MONDAY'S SCORES
@#13 Indiana 88,
Morehead State 53
@Pitt 80,
UT Martin 58
@#11 Tennessee 75,
Tennessee Tech 43
@#24 Dayton 73,
Lindenwood 46
@SIUE 85, Harris-Stowe 57
@Southern Illinois 94,
Little Rock 63
Southeast Missouri 64, @South Florida 61
@Missouri 97,
Southern Indiana 91
@Tennessee State 85,
Fisk 75
@#23 Illinois 87,
Eastern Illinois 57
#13 INDIANA 88, MOREHEAD STATE 53
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Morehead State men's basketball opened its 2022-23 season in a raucous environment at No. 13 Indiana Monday night. The Eagles battled the Hoosiers tough, but a 61 percent shooting night for the hosts allowed IU to eventually pull away to defeat the Eagles 88-53 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
MSU fell behind 10-3 early on but kept fighting. The Eagles went on a 14-6 run and actually pulled ahead 17-16 on a Mark Freeman driving layup with 12 minutes left in the first half.
With the game tied at 21-all with 9:17 left, the Hoosiers orchestrated a 13-0 run that effectively distanced themselves for the win. The Eagles were held without a field goal for five-plus minutes.
Indiana went on to lead by as much as 37 in the second half.
In his first Eagle game, Freeman, a senior transfer, got hot from the floor in the first half, scoring 14 points before being limited by an injury late in the half.
Junior guard Drew Thelwell also reached double figures, scoring 11 points and hitting a trio of three-pointers. He also led with four assists.
PITT 80, UT MARTIN 58
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team began the 2022-23 campaign this evening at Pitt, falling by an 80-58 margin to the Atlantic Coast Conference foe at Petersen Events Center.
The Skyhawks held the host Panthers to 36.6 percent shooting (26-of-71) – including a 26.8 percent accuracy (11-for-41) from three-point range. However, UT Martin could only connect on 32.3 percent (20-of-62) of its field goal tries and made 15.8 percent (3-for-19) of its attempts from beyond the three-point arc.
KJ Simon collected team-highs of 11 points and five rebounds for the Skyhawks as the senior lefty was the only UT Martin player in double figures in the scoring column. Parker Stewart chipped in nine points, a game-high three steals, three rebounds and two assists while Jordan Sears provided eight points in his Skyhawk debut.
Pitt placed four scorers in double figures, led by a double-double of 27 points and 13 rebounds out of Blake Hinson. Federiko Federiko (13), Greg Elliott (11) and Jamarius Burton (10) also scored in double digits for the Panthers.
It was a defensive battle for a majority of the first half as both sides combined for just one field goal in the opening 4:27. A fast break driving layup by Stewart with a little over 14 minutes to go in the first half evened the score at 4-all.
A pair of Stewart free throws capped off seven straight Skyhawk points for the graduate guard out of Union City, Tenn. and kept UT Martin within a single possession at 11-8 a little over midway through the first half.
Pitt then scored seven unanswered points to go ahead by double digits until Rifen Miguel scored back-to-back buckets for the Skyhawks. A pull-up jumper outside the paint from Koby Jeffries helped UT Martin stay within striking distance at 23-16 with five minutes remaining before the halftime break. The Panthers then went on an 8-0 run on the way to a 37-24 lead at the half.
Hinson had 11 points in the first half while Stewart’s seven points paced the Skyhawks, who had five players with at least two fouls at the intermission after being whistled for 14 fouls in the opening 20 minutes.
Jeffries found Chris Nix for a dunk on UT Martin’s opening possession of the second half but Pitt went on a 7-0 spurt. Simon then registered six of the Skyhawks’ next eight points before a Desmond Williams trifecta shaved UT Martin’s deficit to 51-37 with 14:20 remaining.
The Panthers tallied 10 unanswered points as part of a 20-3 run to create some separation. A fast break layup by Jeffries at the 6:13 mark ended the drought for the Skyhawks.
Sears scored six consecutive points for UT Martin down the stretch as the squad ended the contest on a 10-0 run. However, the deficit was too large to overcome by that point.
#11 TENNESSEE 75, TENNESSEE TECH 43
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - A second-half barrage from distance was a key factor in Tennessee Tech's 75-43 loss at No. 11 Tennessee to open the 2022-23 men's basketball season, as the host Volunteers draining 10-of-23 attempts over the final 20 minutes to pull away from the Golden Eagles.
The Tech defense was solid in the opening half of play in Thompson-Boling Arena, holding the Vols to just 31.0 percent shooting from the floor and a cold 4-for-21 from beyond the arc. The purple and gold also forced nine turnovers by Tennessee, but the home squad's defense also proved tough to handle.
Tennessee limited the Golden Eagles to just four field goals over the opening 20 minutes, earning a 27-16 lead. Tech kept itself within striking distance thanks to a 7-for-9 showing from the charity stripe.
The Vols' salvo from deep in the second half, as well as a 17-11 advantage on the glass with 10 offensive boards, was more than enough to secure the season-opening win for the nation's 11th-ranked team. Tech was actually more efficient in the second stanza than its in-state rival, firing 9-for-18 from the floor and 4-for-8 from 3-point range.
It was Tennessee's sheer volume of attempts that led to the 48-27 second-half score. The Vols jacked up 36 shots, twice the number of tries by the purple and gold.
A number of Golden Eagles made their official debuts in the purple and gold on the night, led by junior guard Brett Thompson. The Mineral Area CC transfer posted team-highs of 15 points, six rebounds, and three steals while finishing the evening 8-for-10 from the free-throw line.
Graduate guard Ty Perry produced eight points with a pair of makes from downtown in his first game since transferring from Lafayette. South Dakota transfer Erik Oliver chipped in seven points while Ole Miss transplant Grant Slatten posted six points and two steals.
Tennessee was led by Clay County High School's all-time leading scorer and Indiana State graduate transfer Tyreke Key, scoring 17 points with four makes from distance. He shared the floor with Clay County's second-leading scorer all-time, Tech freshman Grant Strong, who made his collegiate debut with a pair of rebounds.
#24 DAYTON 73, LINDENWOOD 46
DAYTON, Ohio - In the first game as a NCAA Division I program, the Lindenwood basketball team lost to No. 24 Dayton on Monday by a final score of 73-46 in Dayton, Ohio
The Lions fell behind 8-0 before Keenon Cole scored the first bucket of the season on a layup. Kevin Caldwell Jr. hit a three pointer at the 16:26 mark to cut the deficit to five points. The Flyers took a double-digit lead near the halfway point of the first half, and ended the first 20 minutes with a 35-21 advantage. The Lions held their own in the paint in the opening half, but the Flyers shot 48 percent from the field.
In the early stage of the second frame, Chris Childs took the ball to the bucket for the layup and the free throw to make it a 35-26 ballgame. Dayton picked up the pace and played solid defensively to take the first game of the season. Childs led the Lions in scoring with 15 points, as he and Caldwell Jr. each had a pair of three-point buckets in the game. Cole collected 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.
SIUE 85, HARRIS-STOWE 57
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - DeeJuan Pruitt and Damarco Minor each turned in double-doubles Monday as SIUE opened the 2022-23 basketball season with an 85-57 win over Harris-Stowe at First Community Arena.
SIUE improved to 38-17 all-time in home openers and has won 16 consecutive games over Harris-Stowe.
Pruitt earned his fourth career double-double leading all players with 20 points and 10 rebounds. It is the first 20-point game of his career. He was 8 for 11 from the field. The contest marked the sixth time he has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in a game.
Minor scored 11 points while also dishing out 10 assists on the night for his first double-double as a Cougar. He added two steals and did not commit a turnover.
Lamar Wright came within two points of his career high, scoring 18 points in 21 minutes off the bench. He was 6 for 11 overall and 3 for 4 from three-point range.
Making his regular-season return from his second ACL tear, Ray'Sean Taylor scored 10 points and added four rebounds. It is the 20th time in 22 career games that Taylor has scored in double figures. Jalen Hodge was 3 for 6 from long range and added nine points.
The Cougars connected on 53 percent (17-32) of their shots and knocked down 8 of 23 three-pointers.
SIUE outscored Harris-Stowe 42-24 inside. The Cougars outrebounded the Hornets 40-28 on their way to a 20-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Harris-Stowe was led by Alex Nunnally's 12 points and four rebounds. Jamarric Hammond scored 11 and also grabbed four rebounds.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 94, LITTLE ROCK 63
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Little Rock fell behind early in the season opener and was unable to recover, falling at Southern Illinois 94-63 at the Banterra Center Monday evening.
D.J. Smith was the bright spot of the night for Little Rock, leading all players with 21 points while adding five rebounds. DeAntoni Gordon added 10 points with five rebounds but was the only other Trojan to hit double figures.
Myron Gardner finished just shy, scoring nine points with a team-high six rebounds and four steals while Isaiah Palermo added nine points of his own on 4-of-5 shooting.
Little Rock shot just 40.6% from the floor for the game, including just 3-of-18 (16.7%) from three point range and 44.4% (8-of-18) from the free throw line. That was countered by Southern Illinois' 58.2% for the game, knocking down 42.9% of its threes (12-of-28) and 75.0% from the line (18-of-24).
The Salukis dominated on the boards, outrebounding Little Rock 48-25, including a 35-15 edge defensively. A bright spot for Little Rock came in turnovers as the Trojans committed just seven and forced 19 Saluki giveaways, notching 11 steals on the night.
Southern Illinois came out firing in the early going, knocking down its first four shots of the game to build an early 11-2 lead on the Trojans at the first media timeout. Little Rock battled back to get to within three at 11-8, thanks to back-to-back jumpers from Gordon and a tip-in from Smith.
But the Salukis were able to string together a handful of extended runs, including an 11-0 surge to take control at 22-8 at the 11:42 mark. Southern Illinois continued to impose its will through the remainder of the half, pushing its lead to 24 at 49-25 with just over a minute remaining.
Little Rock tried to cut into the lead at the end of the half, but a Saluki three from the corner as time expired had Southern Illinois doubling up the Trojans at the half at 54-27. SIU shot 61.3% from the floor, including 8-of-17 (42.1%) from three point range. In contrast, Little Rock knocked down just 32.4% of its shots from the floor and was 1-for-10 from beyond the arc.
The second half played out in similar fashion to the first as Little Rock was never able to cut into the Southern Illinois lead. The Salukis would push their lead to as many as 34 at 79-45 at the midway point of the second half, and the Trojans had little answer, falling 94-63.
Little Rock drops a season opener for the first time under head coach Darrell Walker and the first since the 2017-18 season. The Trojans fall to 2-2 all-time against Southern Illinois and are now 0-2 against the Salukis in Carbondale after a 67-42 loss in 2005.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 64, SOUTH FLORIDA 61
TAMPA - Chris Harris scored 16 points and Phillip Russell added 11 and buried a huge pull up 3-pointer with 29 seconds left to lead Southeast Missouri (1-0) to a 64-61 season-opening win over South Florida (0-1) Monday night at the Yuengling Center.
Russell, after making two free throws 37 seconds earlier, knocked down his decisive three after USF pulled to within two to give SEMO a 63-58 lead, its largest of the night.
Ryan Conwell split two free throws and Tyler Harris scored following two missed free throws by Josh Earley to cut the Redhawks lead to 63-61 with four seconds to go.
After Harris split his two free throws for SEMO, Conwell's 3-pointer at the buzzer missed and SEMO celebrated its third-straight season-opening victory. The Redhawks improved to 3-0 in season-opening games under Head Coach Brad Korn and won three-consecutive season-openers away from home for the first time in program history.
In a game that featured eight ties and 15 lead changes, USF began the second half with a 7-0 run before SEMO used six free throws to get within a point. Kobe Clark's put back dunk regained a 41-40 edge right after that stretch with 9:35 on the clock.
The Bulls, however, quickly answered with a five-point swing to take a 45-41 lead. Keyshawn Bryant's 3-pointer ended that surge.
Adam Larson's first career points, a 3-pointer, immediately closed the gap to 45-44 just ahead of a media timeout with 8:22 left to play.
Down, 51-50, SEMO and USF traded 3-pointers on three-straight possessions.
Russell pulled up for a three and Keyshawn Bryant countered with a step back 3-pointer of his own. On the next possession, Harris knocked down a 3-pointer and Clark followed the next time SEMO had the ball to give the Redhawks a 58-54 cushion with 3:04 remaining.
Neither team led by more than four points in a close first half.
Aquan Smart buried a second chance 3-pointer and followed that up with a fast break layup to tie things up at 8-8 with 14:51 to play in the opening stanza.
Smart later knocked down another three to widen SEMO's lead to 16-12 at the 12:25 mark.
Walk-on Tevin Gowins scored his first career points on a 3-pointer from the right corner to put the Redhawks ahead, 26-23.
After missing his first four shots of the game, Russell hit a 3-pointer to give SEMO another three-point advantage, this time at 30-27 with 2:14 remaining before both teams headed into the locker room deadlocked at 30-30.
Harris made four field goals, a pair of 3-pointers and hit a near-perfect 6-of-7 free throws to lead SEMO. He also had six rebounds and two assists in 38 minutes.
Russell, who scored eight of his points in the second half, had a game-high three 3-pointers, while Earley added nine points and eight rebounds. Clark and Smart followed with eight points apiece, and Clark had eight boards, as well.
SEMO held a +5 advantage (14-9) at the free throw line which held up big in the end. Additionally, the Redhawks outrebounded the Bulls, 39-38.
Bryant was USF's top scorer with a game-high 19 points.
The Redhawks are 13-19 all-time in season-openers and beat USF for the first time in their program history. The Bulls held a 2-0 advantage in the series after the teams played a home-and-home series in 1994-95 and 1995-96.
MISSOURI 97, SOUTHERN INDIANA 91
COLUMBIA, Mo. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball exploded for 60 second half points, but it was not enough in falling to the University of Missouri, 97-91, Monday evening in Columbia, Missouri. The Screaming Eagles, who were playing in their very first NCAA Division I game, starts the year 0-1, while Missouri begins 2022-23, 1-0.
The Eagles got off to a rocky start by spotting the Tigers a 9-0 lead before sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) scored USI's first NCAA Division I basket on a drive to the bucket with 16:39 on the clock. USI shrank the margin to 9-5 on a three by Swope and again at 11-7 on jumper in the paint by sophomore guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois).
Missouri rebounded to grow its lead to 14 points, 26-12, halfway through the opening stanza, before USI made another run. The Eagles closed the gap to eight points twice in front of another Tiger run to get the lead to 16 points at the break, 47-31.
The second half was a much different USI team on the court as the Eagles rallied in the final 10 minutes to drive the Tigers to the edge.
USI scored the first four points of the second half on a pair of buckets by senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) to cut the halftime deficit to 11 points, 47-36. The Tigers quickly responded by scoring nine quick points to extend the margin to 20 points, 56-36, with 17:30 left on the clock.
The Eagles started their first comeback of the second half with a speedy 11-0 sprint to shrink the deficit to nine points, 56-47, when graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) hit two back-to-back three-point bombs. Missouri pushed the lead back to double digits and posted another 20-point lead, 83-63, with 4:47 to go, but USI was not done and had a second rally in reserve.
USI would outscore Missouri, 28-14, in the final four minutes to close the 20-point gap to just six, 97-91, before the final buzzer shut the door on the Eagles' offensive surge. The Eagles were a blistering nine-of-10 from the field, including a perfect seven-of-seven from beyond the arc, and three-of-three from the stripe during their final push. Hernandez led the final rally with 11 of the 28 points, while Lakes dropped in nine.
After the lackluster first half that saw the Eagles shoot 28.1 percent from the field (9-32), including a 1-13 showing from long range, USI's second half was nearly perfect. The Eagles shot a blistering 71.4 percent from the field (20-28), including 82.4 percent from beyond the arc (14-17), and six-of-nine from the stripe.
Individually for the game, USI had five players score in double-digits, led by Simmons, who scored 17 second half points and finished with a game-high 23. He was perfect in the second half, hitting six-of-six from the field and five-of-five from three-point range. The senior also was eight-of-15 from the field in the game and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Lakes and Hernandez followed with 18 points and 14 points, respectively. Lakes scored all 18 of his points in the second half, while Hernandez posted 11 of his 14 points in the final half. Swope was fourth on the team with 13 points and dished a team-high six assists.
Junior guard Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) rounded out the USI double-digit scorers with 11 points.
TENNESSEE STATE 85, FISK 75
NASHVILLE - Jr. Clay scored 29 points to help lead the Tennessee State men's basketball team take the Fisk Bulldogs down 85-75 in their season opener.
The Tigers (1-0) had four players score in double figures, led by Clay, who had 29 points. Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. tacked on 15 points and Dedric Boyd chipped in as well with 11 points off of the bench.
The Tennessee State offense was very productive from downtown, knocking down 11 threes on 27 attempts. Clay was the most prolific shooter for the Tigers, draining six treys in the contest.
Tennessee State forced 15 Fisk turnovers. The Tigers turned those takeaways into 15 points on the other end of the floor. David Acosta led the way individually with one steal.
After falling behind 4-3, Tennessee State went on a 12-0 run with 17:46 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Boyd, to take a 15-4 lead. The Tigers then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 37-35 advantage. Tennessee State did most of its first-half damage in the paint, scoring 20 of its 37 points close to the basket.
Following intermission, Tennessee State kept widening that lead, expanding it to 63-60 before going on a 14-0 run to grow the lead to 77-60 with 6:10 to go in the contest. The Bulldogs narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Tigers still cruised the rest of the way for the 85-75 win. Tennessee State shot well from three-point range in the half, hitting eight shots from deep to score 24 of its 48 points.
#23 ILLINOIS 87, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Eastern Illinois had eight new faces on its 2022-23 roster as the Panthers opened the year with an 87-57 loss at No. 23 Illinois.
Kinyon Hodges and Yaakema Rose Jr both scored in double figures to lead the Panthers as they trailed 46-31 at that half. Hodges scored 14 points while Rose added ten.
EIU shot 41 percent in the opening half but had a cold streak come early in the second half as Illinois broke open the game with a 19-3 run in the half.
Coleman Hawkins was hot from outside hitting four of his first five 3-pointers as he finished the night with 23 points, one of three Illini players in double figures. Terrence Shannon Jr led all players with 24 points.
Dain Dainja had a double-double off the bench with 17 points and ten rebounds. Hawkins had a game-high 12 rebounds as Illinois posted a 53-30 advantage on the glass.
Hodges and Sincere Malone led EIU with five rebounds each. The Panthers would end the game shooting 35 percent from the field. Illinois shot 47 percent in the game.
Rose added two steals for EIU as the Panthers had 12 for the game.