WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@#23 Ohio State 77,
Morehead State 44
Eastern Kentucky 95, @USC Upstate 78
SIUE 73, @Northern Illinois 53
@Xavier 79,
Tennessee Tech 48
Southern Illinois 87,
@Southeast Missouri 79 (OT)
@Middle Tennessee 78,
Murray State 61
@UT Martin 93, Evansville 87 (2OT)
#23 OHIO STATE 77, MOREHEAD STATE 44
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Morehead State men's basketball was hampered by two scoring droughts of more than six minutes in the second half after hanging tight at No. 23 Ohio State in the opening half Wednesday night at the Covelli Center. The Eagles ultimately absorbed a 77-44 setback to the Buckeyes.
The Eagles (1-3), who were playing their third top-25 ranked foe in 2020-21, were held scoreless from the 13:14 mark of the second stanza to the 7:39 mark, and while Ohio State (3-0) only scored seven during that stretch, the margin proved too tough to overcome. Later on the Eagles were held without a made field goal in the final 7:39.
Junior guard Skyelar Potter finished with a team-best and MSU career-high 13 points, while junior guard DeVon Cooper registered his third consecutive double-figure effort with 11 points.
The Eagles shot 41 percent in the first half but unfortunately cooled off to hit just 13 (4-of-30) percent in the final half when the home team distanced itself and outscored MSU 40-17.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 95, USC UPSTATE 78
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Five Colonels scored in double figures as the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team went on the road and blew past USC Upstate, 95-78, on Wednesday night at G.B. Hodge Center.
Sophomore Michael Moreno matched his career high with 18 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Junior Jomaru Brown also scored 18 points off the bench, adding four assists and two steals.
Junior Tre King posted 17 points and seven boards. Freshman Wendell Green Jr. had 12 points and a team-best six assists, while senior Russhard Cruickshank contributed 10 points off the bench.
EKU (3-1) shot a season-best 53.7 percent (36-of-67) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from deep.
The Colonels stifled the Spartans to 34.9 percent (22-of-63) shooting from the field and 29.2 percent (7-of-24) shooting from beyond the arc.
Eastern outscored Upstate (0-3), 44-28, in the paint.
King opened the game with a thunderous dunk, giving the Colonels a lead they would never relinquish. A three-point play by sophomore Tariq Balogun made it 11-2 with 13:30 left in the first half.
Another slam by King gave Eastern its largest lead of the first half, 44-20, with 2:18 on the clock.
The Colonels did not let up in the second half. A three-pointer from Brown handed EKU its largest lead of the night, 69-37, with 13:05 left.
SIUE 73, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 53
DEKALB, Ill. - SIUE raced out to a 16-4 lead Wednesday and never looked back, running away from Northern Illinois 73-53 at the Convocation Center.
After starting the season with back-to-back losses, the Cougars have won their last two straight. Wednesday win is the largest road win in SIUE's Division I era.
The Huskies (0-2) pulled within six at 16-10, before the Cougars stretched the lead again. An 11-2 run for SIUE made it 27-12 with 5:47 left in the half. Sidney Wilson buried a pair of free throws with 1:27 to play before half and SIUE carried a 16-point (34-18) lead into the break. It was the second consecutive game the Cougars have held their opponent to fewer than 20 points in the half.
Northern Illinois got as close as 13 points earl in the second half before SIUE pulled away for good. A 19-2 run pushed SIUE's advantage to 30 (53-23) thanks to a Desmond Polk three-pointer with 14:47 to play.
A Shamar Wright alley-oop dunk from Courtney Carter made it a 30-point game again at 60-30.
Sidney Wilson led SIUE with a career-best 22 points on an efficient 8-for-14 shooting night. It was the third double-digit scoring effort of the season for the UConn transfer. Mike Adewunmi also collected his third double-digit scoring game, scoring 15 points and adding 12 rebounds for his third career double-double.
SIUE racked up 18 assists, including seven from Courtney Carter, who added six point and five steals. SIUE finished with 10 steals as a team, marking the second time this season they have finished with at least 10.
The Cougars also flexed their muscle on defense, forcing 19 NIU turnovers and piling up 29 points off of those turnovers. The Cougars added six more blocked shots after entering the game as the national leader in total blocks.
Tyler Cochran led NIU with 15 points. Darius Beane scored 13 and added six rebounds.
XAVIER 79, TENNESSEE TECH 48
CINCINNATI - Consistency was key Wednesday night, as the Tennessee Tech men's basketball dropped its first road contest in a series of three-straight away from Cookeville with a 79-48 loss at Xavier.
The Golden Eagles showed flashes of strong play on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor, but struggled to string together long periods of both while still playing with a reduced roster. With experienced guards Jr. Clay, Tujautae Williams and Damaria Franklin still out due to COVID protocols, Tech continued to roll on with an athletic, albeit youthful group of players, many of whom showed flashes of strong play.
Leading the scoring efforts for the Golden Eagles was freshman forward Kenny White Jr., who hit 6-of-13 shots on his way to 13 points. He added four boards while playing 33 minutes. Fellow rookie forward Austin Harvell corralled a team-high nine rebounds while chipping in five points.
Tech kept the game close for much of the first half, before a couple of mini runs by the Musketeers saw the home team take a 35-21 lead into the break. The purple and gold put together an 8-0 run mid-way through the second half, cutting what had become a 22-point deficit to 14, but Xavier answered in turn with a 19-2 run of its own to close the game.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 87, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 79 (OT)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southern Illinois (1-0) scored 28 points at the free throw line and sunk nine in overtime to escape with an 87-79 win over Southeast Missouri (1-1) Wednesday night at the Show Me Center.
SEMO led, 65-54, with a little over six minutes remaining in regulation when SIU went on a 15-4 run to tie the game at 69-69. Dalton Banks converted a conventional 3-point play and Anthony D'Avanzo made a free throw to knot things up with 20 seconds left.
Chris Harris drove the lane and banked in a layup to regain a 71-69 edge for the Redhawks 12 seconds later.
DQ Nicholas was then whistled for a foul when contact was made near halfcourt on SIU's inbounds pass. D'Avanzo headed to the free throw line again, this time making two shots to bring the game to a 71-71 deadlock with four seconds on the clock. SEMO had a chance to win it, but Harris' 3-point attempt came off the front of the rim and both teams headed to overtime.
The Salukis scored the first seven points of the extra period to quickly build a 78-71 lead and SEMO couldn't recover. Ben Harvey sunk a pair of free throws, Trent Brown buried a 3-pointer and Marcus Domask added a layup during that stretch over the first 2:29 of overtime. SIU made a near-perfect 9-of-10 free throws to close out the game.
Eric Reed, Jr. was spectacular in the second half, scoring 13 of his team-high 17 points. Reed, Jr. drained three 3-pointers. At one time, Reed, Jr. scored eight-straight points to put SEMO ahead, 52-46, with 10:56 left to play in regulation.
Big-bodied forward Nolan Taylor gave the Redhawks a big boost in a first half that saw the Redhawks lead for all but 19 seconds.
Ahead, 10-9, with 14:43 remaining, SEMO went on a 13-3 run to build a double-digit lead. Taylor scored five points to key the surge that ended with a Nate Johnson basket that stretched SEMO's lead to 23-12 at the 8:07 mark. Moments after Reed, Jr.'s layup gave SEMO its second 11-point lead, the Salukis answered with a 9-0 run to slice the Redhawks lead to 25-23. Banks' layup finished off that run with 4:23 on the clock.
For the second-straight game, SEMO had four players with double figures in the scoring column.
Reed, Jr. shot 6-of-12 from the field and dished out a game-high five assists to pave the way. Harris followed close behind with 15 points, while Taylor chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds. Jordan Love contributed 10 points, scoring double-digits for just the third time in his career.
Nygal Russell pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds to help lift SEMO to a 50-37 (+13) advantage on the boards. The Redhawks outrebounded the Salukis, 18-4, on the offensive glass. SEMO outscored SIU, 16-2, in second chance points, as well.
The 118th meeting between longtime rivals SEMO and SIU featured six ties and nine lead changes.
Domask and Ben Harvey led SIU with 24 and 22 points, respectively. Domask (11) and Harvey (9) combined for 20 of the Salukis 28 made free throws.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 78, MURRAY STATE 61
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Murray State Racers hit the road for the first time in the 2020-21 season and suffered a 78-61 defeat against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Tevin Brown and Chico Carter, Jr. led the Racers with 13 points each. Demond Robinson gave the Racers three players in double-figures each with 10. Brown and Devin Gilmore each had a team high seven rebounds.
In the first half, the Racers jumped in front by seven at 26-19 when Brion Whitley hit a jumper with 9:12 on the clock. However, a cold front came through Murphy Center and the Racers went the next 7:29 without a point. When Justice Hill scored on a drive with 1:43 remaining in the half, the damage wasn't as bad as it could've been. The Racers had committed 10 turnovers to 14 field goals, but only trailed the Blue Raiders 34-30.
In the second half, MTSU (1-2) hit the Racers with an 8-0 run at the start, putting the Racers in a 42-30 hole only 90 seconds in. The Racers cut the lead to 11 with 17:36 left on a basket by DaQuan Smith and were down by the same margin at 13:21, but never got closer the rest of the night.
The Racers shot 40 percent for the game on 23-of-57 from the field, while MTSU hit 44 percent of their shots on 30-of-67. MSU went 3-of-16 from the 3-point line, while the Blue Raiders were 9-of-30. The rebound total was even at 37-37.
UT MARTIN 93, EVANSVILLE 87 (2OT)
MARTIN, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.