WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
Southeast Missouri 67, @Evansville 61
@Notre Dame 82,
Southern Indiana 70
@Ohio State 65,
Eastern Illinois 43
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 67, EVANSVILLE 61
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Chris Harris scored 14 points to lead four players in double figures as Southeast Missouri (3-0) beat Evansville (1-2), 67-61, Wednesday night at the Ford Center.
SEMO won its third-straight game and is undefeated through its first three games of a season for the first time since 1999-2000.
Ahead, 11-9, SEMO went on a 15-3 run to get a double-digit lead.
Adam Larson found Earley for a layup and Harris drove the lane for a layup before Phillip Russell drained a 3-pointer for a quick seven-point swing to ignite the surge. Nate Johnson's basket stretched SEMO's lead to 26-12 with 6:07 remaining in the first half.
Tevin Gowins' 3-pointer gave the Redhawks their largest lead of the half at 32-17 with a little under three minutes to go before SEMO led, 36-23, at the intermission.
Josh Earley led all SEMO scorers with 11 points in the first half. UE shot just 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from the field and had more free throws (11) than it did field goals made in the game's opening 20 minutes.
The Redhawks withstood an early second-half run by the Purple Aces and finished strong down the stretch to pull away.
UE's 13-4 jaunt cut SEMO's lead to 40-36 and the Purple Aces later managed to get within a point on a 3-pointer by Blaise Beauchamp with a little over 11 minutes left.
SEMO, however, didn't relinquish its lead.
Following a media timeout, Kobe Clark made two free throws to give the Redhawks a 59-51 advantage at the 3:34 mark.
A fast break basket by Earley gave SEMO another eight-point lead (61-53) with 2:22 to go.
After Kenny Strawbridge made two of three free throws to make it a four-point game at 65-61 with 12 seconds on the clock, that was as close as UE would get.
Harris' two free throws in the final seconds buried the Purple Aces for good.
Harris shot 5-of-11 from the field and added six rebounds. Clark and Earley chipped in 13 points apiece, while Russell contributed 11. Clark also had six rebounds and a huge block in the final minute of the contest.
SEMO shot 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the field and held UE to just 13.6 percent (3-of-22) from 3-point range. Additionally, the Redhawks shot a near-perfect 15-of-16 free throws, while the Purple Aces missed 13 of their free throw attempts (18-of-31).
NOTRE DAME 82, SOUTHERN INDIANA 70
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball fought hard, but lost to the University of Notre Dame, 82-70, Wednesday evening in South Bend, Indiana. The Screaming Eagles are 1-2 after tonight's action, while the Fighting Irish begin 2022-23, 3-0.
The Eagles fell behind early in the opening half as the Irish took advantage USI's cold field goal shooting to post a 13-5 lead before six minutes were gone. USI was just two-of-nine from field to start game.
Notre Dame doubled up USI at 22-11 and posted its largest lead at 30-13 with 7:07 remaining the opening frame. The Eagles would battle back with an 8-3 run to cut the deficit to 33-21 with 3:53 on the first half clock when senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) laid in a bucket. Polakovich had six of the eight points during the surge.
USI cooled in the final two minutes of the first half as Notre Dame re-extended the margin to 17, 42-25, and conclude the first half.
After the Irish opened with a pair of buckets to take a 21-point lead, 46-25, to begin the final 20 minutes, the Eagles' offense caught fire with a 18-5 run to cut the deficit to nine points, 51-43. Polakovich led the way with eight of the 17-points, while graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) dropped in five.
Notre Dame would rebound to re-extend their advantage to double-digits with a quick 12-4 burst to lead 61-45 at the midway point of the second half. The Irish would slowly pull away in the final five minutes in putting the lid on a 82-70 final, despite USI scoring the final eight points.
USI, as a team, was dead even in the battle on the glass, 35-35, and for the third-straight game was a smoother team in the second half. The Eagles shot 48.4 percent from the field (15-31) in the second half, compared to 34.4 percent (11-32) in the opening half, and outscored the Irish, 45-40, in the final 20 minutes.
Individually, Lakes led three players in double-digits with 21 points. He was seven-of-11 from the field, five-of-seven from long range, and two-of-three from the stripe.
Polakovich followed with 16 points and 10 rebounds in his 2022-23 debut. The senior forward was seven-of-10 from the field and completed his first double-double by grabbing three offensive and seven defensive boards.
Junior guard Gary Solomon (Detroit, Michigan) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points and dished a game-high five assists.
OHIO STATE 65, EASTERN ILLINOIS 43
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Eastern Illinois went toe-to-toe in the opening half with its second Big Ten opponent of the season but in the second half Ohio State used a 15-2 run to pull out to a 65-43 win at Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes led 21-5 with 9:15 left to play in the opening half as Brice Sensabaugh scored ten points off the bench to spark a 14-0 lead. Sensabaugh scored 20 points in the game to lead OSU as the Buckeyes had a 40-7 advantage in bench production.
EIU countered with a 12-2 run of its own with Yaakema Rose Jr scoring eight points in the run adding a steal and assist. EIU trailed 26-20 at the half as the Panthers held their own on the glass in the first half trailing 25-21 in rebounds at the half.
The Panthers trimmed the OSU lead to 26-23 in the early minutes of the second half on a Rose lay-up and free throw by Nick Ellington. Rose finished with 17 points for EIU, the lone Panther in double figures.
OSU began to dump the ball down low and feed the post going on a 9-0 run that eventually turned into a 15-2 run. Zed Key had two baskets in the run finishing with ten points and 14 rebounds, his third straight double-double this season.
Rose drained a 3-pointer with 11:25 left in the game to cut the lead to 41-28 but the Panthers were never able to get closer.
EIU fell to 0-4 on the season. OSU improved to 3-0.
Kinyon Hodges had seven rebounds to lead EIU. Sincere Malone and Rose both had three steals as EIU finished with eight.
Isaac Likekele had ten rebounds for OSU.