WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 73, @Lipscomb 67
@Missouri 70,
Morehead State 52
@Vanderbilt 90,
Austin Peay 72
BELMONT 73, LIPSCOMB 67
NASHVILLE - Belmont University men's basketball defeated Lipscomb, 73-67, Wednesday in the 145th edition of the Battle of the Boulevard.
Belmont has won 14 of the last 16 meetings in the series.
Enduring uncharacteristic shooting in the first half and trailing 33-32 at halftime, Belmont used a 16-2 run to open the second half to take control. A slam from sophomore Nick Muszynski made the score 48-35 with 14:17 remaining.
Belmont's defense held Lipscomb to four made field goals the first 12 minutes of the second half, but free throw shooting and the play of KJ Johnson kept the Bisons within reach.
A baseline 3-pointer from sophomore Adam Kunkel gave Belmont a 70-57 lead with 4:53 left. Lipscomb got as close as four points, but defensive stops down the stretch enabled Belmont to secure the victory.
Muszynski and Kunkel led Belmont with 16 points each.
Sophomore Grayson Murphy recorded his fourth career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. He added five assists.
Andrew Fleming led Lipscomb (1-4) with 18 points.
Belmont head coach Casey Alexander returned to Lipscomb for the first time after serving as the Bisons' head coach for the previous six seasons; leading Lipscomb to the 2018 NCAA Tournament and 2019 Postseason NIT Championship game.
MISSOURI 70, MOREHEAD STATE 52
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Despite hanging tough at Missouri Wednesday night and holding a first half lead, it was ultimately a late first half and early second half run that propelled the Tigers past the Eagles 70-52 at Mizzou Arena.
Missouri (4-1) ended the first half on a 9-0 run in the final 3:41, then outscored the Eagles 8-2 in the first four-minute span of the final 20 minutes to push ahead for good to hand MSU (4-1) its first setback of 2019-20.
Freshman forward Tyzhaun Claude posted his second career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while senior guard Jordan Walker collected his 59th career double figure effort with 14 points and moved into 25th place in career scoring in program history. It was also Claude's third double-digit rebounding performance in his first five games.
Morehead State held Missouri to only 4-of-22 from beyond the three-point arc (Missouri made its first two of each half and missed all other attempts), but the Tigers owned a 45-28 rebounding edge.
VANDERBILT 90, AUSTIN PEAY 72
NASHVILLE (AP) - Aaron Nesmith scored 26 points and freshman point guard Scotty Pippen Jr. added a career-high 21 to give Vanderbilt a 90-72 win over Austin Peay on Wednesday night.
Nesmith, the top scorer in the Southeast Conference and league-leader in 3-pointers, hit four from beyond the arc and Pippen had three. Saben Lee scored 19 and led Vanderbilt (3-1) with a career-high nine assists.
Pippen and Nesmith hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Commodores a 46-42 lead early in the second half.
Austin Peay (1-3) suffered its third consecutive loss, all coming on the road.
Jordyn Adams led the Governors with a career-high 25 points, including four 3-pointers. Reginald Gee added 14 points and Terry Taylor had 13.
Vanderbilt closed the first half with a 6-0 spurt to take a 38-37 lead. Lee's second-chance layup with two seconds left capped the run as the Governors went the final 3:08 without a basket.
The Governors' last win against an SEC team was in 2012 against Tennessee.