TUESDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 96, Harris-Stowe 53
@West Virginia 75,
Morehead State 57
@Missouri 105,
SIUE 80
UT MARTIN 96, HARRIS-STOWE 53
MARTIN, Tenn. - After combining to make 16 three-pointers in its first three games of the 2022-23 season, the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball squad connected on a dozen trifectas tonight alone in a 96-53 triumph over Harris-Stowe.
KJ Simon pieced together a great all-around performance with team-highs in points (18), rebounds (seven) and assists (five) while contributing three steals in 22 minutes to lead the Skyhawks. It marked the third time in four chances this season that the senior guard out of Orlando, Fla. has topped the team in scoring.
Parker Stewart scored 14 points with a career-best six steals, five rebounds and three assists while Jalen Myers tallied 10 points in 17 minutes off the bench. The Skyhawks (2-2) shot 87.5 percent (14-for-16) from the free throw line, committed only nine turnovers and held a 25-7 advantage in fast break points this evening.
Harris-Stowe, a NAIA school located in St. Louis, Mo., placed Alex Nunnally (14 points) and Ken Martin (11) in double figures in the scoring column. The Hornets were forced into 19 turnovers and shot just 22.6 percent (7-of-31) in the final 20 minutes.
After the Hornets scored the first four points of the game, the Skyhawks went on a 13-0 run and never trailed the rest of the way. Stewart swished a pair of three-pointers in a 70-second span before a high-flying slam dunk from Simon made the score 13-4 at the 15:41 mark.
A Eurostep driving layup from Koby Jeffries with 12:34 to go before the halftime break extended UT Martin’s lead out to 22-10. Soon thereafter, Harris-Stowe used an 8-2 run to pull within a single possession (31-28) with six minutes remaining in the opening half but the Skyhawks responded with an 8-2 run of their own.
UT Martin accounted for the final 10 points of the first half – the last six of which came on dunks (one from Jordan Sears, two from Simon). As a result, the Skyhawks took a 49-32 lead into the locker room at the break.
Simon’s 14 points led all scorers at halftime while Nunnally accounted for 12 points for the Hornets.
A dunk from Chris Nix began the scoring in the second half before a KK Curry driving layup pushed UT Martin’s lead out to 57-36. A 7-0 Skyhawk surge was on tap, featuring four points out of Rifen Miguel and a three-pointer from Desmond Williams to make the score 66-39 at the under-12 media timeout.
UT Martin then heated up from downtown as four straight field goals came from beyond the three-point arc. Koby Jeffries, Myers, Williams and Stewart all splashed trifectas in a span of 2:47 as the Skyhawk lead ballooned out to 83-47 with seven minutes to go.
The game ended on another lengthy run as UT Martin was responsible for the final 10 points. David Kamwanga scored five of those points while a three-pointer from Dylan Pumpian at the 2:05 mark was the 12th and final three-pointer of the evening for the Skyhawks.
WEST VIRGINIA 75, MOREHEAD STATE 57
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Morehead State men's basketball battled West Virginia for 40 tough minutes Tuesday night with virtually all the stat lines coming out even. But, it was a 32-9 difference in points off turnovers in favor of the Mountaineers that proved to be catalyst for the Eagles falling 75-57 at WVU Coliseum.
Morehead State (2-2) tied the home team in rebounds (33-33) and shot 40 percent (20-of-50) overall and 87 percent at the free throw line. WVU, though, forced 20 Eagle mistakes and turned that into 32 points. WVU also held a 42-26 advantage in points in the paint.
After only trailing 25-24 late in the first half, the Eagles saw WVU end the half on a 12-4 run to lead 37-28. The hosts then once had a 12-0 run in early part of the second half and eventually led by as much 26.
MISSOURI 105, SIUE 80
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri connected on 60 percent of its shots and ran away from SIUE men's basketball 105-80 Tuesday night at Mizzou Arena.
SIUE slipped to 1-2 while Missouri improved to 4-0.
The Cougars found themselves down 21 points at half after shooting just 29 percent from the field in the first half.
SIUE shot 50 percent in the second half and 40 percent for the game.
SIUE excelled at the foul line, knocking down 30 of 35 attempts (86 percent) from the stripe. It is the first time SIUE has hit at least 30 free throws in a game since the 2018 season.
Four players scored in double figures led by Ray'Sean Taylor's 17 points. Jalen Hodge scored a career high 14 and Terrance Thompson scored a career-high 12. Shamar Wright added 10 points.
D'Moi Hodge led all scorers with 30 points for Missouri. Sean East II added 14 points. Kobe Brown scored 12 points and Tre Gomillion and Isaih Mosley each scored 10.
The Tigers dominated the Cougars down low, scoring 64 points in the paint. Mizzou pushed its lead to as many as 41 midway through the second half.
SIUE outrebounded Missouri 35-34 and scored 39 points off the bench.
The Cougars continue a season-long six-game road swing with a three-game tournament at Longwood beginning Friday when they face Fairleigh Dickinson.