THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee Tech 80, SIUE 68
@Morehead State 76, Little Rock 72
@Southeast Missouri 92, Tennessee State 75
@Southern Indiana 78, Eastern Illinois 74
@UT Martin 66, Lindenwood 59
TENNESSEE TECH 80, SIUE 68
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A hot start and continued efficiency on offense propelled the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to a big win over Ohio Valley Conference foe SIUE Thursday evening, besting the Cougars in a rematch from the league opener, 80-68, in the Hooper Eblen Center.
The purple and gold turned in a spectacular offensive display for the viewers of its first nationally-televised home game in several years, holding a double-digit lead for most of the night while competing on ESPNews. With the win, Tech (10-12, 6-3) stayed atop the OVC standings in a tie with four other members of the league, including Morehead State, Southeast Missouri, Southern Indiana, and UT Martin.
After falling behind 6-4 with just four minutes into the ball game, the Golden Eagles turned on the lights to their offense and never looked back, using a 16-3 run to push out by 11. Tech ballooned its advantage over the Cougars (14-8, 5-4) to as much as 16 in the opening stanza and took a 13-point lead into the break.
Seven minutes into the second half, the purple and gold moved back out front by 16 points, but SIUE responded with a 9-0 run, cutting the Tech lead to just seven points. Over the next three minutes, neither side could get much going and the Cougars look poised to cut even further into the Golden Eagle advantage.
Enter local Sparta native Grant Slatten, who returned all momentum to the purple and gold and sent the Golden Eagle fans into a frenzy with back-to-back, highlight-reel plays. The sophomore guard snapped the 9-0 run by SIUE with a spectacular layup in transition, using a euro-step and pump fake on a fast break to pour in two and draw a foul in the process.
After draining the free throw, he went right back to work following a Cougars bucket, driving around SIUE forward DeeJuan Pruitt and straight to the bucket. Slatten then posterized the Cougar big man, drawing a foul while throwing down a vicious, right-handed dunk.
Down the stretch, it was Jaylen Sebree and Brett Thompson lifting the Golden Eagles on their backs, combining for 13 of the team's final 17 points. With SIUE trailing by five with just over two minutes to play, Sebree converted a much-needed layup.
Thompson hauled in a critical rebound on the other side of the floor and drew a foul to head to the line. Both he and Sebree knocked down a number of freebies down the stretch, with Jayvis Harvey and Ty Perry also turning in a pair each.
For the night, Sebree delivered his fourth double-double of the season, dropping 20 points and 11 rebounds on 7-for-10 shooting and a 5-for-6 performance from the charity stripe. Thompson was just behind his teammate, producing 18 points behind a 9-for-10 performance at the free-throw line.
Harvey and Perry each joined the double-digit scoring club as well. Playing a game-high 38 minutes, Perry turned in 10 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Harvey also put forth 10 points on the night.
Diante Wood made his return after missing four games due to injury and made his minutes count, contributing eight points, five boards, and five assists in 20 minutes off the bench. Slatten finished the contest with seven points and five rebounds while rookie Grant Strong notched seven points as well.
SIUE's Ray'Sean Taylor led all scorers on the night with 30 points and five steals. Pruitt posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
MOREHEAD STATE 76, LITTLE ROCK 72
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Mark Freeman collected 25 points to help lead the Morehead State men's basketball team past the Little Rock Trojans 76-72 at home Thursday in the first-ever matchup between the longest tenured Ohio Valley Conference school and one of the three newest.
Freeman added five assists and two steals to his 25-point game to lead the Eagles (13-9, 6-3 OVC). Drew Thelwell scored in double figures for the 10th straight game with 14 points to go along with two assists, while Alex Gross helped out with 10 points, six rebounds and a career-high tying four blocks. Branden Maughmer chipped in with 12 points and two blocks coming off the bench.
Freeman is now averaging 21.7 points in conference games
Morehead State took advantage of excellent ball movement in Thursday's game, piling up 18 assists on 30 made field goals. Freeman's five assists paced the Eagles and Jake Wolfe also contributed with five assists of his own.
Morehead State did a great job disrupting Little Rock shots in the contest, coming away with six blocks. Gross' four rejections led the way individually for the Eagles.
After falling behind 29-26, Morehead State went on a 9-0 run with 3:19 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Gross, to take a 35-29 lead. The Eagles then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 38-34 advantage.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by Freeman's three, to grow the lead to 50-40 with 17:22 to go in the contest. The Trojans narrowed the margin and tied the game at 70-all before Maughmer drilled a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:49 left. But the Eagles still held on for the 76-72 win. Morehead State took care of business in the paint, recording 20 of its 38 points in the lane in the second half.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 92, TENNESSEE STATE 75
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - – Phillip Russell scored a game-high 30 points and had nine assists as Southeast Missouri (11-11, 6-3) overcame a 16-point deficit to beat Tennessee State (11-11, 3-6), 92-75, Thursday at the Show Me Center.
SEMO trailed 16-1 early before outscoring, 49-31, in the second half to pull off its come-from-behind win. The Redhawks remain tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference with four others, including UT Martin, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech and Southern Indiana.
After Justin Williams' layup gave the game its fifth tie at 53-53 with 13:45 remaining, SEMO put together an 11-0 run to pull away.
Josh Earley scored four points, while Russell buried a 3-pointer, Smart threw down a dunk and Israel Barnes knocked down a jumper to get the Redhawks their first double-digit lead, 64-53, at the 10:46 mark. TSU missed nine-straight field goals and did not score for 3:35.
TSU scored a pair of baskets in transition to trim SEMO's lead to 67-61, but Russell countered with a 3-pointer.
The Tigers again made it a two-possession game before Barnes scored on a layup off a Smart pass on the fast break to push SEMO's lead to 72-64.
Two missed free throws by the Tigers followed and Russell drained a three to give SEMO another double-digit advantage (75-64) with 4:43 on the clock.
The Redhawks didn't let up after that on their way to claiming their sixth OVC win.
SEMO overcame a slow start which saw the Redhawks miss their first nine field goals and first five 3-pointers of the contest. As a result, TSU went on a 17-1 run to build a quick 16-point lead in the opening 5:10 of play.
Adam Larson's 3-pointer broke the cold spell nearly six minutes in.
TSU led by at least 15 twice more when Jr. Clay's turnaround jumper put the Tigers ahead, 19-4, and another jumper by Clay widened the margin to 34-19 with 8:44 left.
Nate Johnson's second chance bucket started a string of six SEMO points that got the Redhawks within nine at 34-25. Smart scored on a breakaway layup and Chris Harris followed with a jumper off a TSU turnover to end the stretch.
Shortly after that, Russell buried free throws on two occasions to get the Redhawks within eight and then made a layup to close the Tigers lead to 37-31 at the 5:05 mark.
Aquan Smart's pair of 3-pointers made it a 39-37 game before Harris split two free throws. On SEMO's next possession Larson threw down a dunk to give the Redhawks their first lead, 40-39, with 2:06 left. Larson's dunk capped a 9-0 surge for SEMO.
TSU regained a 44-43 edge at the half.
Russell shot 8-of-15 from the field and a near-perfect 10-of-11 at the free throw line. He buried four 3-pointers and scored 30 or more points for the second time this season and third in his career.
Smart followed with 14 points, while Earley added 12 and Chris Harris chipped in 10.
SEMO shot 51.5 percent (17-of-33) from the field in the final 20 minutes. The Redhawks outscored the Tigers, 20-7, at the free throw line for the game.
Clay led TSU with a double-double 26 points and 14 assists. He also had seven rebounds for the Tigers.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 78, EASTERN ILLINOIS 74
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) and senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) combined for 41 points and led the Screaming Eagles to a 78-74 win over Eastern Illinois University Thursday evening in Screaming Eagles Arena. The Eagles go to 13-9 overall and 6-3 in the OVC, while the Panthers are 7-15, 3-6 OVC.
With the victory, USI has won five-straight games and remains in a five-way tie for first in the OVC. USI is tied with the University of Tennessee at Martin, Morehead State University, Tennessee Tech University, and Southeast Missouri State University for the first place slot at 6-3 in league play. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville fell to sixth after falling to Tennessee Tech this evening.
USI got off to a great start with an 8-1 run and that seven-point lead methodically grew to as many as 20 points, 44-24, before the end of the half. The Eagles would leave the court with an 18-point halftime margin, 47-31.
The USI first half surge was led by Simmons, who dominated with 20 first half points on six three-point field goals in eight attempts and pair of free throws.
Polakovich was nearly as dominating in the first 20 minutes with a double-double before the intermission. He had 11 points on five field goals and a free throw in addition to grabbing 13 rebounds on seven offensive and six defensive boards.
The second half saw the Eagles and the Panthers trade buckets for the first 13 minutes until EIU used a 22-7 run to climb back into the game and cut USI's margin to three points, 70-67, with 2:18 to play. USI would regain control down the stretch, helped by a big three-point field goal by sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) to make the score 75-69 with 34 seconds to play
USI would seal the 78-74 victory with three free throws in the final seconds, one each by Swope, Simmons, and junior guard Gary Solomon (Detroit, Michigan)
The Eagles finished the game with four players in double-digits, led by Simmons, who finished with 21 points after adding one more in the second half. Simmons was six-of-12 overall, six-of-10 from long distance, and three-of-six from the line
Polakovich, who posted his second 20-20 game of the season, concluded the evening with 20 points, adding nine in the second half, and 24 rebounds, adding another 11 in the final 20 minutes. The senior forward had four 20 rebound games this season (most in NCAA Division I) and nine double-doubles this season
Swope and graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points and 10 points, respectively
USI junior guard Tyler Henry (Brooklyn, New York) highlighted the evening by reach 1,000 career points with his five points in the first half. Henry has scored 578 at USI (2020-Present) and 422 points with Lane College (2019-20).
UT MARTIN 66, LINDENWOOD 59
MARTIN, Tenn. - A stingy performance on the defensive end propelled the University of Tennessee at Martin men’s basketball team to victory tonight as the Skyhawks grinded out a 66-59 win over Lindenwood at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center.
UT Martin held the visiting Lions scoreless through 6:42 while Lindenwood started the game 0-for-15 from the floor before its first bucket at the 10:40 mark. Although the Lions would eventually charge back to lead by eight points midway through the second half, the Skyhawks went on a 15-0 run and limited Lindenwood to 10 points over the final 10:24 of the contest. The 59 points were the second-lowest scoring output by a UT Martin NCAA Division I opponent in 2022-23.
KJ Simon was responsible for his first double-double of the season and third of his two-year Skyhawk career this evening, piling up team-highs of 16 points, 10 rebounds, a career-best five blocks and two steals. Jordan Sears tied Simon for the team lead with 16 points while Jalen Myers provided 11 points in 16 minutes off the bench. KK Curry narrowly missed a double-double with eight points, a game-high 10 rebounds and team-best three steals for UT Martin, who improves to 14-8 overall with a 6-3 mark in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Lindenwood (7-15, 2-7 OVC) was led by Keenon Cole’s 19 points and eight rebounds. Tommie Williams added 11 points for the Lions, who were forced into 16 turnovers while shooting 38.5 percent from the floor (including 28 percent from three-point range).
Five different UT Martin players scored the Skyhawks’ first five buckets of the contest as Chris Nix (layup), Simon (fast break layup), Curry (layup), Sears (three-pointer) and Myers (layup) gave UT Martin an 11-0 lead. Myers knocked down a triple at the 9:44 mark of the first half to extend the Skyhawk advantage out to 15-3 – their biggest lead of the night.
The Lions scored nine unanswered points and eventually took their first lead of the game (24-23) with 2:11 remaining before the halftime break. Myers swished another trifecta on the Skyhawks’ ensuing possession but Lindenwood claimed a narrow 27-26 lead at the intermission.
Myers and Williams led their respective squads with game-highs of nine points apiece in the opening 20 minutes.
Desmond Williams splashed a three-pointer just 20 seconds into the second half to tilt the score back in UT Martin’s favor at 29-27. Soon thereafter, Simon went off for seven consecutive Skyhawk points but Lindenwood was able to take a 44-39 lead with 13:35 left to play.
After the Lions took a 50-42 edge, UT Martin’s 15-0 run proved to be the difference. A Curry fast break layup with 4:58 remaining gave the Skyhawks the lead for good while the swarming UT Martin defense held Lindenwood scoreless for a stretch of 6:52.
Simon helped put the game out of reach as the senior from Orlando, Fla. had a highlight-reel windmill dunk and a deep three-pointer from the left wing on back-to-back trips down the floor. The Skyhawk group of Curry (two), Sears (two), Nix (one) and Koby Jeffries (one) combined to knock down six free throws in the final 2:29 to ice the win.