on all three of his free throws attempts. McFarland made 7 of 12 shots, including a trio of treys. He converted all five of his free throws.
Brandon Jackson (17 points and eight rebounds), Christian Ellis (13 points and five rebounds) and Tyresse Williford (seven points and six assists) added to the cause.
The Cougars made 18 of 32 shots the first half in building a 45-30 advantage. They led by as much as 20 points in the first half, but the Redhawks wouldn't buckle. SEMO got to within 66-62 midway through the second half, yet the Cougars wouldn't let the Redhawks get closer than four points. Still, it took a pair of free throws by McFarland with 6.9 seconds remaining to ensure the victory.
AUSTIN PEAY 93, EASTERN KENTUCKY 75
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men's basketball team wasted no time making a strong statement in Ohio Valley Conference play.
You don't want to trifle with the Governors this year.
Behind exceptional shooting nights, including a career day from one of the newer faces on the roster, Austin Peay (9-5, 1-0 OVC) dispatched Eastern Kentucky (7-7, 0-1) in a wire-to-wire 93-75 victory in the Dunn Center.
The Govs planned to make it a long night for the Colonels from the opening tip and that plan was executed flawlessly. Thanks to four early three-pointers from grad transfer Jarrett Givens, Austin Peay found itself off to a 16-8 lead by the first media timeout, and built on its momentum from there. The lead mushroomed to 21 points, with Austin Peay hitting an incredible 17 of its first 23 shots, including 8-of-11 from beyond the arc.
Eastern Kentucky cut the lead to 15, once, with 5:25 to go after back-to-back threes by Dujuanta Weaver. A frustrated Austin Peay head coach Matt Figger called timeout, and the Govs outscored the Colonels 12-6 the rest of the half, with Eastern Kentucky hitting just one more shot from the floor over the final 5:25.
Givens was the story in the first half, though. The Tempe, Arizona native hit his first six three point attempts and scored 20 points over the first 20 minutes; it was a career night for him before he even re-entered the locker room at halftime.
Givens started the second half with a three; he'd finish with a career-high 25 points. Dayton Gumm sliced the lane time and again for dunks, and when he wasn't doing that, he popped from the outside. In his first game as a Gov, junior Isaiah Hart sank a pair of threes, including a banker as the shot clock expired with 13:32 to play in the game. The lead ballooned to 28 points with under seven minutes to go.
The addition of Hart gave Figger a bit more of a bench to play with, and perhaps that helped contribute to a late 13-3 run by the Colonels to make the final margin a bit more narrow. Regardless, the Govs made a strong opening statement to the rest of the league on opening night of conference play.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 83, BELMONT 73
NASHVILLE - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team claimed its fourth consecutive win over Belmont with an 83-73 win Saturday night in the Music City, winning at Curb Event Center for the second season in a row.
The Gamecocks became the first Ohio Valley team to win multiple games at The Curb, handing the Bruins just their third loss at their home venue since Belmont joined the league in 2012. BU is now 47-3 at home against OVC opponents. The last team to defeat Belmont in four straight meetings was Austin Peay from 2004 to 2008.
The 10-point victory marks the fifth Ohio Valley-opener the Gamecocks have won and snaps a nine-game winning streak in league openers for Belmont.
Senior Jason Burnell came up just two assists short of a triple-double, totaling 19 points, 12 rebounds and eight helpers, and fellow senior Detrick Mostella had his best game of the season after missing six games with an injury. Mostella tied Burnell with 19 points - his highest total of the season - and pitched in three 3-pointers.
Jacksonville State jumped out to a quick 16-10 advantage through the first five minutes with the help of 4-for-5 shooting from the 3-point line. Point guard Ty Hudson knocked down two triples and hit a jumper for half of the opening points.
The long-range game fell cold soon after for the Gamecocks, however, as they missed their next nine shots from beyond the line. It wasn't until Mostella hit a big basket with 1:10 left in the half that JSU had its fifth 3-pointer, pushing the Jacksonville State lead to eight.
The half came to a close with Jamall Gregory bouncing an open layup off the back of the rim, but Mostella rushed in and tipped the ball in to give Jacksonville State a 40-32 advantage at the break.
The second half didn't start favorably for the Gamecocks with Belmont outscoring JSU 19-13 through the period's first 11 minutes. A Dylan Windler 3-pointer at 11:24 that pulled the Jacksonville State lead down to two, 53-51, warranted a Harper timeout to stop the momentum.
After the timeout with less than 12 minutes to play, the Gamecocks answered with back-to-back baskets from Burnell and Derek St Hilaire to shift the momentum to the visitor's bench.
Belmont traded baskets with the Gamecocks nearly shot-for-shot until the two-minute mark when Mostella's final 3-pointer and six straight free throws, divided between Mostella and Maurice Dunlap, totaled a nine-point run.
The Bruins put up eight points in the final two minutes, but it wasn't enough to catch the Gamecocks. Two points each from Mostella, Hudson and Marlon Hunter kept a 10-point buffer until the clock expired.
The Jacksonville State defense held Rick Byrd's Bruins at .441 percent shooting, 26-of-59 shooting, which falls 35 points shy of their season average. Even more impressive, the Bruins hit just eight of 27 3-point attempts for a .304 average - 59 points below their average through 11 games.
Including Mostella and Burnell, four Gamecocks ended the night in double-figures. Hudson totaled 15 points and Hunter finished with 11. Senior Christian Cunningham swatted three shots.