TUESDAY'S SCORES
Chattanooga 66,
@Tennessee State 63
@Indiana State 72,
Southeast Missouri 66
@Ole Miss 90,
UT Martin 43
@Eastern Kentucky 86, High Point 67
@Western Kentucky 88,
Tennessee Tech 68
CHATTANOOGA 66, TENNESSEE STATE 63
NASHVILLE (AP) - Malachi Smith had a career-high 29 points plus 13 rebounds as Chattanooga won its ninth straight game, edging past Tennessee State 66-63 on Tuesday.
Smith made two free throws with 8.8 seconds left and Mark Freeman missed a 3-pointer at the other end.
Stefan Kenic had 16 points for Chattanooga (9-0). Trey Doomes added six rebounds. Smith hit 10 of 11 foul shots.
Freeman had 20 points and six assists for the Tigers (1-4). Josh Linder added 13 points and Shakem Johnson had 11 points.
INDIANA STATE 72, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 66
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State (3-2) scored 28 points at the free throw line to key a 72-66 win over Southeast Missouri (2-5) Tuesday afternoon at the Hulman Center.
One of the top free throw shooting teams in the Missouri Valley Conference, ISU shot 80 percent (28-of-35) from the charity stripe and that was the difference.
For the game, ISU and SEMO combined for 50 fouls and 62 free throw attempts.
The Redhawks never led en route to their first loss of the season that wasn't in overtime or decided by a last second shot.
ISU started the game on a 9-0 run to put SEMO into an early hole just 3:33 in. The Rehawks turned the ball over six times in that stretch.
Eric Reed, Jr. later buried a 3-pointer to get the Redhawks within four (20-16) at the 8:29 mark of the first half, but the Sycamores answered with the next five points extending their lead to 25-19.
SEMO committed 11 turnovers in the first half, which resulted in the Sycamores taking a 32-24 lead at the intermission.
The Redhawks, who trailed, 52-36, with a little over 12 minutes remaining, managed to get to within four (64-60) on a pair of Dylan Branson free throws with 1:40 to go.
DQ Nicholas' layup made it a four-point game again 27 seconds later, but that was the closest SEMO would get before falling to its fourth-straight loss.
SEMO shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) from the field and missed nine of its free throws at a 66.7 percent (18-of-27) clip. The Redhawks committed 19 turnovers and were charged for 27 fouls, as well. Additionally, SEMO outrebounded ISU, 35-30.
Chris Harris led SEMO with 16 points and six rebounds, his sixth double-digit performance of the season.
Branson, a freshman, followed with 12 points on three 3-pointers and three free throws. For Branson, it was the first time he scored double figures in his college career.
Nolan Taylor added 11 points and six boards.
Tyreke Key dropped in a game-high 18 points and did not miss a free throw (7-of-7) to pace the Sycamores. Jake LaRavia added 15 points and Tre Williams chipped in 11. LaRavia (9) and Williams (5) also accounted for 14 points on free throws.
OLE MISS 90, UT MARTIN 43
OXFORD, Miss. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team saw nine different players score today but the Ole Miss Rebels claimed a 90-43 victory at the Pavilion at Ole Miss.
Playing their fourth game in the last eight days, the Skyhawks (3-2) were led in scoring by Ajani Kennedy and Anthony Thomas' seven points apiece. Cameron Holden added six points and a team-best four rebounds while Eden Holt and Keston Eskridge each divvied out three assists. Defensively, UT Martin was led by La-Quiem Walker's career-best two blocks and Eskridge's game-high three steals.
Ole Miss (5-1) placed four scorers in double figures while shooting 59.3 percent (35-of-59) from the floor. KJ Buffen and Jarkel Joiner shared the team lead with 16 points each while Matthew Murrell (13) and Austin Crowley (11) also reached the double-digit plateau in the scoring column.
Kennedy kept the Skyhawks in the game early, as the redshirt junior out of Moreno Valley, Calif. was responsible for UT Martin's first five points. The Rebels broke a 5-5 tie with 12 unanswered points until a Hannes Polla lay-in ended the Skyhawks' scoring drought at the 13:12 mark.
Another Kennedy bucket and a Thomas three-pointer followed on consecutive possessions for UT Martin but Ole Miss ended the first half on a 23-7 surge, taking a 47-19 advantage into the locker room.
The Skyhawks were led in scoring by Kennedy (seven points) while Buffen tossed in a dozen points for the Rebels in the first half.
Ole Miss began the second stanza on an 18-2 run as UT Martin's first points of the half came via a Jaron Williams jumper at the 18:10 mark. Trey Fort swished a three-pointer to erase a four-minute scoreless stretch before Walker knocked down back-to-back mid-range jumpers for the Skyhawks.
Holden reeled off six straight UT Martin points and Thomas followed with back-to-back buckets soon thereafter. Holt then knocked down a pull-up three-pointer from the right wing with 1:55 remaining to cap off a 12-2 Skyhawk run. However, the host Rebels proved to be too much as they improved to 4-0 at home this season.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 86, HIGH POINT 67
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky University’s men’s basketball team dispatched High Point University, 86-67, on Tuesday at McBrayer Arena.
It was the final non-conference game of the regular season for the Colonels (7-2, 1-1 OVC). Eastern went 6-1 against non-conference teams with the only loss in overtime to now No. 22 ranked Xavier.
Brandon Knapper led EKU with a game-best 21 points. Wendell Green Jr. contributed 13 points and eight assists. Michael Moreno had 12 points. Cooper Robb finished the night with five points, six rebounds and eight steals.
The Colonels scored the first 12 points of the game, including 3-pointers from Curt Lewis and Knapper. The final basket on the early run came off a pass from Green. The freshman chased down a loose ball, grabbed it while jumping out of bounds in front of the High Point bench and tossed the ball over his head to Moreno waiting under the basket. Moreno laid it in to make it a 12-0 game with 17:53 left in the first half.
The Panthers (2-5) battled back, drawing within five on three occasions. The third coming on a pair of free throws from Eric Coleman Jr. to make it 24-19 with 10:03 to go in the opening frame.
High Point never got any closer. Two free throws by Knapper pushed it back to a double-digit lead, 31-21. A jumper in the lane by JacQuess Hobbs off an inbounds pass gave Eastern a 14-point advantage, 41-27. Peyton Broughton’s 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the home team to the locker room in front by 16, 46-30.
A series of plays by Moreno four minutes into the second half allowed the Colonels to take a 20-plus point lead. The sophomore made a 3-pointer from the right wing off an inbound pass to put EKU ahead 59-38. While defending the ensuing inbound play by High Point, Moreno made a steal and was fouled on a lay-up. His two free throws with 15:56 left in the game gave Eastern a 61-38 advantage.
The Panthers answered, going on a 15-2 run to make it a 10-point game. Denny Slay II hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap it and close the gap to 63-53 with 11:27 remaining.
Just as quickly, EKU scored 10 unanswered to put the game away. Moreno hit a lay-up and a 3-pointer, and Hobbs added a 3-pointer. Moreno’s long-range basket stretched the margin back to 20, 73-53.
Slay had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field for High Point. Coleman finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
The Colonels shot 45 percent from the field. The Panthers made 42 percent of their shots. High Point out-rebounded Eastern by four, but gave up 25 points off 23 turnovers.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 88, TENNESSEE TECH 68
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - One key run in the first half, proved to be much of the difference for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Tuesday evening, as the Golden Eagles dropped their non-conference finale at Western Kentucky, 88-68.
The Tech offense struggled to get much going offensively early as the Hilltoppers started the contest with a 22-6 lead over the opening eight minutes. The Golden Eagles buckled down on defense from that point on, holding WKU to just 14 points the rest of the half.
The purple and gold forced eight turnovers in the first stanza, including drawing three offensive charges by the Hilltoppers. Tech scored just enough to cut the deficit to single digits, but a buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave WKU a 36-25 advantage headed into the locker room.
In the second half, both offenses came out firing, each shooting above 50 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes of regulation. Tech matched the Hilltopper effort for much of the period, never quite allowing the home team to pull away until free throws caught up with the Golden Eagles. WKU hit 13-of-14 from the charity stripe in the second stanza and ice the game late.
After being held scoreless in the first half for the second-straight game, junior guard Jr. Clay came alive to keep the Tech squad in the contest early in the second half. The Chattanooga native scored all of his team-high 15 points in the second stanza, draining a trio of triples.
Chicago native Damaria Franklin was the offensive force in the first half, pacing Tech with nine of his 14 points. Both he and Clay dished out three assists in the game. Fellow backcourt mate Keishawn Davidson chipped in a team-high five dimes while battling foul trouble.
Amadou Sylla hauled in a team-best nine rebounds while Shandon Goldman tied his season-high with 11 points.