THURSDAY'S SCORES
@#21 Murray State 91, Austin Peay 56
@Belmont 81, Eastern Illinois 57
@Tennessee Tech 98, Southeast Missouri 94
@Tennessee State 81, SIUE 65
#21 MURRAY STATE 91, AUSTIN PEAY 56
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - KJ Williams had 25 points and seven rebounds to lead No. 21 Murray State to a 91-56 victory over Austin Peay on Thursday night.
Tevin Brown scored 13 points, DJ Burns, Justice Hill and DaQuan Smith each had 11 and Trae Hannibal added 10 for the Racers (25-2, 15-0 Ohio Valley Conference), who won their 15th straight game and are one of three teams in the country unbeaten in conference play.
The Governors (10-15, 6-9) were led by freshman forward Elijah Hutchins-Everett's 12 points and four rebounds on 4-for-8 shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 shooting from the line. Caleb Stone-Carrawell, who recently returned from injury, finished with 11 points.
Murray State seized control with an early 23-2 run, powered by 11 points from Williams.
The Governors didn't score their second basket until the 10:28 mark of the first half, ending a 7:34 scoring drought.
Murray State shot 65% (13 for 20) from the floor in the first half and outrebounded the Governors 19-10. The Racers held Austin Peay to 32.1% (9 for 28) shooting in the same stretch.
Hutchins-Everett opened the second half with a basket, before the Racers again used a big run, this time 12-0, to stretch their lead to 61-25. MSU finished the game shooting 64% (36 of 56).
BELMONT 81, EASTERN ILLINOIS 57
NASHVILLE - Behind 20 points from Nick Muszynski, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Eastern Illinois, 81-57, Thursday from the Curb Event Center.
Muszynski went 10-of-12 from the field and added six rebounds and four blocked shots as Belmont won its ninth consecutive game. 3-pointers from Tate Pierson and Ben Sheppard spearheaded a 14-5 run to close the first half.
Belmont (23-5, 13-2 OVC) led 31-20 at halftime.
From there, Belmont rode the efficient play of Muszynski and spirited defense to take control. A Sheppard dunk and a Luke Smith driving layin made the score 57-38 with 8:35 left. Grayson Murphy provided a series of dazzling assists - including a lengthy bounce pass to Smith - which extended the margin to 22.
All told, Belmont shot 59 percent (36-of-61) from the field - including 76 percent in the second half.
Sheppard had 16 points. Murphy had 11 assists, six rebounds and three steals - getting him within 12 steals of the OVC all-time career steals record.
Kashawn Charles led Eastern Illinois (5-22, 3-11 OVC) with 15 points.
The Bruins, which lead the nation in assists, had 23 assists on 36 made field goals.
TENNESSEE TECH 98, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 94
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.
TENNESSEE STATE 81, SIUE 65
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee State men's basketball defeated SIU Edwardsville on Thursday evening, 81-65.
Shakem Johnson jumpstarted the game with a layup on TSU's opening possession. The Tigers opened the contest with an 8-3 lead, aided by Kenny Cooper's three-pointer.
SIUE's Shamar Wright converted an "and-one" opportunity to trim the Cougars' deficit. The two teams flip-flopped baskets for about eight minutes during the middle of the half.
With the score at 22-20, TSU rattled off six consecutive points to extend the advantage to eight. Kassim Nicholson gave Tennessee State its largest lead of the half, 33-24, after recording five straight TSU points. The Tigers ended the half on five unanswered points, including a three-pointer from Monty Johal.
Tennessee State brought the momentum out of the locker room with six points in the first minute and a half. The Tigers continued to expand their lead, 52-35, on an alley-oop from Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. to Johnson.
With 14:50 to go, SIUE logged six straight points to cut the margin to 12, 55-43. Dedric Boyd cashed back-to-back three-pointers midway through the half. Tennessee State ultimately sealed the game behind Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. who scored the final seven points for TSU.