WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 96, Shawnee State 40
@Eastern Illinois 91, Monmouth College (IL) 45
@SMU 90,
Western Illinois 53
MOREHEAD STATE 96, SHAWNEE STATE 40
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State men's basketball team got a 46-point performance from the bench on the way to cruising to a 96-40 victory against Shawnee State in the 2023-24 home opener Wednesday at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles (1-1) had four players score in double figures, led by graduate Riley Minix, who put together his first Eagle double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds. He also filled out the stat sheet with five assists and four steals. Freshman Eddie Ricks III tacked on 18 points, eight rebounds and two blocks off of the bench, and graduate Kalil Thomas helped out with 13 points. Freshman Jerone Morton had a career-high 10 points.
Senior guard Drew Thelwell flirted in triple-double territory with nine points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
The Morehead State offense was very productive from deep, knocking down nine threes. Thomas was the most prolific shooter for the Eagles, draining three treys in the contest.
Morehead State's defense held Shawnee State to only 25 percent shooting from the field, including 29 percent from beyond the arc. The Eagles also limited the Bears' Tre Beard to 3-of-13 shooting and nine points in the game. SSU did not have much luck cleaning up its misses on the offensive glass either, as the Bears finished with eight offensive rebounds and managed just six second chance points. Morehead State cleared 36 defensive rebounds and easily won the rebound battle 51-23.
After jumping out to a 6-3 advantage, Morehead State went on a 14-0 run with 16:37 left in the first half to increase its lead to 20-3. The Eagles then added 12 points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 49-20 advantage. Morehead State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 32 of its 49 points close to the basket.
Morehead State started tacking on points in the second half almost immediately, going on a 13-0 run, finished off by Ricks' layup, to grow the lead to 62-20 with 15:22 to go in the contest. The Eagles kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 96-40 win. Morehead State capitalized on 11 Shawnee State turnovers in the period, collecting 19 points off those turnovers.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 91, MONMOUTH COLLEGE 45
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Monmouth College scored the first points of the game with a 3-pointer by David Williams.
Eastern Illinois scored the next 26 as the Panthers rolled to a 91-45 win over the Fighting Scots on Wednesday night to improve to 1-1 on the season.
Tiger Booker started the EIU first half run followed by buckets by Sincere Malone and Kooper Jacobi as EIU had four players finish in double figures with Booker, Malone and Jacobi all included in that group.
Jacobi missed his second straight double-double finishing with a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds.
Malone had 11 and Booker ten as the Panthers shot 50 percent in the opening half and 49 percent for the game.
Dan Luers had ten of his 13 points in the first half for EIU as the Panthers led 49-24 at the break.
Declan Flynn led Monmouth with ten points as they were held to 37 percent shooting, falling to 0-1 on the season.
EIU dominated play on the glass finishing with a 46-24 rebound edge including 19 offensive rebounds. Jacobi and Lazar Grbovic both had four offensive boards.
SMU 90, WESTERN ILLINOIS 53
DALLAS - The Western Illinois men's basketball team dropped their second game of the season, falling to Southern Methodist in Dallas, 90-53 on Wednesday night.
The SMU defense was too much for the Leathernecks, as the Mustangs forced 21 turnovers and held WIU to 17-55 (30.9 percent) shooting.
Ryan Myers led the team from the floor, scoring 12 points while James Dent Jr. had 10 off the bench. Drew Cisse grabbed 11 points in the game.
SMU shot 47.4 percent from the floor and converted the Leatherneck turnovers into 28 points. The Mustangs were also strong inside, scoring 48 points in the paint.
Western Illinois finished with 10 blocks with Rodrick Payne's three leading the cause.