SATURDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 74, @Tennessee Tech 55
@Austin Peay 71, Tennessee State 56
SIUE 76, @UT Martin 60
@Southeast Missouri 75, Eastern Illinois 44
Belmont 72, @Murray State 71
MOREHEAD STATE 74, TENNESSEE TECH 55
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Freshman forward Johni Broome posted a 22-point, career-high 13-rebound double-double, while junior guard Skyelar Potter provided 15 markers, and the Morehead State men's basketball team shrugged off 20 turnovers to top Tennessee Tech 74-55 Saturday on the road and move its winning streak to nine games.
The Eagles' (13-6/10-2 OVC) nine-game success streak now equals the longest since 2010-11, while the nine straight league victories is the best streak since winning nine straight in 2009-10. Morehead State has not lost a game after the year turned to 2021 and swept the season series with Tech (2-16/2-9 OVC). The 10-2 OVC mark is the best after 12 games since the 2009-10 squad was 11-1.
Broome dominated the first half when he registered 17 of his 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds. The four-time OVC Freshman of the Week also had a pair of blocked shots and a steal and hit nine buckets on 16 shots. Potter nailed a trio of three-pointers for his 10th double-figure game.
The Eagles' perimeter defense, ranked No. 1 in the OVC, forced Tech into just 5-of-28 from long range, including only 1-of-16 in the second half. Meanwhile MSU hit 56 percent (30-of-54) overall, its seventh game better than 50 percent accuracy and second straight.
The Eagles also led for the entire game, moving their streak of holding a lead to 91 consecutive minutes in the last three games. MSU has also won its last six games by an average of 20 points per game.
AUSTIN PEAY 71, TENNESSEE STATE 56
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University men's basketball team made a huge early lead stand up in a 71-56 victory against Tennessee State to close out a four-game homestand on a high note.
Austin Peay (9-6, 5-4 Ohio Valley Conference) moved back above .500 in league play, while visiting Tennessee State (3-12, 2-10) dropped its seventh straight road contest.
This game opened with a fairly common theme—the Govs scored, then Tennessee State didn't, and then the Govs went back down and scored again. Over the first 11 minutes, Austin Peay built a 21-5 lead, with six points coming from Jordyn Adams and five from Terry Taylor.
For a moment, the Tigers looked like they were mounting a challenge midway through the half, cutting the deficit to 12 and forcing an Austin Peay timeout at the 6:43 mark. But out of the timeout, the Govs scored 16 of the half's final 18 points to take a 42-16 lead into the break.
Such a lead might make other teams let up ever-so-slightly, but after late-game scoreless swoons against Jacksonville State and Belmont, the Govs needed to make a point and close this one out strong. Tennessee State had other ideas; deploying a devastating press, the Tigers coerced the Govs into 17 second-half turnovers. And when the Governors got a shot up, for the first 12 minutes it was likely to be a miss, as Austin Peay started the second half at a less-than-robust 3-for-14 from the floor.
By the six-minute mark, the Tigers had cut the deficit to 10 and the Govs were in, if not real danger, then certainly in need of a spark. When Ravel Moody swished home a three and forced a timeout at the 5:32 mark, the alarm bells began to sound.
When Mark Freeman fouled out for Tennessee State with 4:49 to go, a large part of the Tiger attack, offensively and defensively, went with him. Without their floor general, the Tigers got tight and the Governor offense finally got some second-half rhythm.
The Govs closed the game on a 6-0 run, hitting four of their final five shots from the floor. Four Govs finished in double figures, led by Taylor with 18.
SIUE 76, UT MARTIN 60
MARTIN, Tenn. - SIUE men's basketball never trailed on its way to a road thumping of UT Martin Saturday at the Elam Center.
The Cougars improved to 6-6 overall and 4-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
SIUE has won three oof its last five, all coming on the road, where the five overall wins have already equaled the program high for road wins in the Division I era.
Shamar Wright's three-point basket at the first-half buzzer gave SIUE its largest lead at the time at 35-24.
SIUE pushed the lead to more than 20 three separate times in the second half. Iziah James served up an alley-oop to Sidney Wilson on a fast break with 4:04 to play to give SIUE its largest lead at 69-47.
It was one of five assists for James, which tied a career high. He added five points and two rebounds. Wilson scored 18 points added four rebounds and three assists. Mike Adewunmi led the Cougars with 20 points. He pitched in seven rebounds and two assists. It is the fifth career 20-point game for Adewunmi and his third this season.
SIUE connected on 52 percent (26-50) of its shots, marking the sixth time this year it has shot better than 50 percent in a game. The Cougars collected a season-high 20 assists and outrebounded UT Martin 37-36. The Cougars also recorded 10 blocks, one shy of the school record which they equaled earlier this year.
Shamar Wright paced the Cougars on the boards, grabbing a career-high nine rebounds. He added seven points, two blocks and a steal. Lamar Wright finished with six points and four rebounds, while tying his career high with five blocked shots.
Anthony Thomas' 24 points led UT Martin, which dropped to 5-10 overall and 3-8 in the OVC.
The Cougars return to First Community Arena, where they have played only once this season. SIUE plays host to Austin Peay Monday afternoon in the first of four games during the week.
The Cougars will play nine games over the first 15 days of the month.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 75, EASTERN ILLINOIS 44
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Nana Akenten scored 13 points to lead four starters in double figures as Southeast Missouri (6-10, 4-6) stomped Eastern Illinois (5-13, 2-9), 75-44, Saturday at the Show Me Center.
SEMO, which is on a winning streak for the first time this season, improved to 4-3 at home. The Redhawks also won an Ohio Valley Conference home game by 30 or more points for the first time in nine years. The last time that happened was when SEMO beat UT Martin, 86-56, on Feb. 9, 2012.
The Redhawks never let up in their dominating complete game effort.
SEMO took control of the game early and used an 8-0 run to build a 16-8 lead just a little over 10 minutes in. Darrious Agnew came off the bench to score the last four points of that surge with his jumper putting the Redhawks ahead, 16-8, with 9:59 left to play in the first half.
Harris' layup later gave SEMO its first double-digit lead at 23-12 and the Redhaws lead didn't dip below 10 points for the remainder of the opening stanza.
The Redhawks scored the final eight points of the first half and Nana Akenten drained a 3-pointer with four seconds to go before they headed into the locker room with a comfortable 38-20 advantage.
EIU's 20 first-half points were the fewest of any opponent SEMO faced this season. The Redhawks held the Panthers to just 22.2 percent from the field on 6-of-27 attempts.
SEMO continued to rough up the Panthers in the second half and ran its lead to 30 (72-42) on Akenten's layup with 3:11 to go before capping its largest victory of 2020-21.
The Redhawks shot 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field in the second half and 47.4 percent (27-of-57) for the game. SEMO also outrebounded EIU, 50-25, and man-handled the Panthers in points in the paint (32-2), points off turnovers (20-6), second chance points (17-3) and fast break points (12-0).
Akenten, who returned from an ankle injury he sustained in the first half, shot 5-of-10 from the field, knocked down three 3-pointers, had five steals and pulled down five rebounds.
Harris and Patterson followed with 11 points apiece. Patterson, who made his first SEMO start for Nolan Taylor (out with a knee injury), made 3-of-6 field goals and 5-of-7 free throws in 15 minutes.
DQ Nicholas chipped in 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Nicholas grabbed a total of 24 rebounds in his last three starts.
EIU shot a mere 26.4 percent (14-of-53) from the field for the game. Josiah Wallace was the only Panther in double figures with 11 points.
SEMO handed EIU its eighth-consecutive loss.
BELMONT 72, MURRAY STATE 71
MURRAY, Ky. - A free throw from sophomore Ben Sheppard with 13 seconds remaining gave Belmont University men's basketball a 72-71 victory over Murray State Saturday.
Junior Nick Muszynski would record his fifth blocked shot of the game in the final sequence, blocking a shot attempt from Tevin Brown with four seconds left to secure the victory.
Early 3-pointers from sophomore Derek Sabin and junior Caleb Hollander gave Belmont a 12-11 lead eight and a half minutes in. Sheppard and junior Luke Smith battled early foul trouble and spent much of the first half on the bench.
After a slam from freshman Even Brauns, Murray State took a 22-15 lead on a Demond Robinson basket. Belmont (18-1, 12-0 OVC) answered with a 10-0 run, as transition plays from junior Grayson Murphy, freshman JaCobi Wood and Hollander put Belmont back on top.
KJ Williams would score 12 points in the final 4:49 of the first half as Murray State led 37-32 at halftime. Belmont shot 48 percent (12-of-25) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 4-of-10 from 3-point distance.
After a series of Belmont defensive stops, Murray State got a lift on a baseline 3-pointer from Dionte Bostick that bounced high off the rim and fell through, as it sparked a 7-0 run. A Brauns post score and consecutive 3-pointers from Wood and Smith got Belmont within 46-45 with 14:28 left. Momentum swung back in Murray State's favor, as Devin Gilmore gave the hosts a 55-45 lead with 11:44 to go.
From there, Belmont established Muszynski in the paint, as he scored, drew fouls or set up teammates on successive possessions. Two Sheppard free throws and a Hollander 3-pointer trimmed the margin to four, 60-56, with 7:19 left. Another clutch Wood 3-pointer and two straight fearless drives from Murphy gave Belmont a 63-61 lead with 5:25 remaining. After Williams tied the score, Sheppard made a baseline 3-pointer to give Belmont a 66-63 advantage with 3:20 to go.
In a game which featured 14 ties and eight lead changes, both teams made one impressive play after another. Two Willams free throws got Murray State within one point before Murphy found Hollander along the baseline to increase the Belmont lead back to three. Brown would then sink a deep, contested baseline 3-pointer to tie the score at 68 with 2:10 left.
After a Justice Hill steal and a Brown miss inside, Williams would preserve the Murray State possession and find Brown for a 3-pointer to Murray State a 71-68 lead with 1:30 remaining. Wood narrowly rimmed out a 3-point attempt to tie, giving Murray State possession with under one minute to play. DaQuan Smith missed a 3-pointer and Murphy would secure the Belmont rebound.
A quick outlet pass freed Smith in transition, who proceeded to score a twisting, off-balance bank shot with 42 seconds left as Hill fouled him. The enormous, conventional 3-point play tied the score at 71. Murray State worked the ball into the frontcourt, but as Brown decided between a pass, drive or shot on the left wing, Murphy snuck in and stole the ball.
With the shot clock off, many anticipated Belmont holding for the final shot of regulation. However, as Murphy passed ahead to Smith, Belmont elected to attack for a transition score. Smith connected with Sheppard at full speed and Carter would be called for a foul on the layin attempt with 13 seconds left.
Sheppard would make the second of two free throws to give Belmont a 72-71 lead. Murray State would call timeout in the frontcourt prior to the final sequence.
Hill found Brown on the right wing, who would pump fake and drive the right elbow before elevating for a short jump shot. But Muszynski was well-positioned, blocked the shot, and Belmont secured possession near midcourt as the horn sounded.
All told, Belmont shot 51 percent (26-of-51) from the field - including 10-of-24 from 3-point distance. Belmont scored 22 points off 14 Murray State turnovers.
Murphy led five Bruins in double figures with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Wood had 13 points and five assists while Muszynski delivered 12 points, five rebounds and a season-high five blocked shots. Hollander had 11 and Smith added 10.
Williams led Murray State (7-8, 4-6 OVC) with 18 points.
Belmont has won 30 of its last 31 games and 24 consecutive games against conference opponents. Belmont has also won an NCAA-best 18 consecutive road/neutral games.