TUESDAY'S SCORES
Western Carolina 69,
@Tennessee Tech 65
@Little Rock 90, Ball State 64
@#5 Kansas 71,
Eastern Illinois 63
@Southern Indiana 107, East-West University 49
@SIUE 86, Missouri Baptist 62
WESTERN CAROLINA 69, TENNESSEE TECH 65
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Free-throw shooting and rebounding were the difference makers for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team Tuesday evening, as the Golden Eagles fell late to Western Carolina, 69-65, in the Hooper Eblen Center in their first of two games as part of the Southeast Triangular multi-team event.
Tech (2-5) led for much of the evening, using superior shooting for the majority of the contest to stay on top, but the visiting Catamounts (6-0) capped a second-half comeback behind a decisive advantage on the glass. WCU corralled 39 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass, all while holding the purple and gold to 27 in the affair.
The Catamounts led in the opening half by as much as five with six minutes to play, but the Cookeville crew ended the opening stanza on a 16-6 run, earning a 34-29 halftime edge. The Golden Eagles expanded their advantage to as much as nine points in the second half, but couldn't find the same shooting touch as the first half to sustain things down the stretch.
Over the first 20 minutes of the night, the Tech squad was highly efficient on its offensive possessions, hitting 60.9 percent of its attempts from the floor while holding a potent Catamount offense to just 43.3 percent shooting and a 2-for-11 showing from distance.
In the second half, the script was flipped, as the purple and gold struggled to find the same success from the field, shooting just 37 percent for the stanza. WCU fired at a 53.3 percent clip, sinking 6-of-13 tries from downtown.
The Golden Eagles couldn't take full advantage of its clear upper hand at the charity stripe on the night either, converting just 12 of their 21 opportunities in the contest. Western Carolina finished just 3-for-7 from the free-throw line, but made up for it with three more makes from 3-point range on the night.
Down the stretch, Tech tried to hold on until the final whistle, boasting a four-point lead with just under three minutes to play. The Catamounts outscored the Golden Eagles 10-2 the remainder of the contest, allowing just a pair of free throws and no field goals by the purple and gold while also hitting a pair of clutch triples.
Pacing the Tech effort in the affair with a team-high 17 points was senior guard Jayvis Harvey, who also snagged six rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Sophomore forward Daniel Egbuniwe registered his first career double-double behind 13 points and a team-high 10 boards. The Memphis native finished 6-for-10 from the floor while also leading the team with four assists, two steals, and three blocks.
Playing all but one minute on the evening, junior guard David Early turned in 15 points with a trio of rebounds. Rounding out the double-digit scoring efforts for Tech was sophomore guard Josiah Davis, providing 14 points to the mix on 5-for-6 shooting.
LITTLE ROCK 90, BALL STATE 64
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Little Rock men's basketball team shot a season-high 63.8 percent from the field and 60.0 percent from the three-point line to defeat Ball State 90-64 at The Jack Stephens Center Tuesday evening. The Trojans had six players in double figures.
Bradley Douglas led all scorers with a season-high 26 points going 10-of-14 from the field and 6-of-8 from three-point range. He also contributed a team high five assists.
Jamir Chaplin recorded 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds including going 7-of-8 from the field and tied his career-high in blocks with two. Jordan Jefferson and Cougar Downing each contributed 12 points, while Jaylen Crocker-Johnson knocked down 11 points. Creed Williamson recorded a career-high ten points and six rebounds in the win.
For the game, the Trojans (3-4) went 37-of-58 from the field and 12-of-20 from the arc. Little Rock also tied a season-high with 22 assists and recorded only 13 turnovers.
Ball State (5-2) opened the first half on a 4-0 run, before a three-pointer by Crocker-Johnson cut the lead to one.
Both teams exchanged baskets, including back-to-back threes by Douglas and Crocker-Johnson, before a jumper by Jefferson sparked a 6-0 run to take the 15-8 lead.
At the 12:39, Little Rock took their largest lead so far in the half at ten points on a jumper by Douglas.
Ball State used a 5-0 run with 10:37 left in the half to cut the Trojan lead to 32-26.
In the last 6:37 of the half, Little Rock went on a 14-2 run with the Trojans holding the Cardinals to two free throws and ending the run with a three-pointer by Downing for the 52-32 half-time lead.
Little Rock used a 7-4 run to open the second half including five points from Douglas.
The Trojans maintained their lead using a 16-0 run at the 9:39 mark to extend the advantage to 90-52.
The Cardinals did end the game on a 12-0 run to bring the final score to 90-64.
#5 KANSAS 71, EASTERN ILLINOIS 63
LAWRENCE, Kan. - – Eastern Illinois cut a 13-point halftime deficit down to one point with five minutes remaining but the Panthers could not pull off the upset falling 71-63 on Tuesday night at No. 5 Kansas.
The Panthers trailed 38-25 at the break after Kansas opened on an 8-0 run to start the game with baskets by Hunter Dickinson. He would hit his first seven shots finishing with 25 points in the game.
Kansas shot 56 percent in the opening half while holding EIU to just 30 percent from the field.
EIU gained a little bit of momentum to close the half as Tiger Booker banked home a 3-pointer. Booker returned to the Panthers line-up after missing four games with an injury and finished with 20 points.
The made bank shot to close the first half seemed to spark the Panthers as they cut the lead to single digits on a Kooper Jacobi 3-pointer with 17:25 to play.
The Panthers finished off a 13-2 run trimming the Jayhawks advantage to 42-38 with 15:48 to play on a three-point play by Dan Luers.
EIU would get to within two points twice down the stretch and then closed to within one point as Booker made free throws with 5-minutes remaining to make it 59-58.
Dickinson provided the answer for Kansas with his own three-point play and the Jayhawks kept EIU at-bay.
Kansas finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field with Kevin McCullar Jr adding 18 points.
The Panthers had four players in double figures led by Booker’s 20 points. Jacobi and Nakyel Shelton each had 14 points with Luers chipping in with ten.
EIU finished the night with a 36-33 rebounding edge leading to 13 second chance points. Jacobi just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
EIU falls to 3-5 overall. Kansas is now 7-1.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 107, EAST-WEST 49
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball rolled by East/West University, 107-49, to begin a three-game homestand at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles get back on track at 2-6 after tonight's action, while the Phantoms are 0-13 this season.
The Eagles took command from the opening tip, building a 22-6 lead before six minutes were gone in the contest. USI was red hot from the field, connecting on seven-of-11 from the field, including four-of-six from downtown.
Junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois) led the initial run with nine of the 22 points on a trio of three-point field goals.
USI cooled off after building the 16-point advantage, hitting only one of its next 11 shots, but its defense continued to stymie the Phantoms, limiting them to one of seven. After East/West cut the lead to 12 points, 26-14, the Eagles' offense would re-engage with a 9-0 run to lead 35-14 with 5:09 left the opening half.
The first 20 minutes would end with the Eagles extending the margin to as many as 37 points and go into the locker room with a 55-18 lead. The Eagles outscored the Phantoms, 17-0, in the final 3:58 of the half.
Mielke had a team-high 12 points at the break, while junior guard/forward Javius Moore (McComb, Mississippi) followed with 10 points in the opening frame.
After halftime, USI cruised through the second half, but not before increasing the lead to a game-high 58 points for the final score of 107-49. The Eagles outscored the Phantoms, 52-31, in the final 20 minutes of action.
In the final stat totals, the Eagles had six players reach double-digits for the first time since the 2019-20 season, led by Moore and Mielke with 16 points and 15 points, respectively. Moore was four-of-seven from the field, including a pair three-pointers, and six-of-10 from the stipe, while Mielke was a blistering five-of-seven from beyond the arc.
The 16 points was a season-high for Moore, while the 15 points was a career-best for Mielke.
Sophomore guard Ryan Hall (Kettering, Ohio) and junior forward Nick Hittle (Indianapolis, Indiana) followed with 13 points each and season-highs for both players. Junior guards Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) and Sam Mervis (Indianapolis, Indiana) closed out the double-digit scorers with 11 points and 10 points.
The 10 points were a career high for Mervis.
Overall, the Eagles outrebounded the Phantoms, 51-31, and reached the 100-point plateau for the first time since the 2019-20 season. The 58-point margin of victory also was the largest for USI since the 63-point win over Oakland City University (121-58) in 2019-20.
SIUE 86, MISSOURI BAPTIST 62
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Shamar Wright's third 20-point performance and Damarco Minor's third double-double paced SIUE men's basketball in an 86-62 defeat of Missouri Baptist Tuesday at First Community Arena.
SIUE won for the fourth time in five games overall and improved to 3-0 at home and 5-3 overall. Missouri Baptist is 6-2.
Shamar Wright scored a game-high 24 points on eight-of-12 shooting. He hit three three-pointers. Minor scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Cougars used a 14-0 run midway through the first half to push the lead to 46-22 at halftime. SIUE stretched the advantage to as many as 38 (74-36) in the second half following a free throw by Arnas Sakenis.
Lamar Wright (15) and Ray'Sean Taylor (12) also scored in double figures for the Cougars. Taylor finished with a season-high eight assists. Minor added four assists and Lamar Wright dished out three. SIUE finished with a season-best 20 assists as a team.
The Cougars connected on 51 percent (29-57) of their shots from the field and were 10-22 from three-point range.
SIUE outrebounded Missouri Baptist 44-35.
Missouri Baptist was led by Breven McMullen's 15 points. Sterling Benjamin scored 10 and grabbed nine rebounds.