2020 OVC Men's Basketball Championship - Quarterfinals

3/5/2020 7:29:00 AM

#4 EASTERN KENTUCKY 58, #5 TENNESSEE STATE 48
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Freshman Michael Moreno scored nine points during Eastern Kentucky University’s 18-2 run early in the second half that fueled a 58-48 victory over Tennessee State University in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

EKU will face No. 1 seed Belmont University in the OVC Tournament semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. CT. The game will air live on ESPNU.

The fourth seeded Colonels (16-16, 12-6 OVC) trailed by six, 32-26, when Carlos Marshall Jr. hit a jumper for fifth seeded TSU with 16:41 remaining in the game. Moreno connected on a 3-pointer at the other end to begin an 18-2 Eastern Kentucky run. Ty Taylor followed with a 3-pointer to tie the score 32-32. Moreno’s offensive rebound and put-back with 15:21 on the clock put EKU in front 34-32 and the Colonels never trailed again.

Moreno capped the run with a 3-pointer and a free throw to make it 44-34 with 9:27 to go. The Georgetown, Kentucky native had 10 points and seven rebounds in the second half after recording no points and one rebound in the first half.

Eight unanswered by Eastern later in the half pushed a 9-point lead, 47-38, to a 17-point advantage. Two free throws from Tre King and one from Russhard Cruikshank made it 55-38.

Jomaru Brown had 12 points. Taylor added 11 points and three steals. King had nine points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Eastern shot just 30 percent from the field for the game, but turned 26 Tiger turnovers into a 20-4 advantage in points off turnovers. The Colonels held Tennessee State (18-15, 9-9 OVC) to 38 percent shooting from the field, including just 3-of-18 (17 percent) from 3-point range.

Marshall had a team-best 11 points for TSU.

#3 AUSTIN PEAY 76, #6 EASTERN ILLINOIS 65
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Terry Taylor scored 12 of his 27 points in the first half and No. 3-seed Austin Peay beat No. 6-seed Eastern Illinois 76-65 in Thursday night's quarterfinal of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

The Governors (21-11) advance to Friday's semifinal against No. 2-seed Murray State (22-8).

Alec Woodard scored 11 points and Jordyn Adams scored 10 with seven assists for the Governors, who led 42-19 at halftime on 61% shooting with 13 points coming on fast breaks. Taylor had 12 rebounds and Eli Abaev had 10.

George Dixon scored 15 points with 12 rebounds for the Panthers (17-15), who shot 4 of 22 from long range 18%. Shareed Smith scored 12 points, Mack Smith and Josiah Wallace had 11 each and Jordan Skipper-Brown added 10.