THURSDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 68, Tennessee State 60
@Morehead State 66, Murray State 65
Austin Peay 94, @Eastern Kentucky 79
Belmont 89, @Eastern Illinois 61
Jacksonville State 82, @UT Martin 70
@Southeast Missouri 68, Tennessee Tech 64
SIUE 68, TENNESSEE STATE 60
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE men's basketball picked its first home win of the year Thursday to move back above .500 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Cougars defeated Tennessee State 68-60 to sweep the season series.
The Cougars improved to 5-4 in the OVC and 7-8 overall, while snapping a two-game losing skid.
A Michael Matas layup with 16:09 to play in the first gave SIUE an 8-7 lead and the Cougars never trailed again. SIUE led 36-28 at the half and extended the lead after halftime.
The Cougars had as much as a 15-point lead in the second half when Carlos Curtis converted a layup with 14:46 to play in the game. The Tigers got as close as six with 9:11 to play and had it down to seven (63-56) with inside of a minute left.
SIUE drained five of six free throws in the game's final 46 seconds to seal the win.
Carlos Curtis led four SIUE players in double figures with 16 points. He added eight rebounds and five assists. Courtney Carter scored 14 points and pulled down a career-best nine rebounds. Shamar Wright scored 12 points and added a career-high 11 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. He blocked four shots, also a career-high.
Mike Adewunmi scored 11 points and was seven for seven at the free throw line. Lamar Wright scored two points and added three rebounds. He also blocked four shots.
The Cougars outrebounded Tennessee State 45-40, for a new season-high against a Division I opponent. They added 10 blocked shots, the third time this season they have finished with at least 10 blocks in a game.
Shakem Johnson led Tennessee State with 30 points on 14-of-20 shooting. He also led the way with nine rebounds.
The Cougars shot 40 percent (23-58) from the field and were 18 of 27 (67 percent) at the free throw line. The Cougars scored 32 points in the paint.
MOREHEAD STATE 66, MURRAY STATE 56
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State's men's basketball team used its stifling defense once again at Johnson Arena Thursday night as the Eagles shut down visiting Murray State to win 66-56 and collect the team's 10th consecutive victory. The triumph also marked the first regular-season sweep over the Racers since 2002-03.
The Eagles' (14-6/11-2 OVC) winning streak is the best since an 11-game streak in 2009-10 and is the third best winning streak in program history, trailing the 1983-84 team's program record of 12 by just two games. Morehead State also continued its string of winning by double digits, marking seven straight for the first time in program history (since 1929-30).
Murray State entered the night averaging 78 points per game but Morehead State quelled the Racers to their second lowest output of the year, trailing only a 55-point night at Belmont. The Eagles held the Racers to 56 in the first meeting on Jan. 2 in Murray.
Freshman forward Johni Broome recorded his sixth double-double of the season with team-bests of 16 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four blocked shots. Junior guards Skyelar Potter, DeVon Cooper and KJ Hunt, Jr., all chipped in 12 points, and the defense held the Racers' two leading scorers (KJ Williams and Tevin Brown) to just three points combined in the second half. Williams, who finished with seven points, was held without a shot attempt in the final half after scoring 26, 18 and 25 in his last three games, respectively. Brown did lead the Racers with 13 points but was forced to shoot 4-of-17 overall.
Meanwhile, the Eagles hit 55 percent for the night, the third consecutive game better than 50 percent field goal accuracy.
AUSTIN PEAY 94, EASTERN KENTUCKY 79
RICHMOND, Ky. - At the 4:13 mark in the first half, Terry Taylor entered history.
That was the moment when Taylor, as he so often has during the course of a storied Austin Peay State University men's basketball career, collected an offensive rebound, gathered himself and rose up for a dunk. He's done it a hundred times as a Gov, but this one was different.
This was the one that immortalized him, the moment he passed Charles "Bubba" Wells and took sole possession of the Austin Peay career scoring record with 2,268 points. And it came as part of one of the most complete efforts the Govs have put forth as a team this season, in a 94-79 victory from McBrayer Arena to hand Eastern Kentucky just its second league loss this season.
Remember early in the season when the Govs weren't hitting at a particularly robust clip from beyond the arc? That ended about six games ago, and the opening 10 or so minutes against the Colonels proved to be no different for the Govs, who hit six treys in the first 10:17 of the contest, with Jordyn Adams knocking down all three of his early attempts.
Another early three-point barrage helped Austin Peay set the tone offensively, but it was a solid defensive effort against Eastern Kentucky's constant ball movement which began to help the Govs pull away; the Colonels also were pretty adroit from beyond the arc, hitting six threes of their own at a 40 percent clip in the first half. But the Govs could not be denied, and Taylor's milestone seemed to push them over the top late in the half, helping Austin Peay end on an 18-11 run to take a 53-38 lead into the locker room.
Seems safe, right?
Not so fast. As the Colonels proved in the first half of the January 2 meeting between these two teams, their stifling defense can lead to opportunities on the other end and they hit threes better than their 33.6 percent season mark would suggest. And so it was that Eastern Kentucky hit five threes in the first 3:46 in the second half, cutting the deficit to three when Michael Moreno hit a three at the 16:14 mark.
A momentum-sapping run by the home team in a hostile environment is not an ideal way to go into the first media timeout of the second half. However, Austin Peay did get a piece of good news during that opening barrage by Eastern Kentucky—Tre King, the Colonels' in-all-likelihood All-OVC pick, picked up his third foul 18:37 mark and had to hit the bench.
Without King, the Colonels had a harder time checking Taylor on the interior—as though his 22 first-half points weren't enough to contend with. But with the Colonels forced to sell out on him, that left more room to maneuver for his supporting cast. Like Tai'Reon Joseph, who scored all six of his points in a 1:08 burst to give the momentum back to the Govs. And Elton Walker, whose three-point play at the 12:56 mark pushed the lead back into double figures. Or Alec Woodard, who hit a timely three right at the 10-minute mark.
So good are the Colonels, so talented are they offensively and stingy defensively, that a 15-point win hardly sells the drama that ensued down the stretch. A three, a steal and a three and they would have been right back in the thick of things. But the Govs got stops when they had to, buckets when they could and put the Colonels away on their home court for a big conference win.
BELMONT 89, EASTERN ILLINOIS 61
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Behind 14 points from sophomore Ben Sheppard, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Eastern Illinois, 89-61, Thursday.
Belmont becomes the first program in America to win 19 or more games 16 consecutive seasons (Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Michigan State and San Diego State also have the opportunity to accomplish this season).
Belmont (19-1, 13-0 OVC) made eight 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes - including three consecutive from sophomore Mitch Listau - to lead 38-23 at halftime. A Sheppard transition layin highlighted a 12-4 Belmont run to open the second half which increased the margin to 23, 50-27, with 16:36 remaining.
Belmont had 39 bench points, as a conventional 3-point play from junior Nick Muszynski made the score 83-51 with 2:53 left.
Belmont handed out 26 assists on 35 made field goals and forced 16 Eastern Illinois turnovers. Sheppard led five Bruins in double figures.
Listau scored a career-high 13 points. Junior Caleb Hollander had 12 points while Muszynski added 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. Junior Luke Smith had 11 points, four assists and three steals.
Marvin Johnson led Eastern Illinois (6-14, 3-10 OVC) with 15 points.
Belmont has won 31 of its last 32 games and 25 consecutive conference games. Belmont has also won an NCAA-best 19 consecutive road/neutral games.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 82, UT MARTIN 70
MARTIN, Tenn. (AP) - Darian Adams had 16 points and six assists as Jacksonville State defeated UT Martin 82-70 on Thursday night.
Brandon Huffman had 16 points for Jacksonville State (11-7, 7-5 Ohio Valley Conference). Demaree King added 11 points. Jalen Finch had 11 points.
Jaron Williams scored a season-high 21 points for the Skyhawks (5-11, 3-9). Kenton Eskridge added 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. Eman Sertovic had 13 points.
Cameron Holden, whose 16 points per game heading into the matchup led the Skyhawks, shot only 14% for the game (1 of 7).
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 68, TENNESSEE TECH 64
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) - Manny Patterson had a career-high 22 points as Southeast Missouri edged past Tennessee Tech 68-64 on Thursday night.
Jordan Love had 14 points for Southeast Missouri (7-11, 5-7 Ohio Valley Conference). Chris Harris added 13 points.
Jr. Clay had 14 points and six assists for the Golden Eagles (2-17, 2-10), whose losing streak reached four games. Damaria Franklin added 14 points. Keishawn Davidson had 13 points and six rebounds.
The Redhawks leveled the season series against the Golden Eagles with the win. Tennessee Tech defeated Southeast Missouri 72-63 on Dec. 30.