SUNDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 84, William Woods 29
@Drake 80,
UT Martin 54
SIUE 84, WILLIAM WOODS 29
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE closed out a perfect home stand with a dominating win Sunday at First Community Arena. The Cougars won their third consecutive game, soaring past the William Woods Owls 84-29.
The 29 points allowed is tied for the fewest allowed by SIUE in school history and the 55-point win differential is the largest since SIUE moved to the Division I level.
The Cougars improved to 6-6 overall and 4-0 at home with the win. The six wins are the most nonconference wins for SIUE since they began playing an Ohio Valley Conference schedule in 2011-12.
What finished as a blowout, didn't start that way. The teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes and William Woods had a 15-13 lead after a Jacob Randall jumper with 10:33 to play in the first half. SIUE seized control at that point, scoring the next 11 points. William Woods didn't score another field goal before halftime and the Cougars finished the first half on a 30-1 run to lead 43-16 at the break.
After allowing 16 points at half, SIUE gave up just 13 points in the second half. SIUE shot 52 percent from the field in the first half and 47 percent (34-72) for the game, marking the seventh time this season the team has connected on at least 45 percent of its shots from the field. The 34 field goals made were the most in a game this season. The 73 attempts were the most in a game since January 2019 at Tennessee Tech.
The Cougars limited William Woods to just 20 percent from the field. The Owls were 12-20 for the game and just 5-29 in the second half.
The Cougars outrebounded the Owls 55-33, securing their most rebounds this season. SIUE collected 23 assists, the second-highest total of the season, and grabbed 12 steals, its most this year.
Ray'Sean Taylor led three SIUE players in double figures with a game-high 21 points. It is the fifth 20-point game of his career. He has scored in double figures in all 12 games he has played for SIUE. He was 8-13 shooting and 5-7 from three-point range.
Courtney Carter scored a season-high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his second double-double in the last three games. Carter added four assists and three steals.
DeeJuan Pruitt finished a rebound shy of his second consecutive double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Shaun Doss, Jr. scored nine points and is now just 14 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
Including Carter's 15 points, SIUE got 36 points from the bench. Elochukwu Eze tied his career high six points while adding a rebound, a block and a steal. Freshman Jonathan Kurtas scored a career-high six points and tied his career high with five rebounds.
The Cougars scored 30 fast-break points and added 46 points in the paint.
Makenzie Fessler scored 14 points to lead William Woods. He was the only player in double figures for the Owls.
DRAKE 80, UT MARTIN 54
DES MOINES, Iowa - The University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball team started off both halves well at Drake this afternoon but the Bulldogs proved to be too much in an 80-54 Skyhawk setback at the Knapp Center.
UT Martin began the game on 10-2 run in less than three minutes but trailed by a 43-25 margin at the halftime break. The Skyhawks then came out of the locker room and produced seven unanswered points in the second half but Drake recovered to win its 30th consecutive home game against a nonconference opponent.
For the fourth straight game and sixth time overall this season, KJ Simon led UT Martin (4-8) in scoring as the junior guard accounted for 13 points. Chris Nix almost came away with his second consecutive double-double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with two assists, two blocks and two steals in just 22 minutes.
The Bulldogs (8-4) saw five players reach double figures in the scoring column as Tucker DeVries (15 points), Okay Djamgouz (15), Darnell Brodie (12), ShanQuan Hemphill (10) and Ayo Akinwole (10) each accomplished that feat.
A trio of Skyhawks provided points to give UT Martin its 10-2 lead to start the contest. Simon was responsible for five points while Koby Jeffries (jumper) and KK Curry (old-fashioned three-point play) helped the Skyhawks jump out to an early advantage.
After Drake temporarily took a one-point lead at the 14:47 mark, Darius Simmons answered right back with a deep three-pointer on UT Martin's next trip down the floor to make the score 13-11 in favor of the Skyhawks.
The Bulldogs responded with a 15-0 run that wasn't snapped until a Nix jumper in the paint with 9:28 to go in the first half. Josiah Morris scored UT Martin's next five points but Drake posted nine of the final 12 points before the halftime break.
The Skyhawk trio of Simon, Simmons and Morris shared the team lead in scoring with five points apiece in the first 20 minutes. All eight Bulldogs who played in the first half scored as Brodie's eight points ranked as a team-high.
A bucket in the paint from Simon opened the scoring on both sides in the second half. Jeffries sank a jumper and following a dunk and free throw from Curry, UT Martin had trimmed its deficit to 43-32 with 16:47 remaining in the contest.
Drake then went on a 15-2 run before a Simon jumper and Mikel Henderson trifecta got the Skyhawks back on track. However, the dangerous Bulldog offense produced separate lengthy runs (8-0 and 10-0) over the next seven minutes to create some separation.
Nix scored seven of UT Martin's final eight points but unfortunately the Drake lead was too large to overcome.