TUESDAY'S SCORES
Indiana 69,
Morehead State 68
@Indiana State 90,
Tennessee State 69
@Southern Indiana 79, University of St. Francis (IL) 47
@Missouri State 79,
Lindenwood 57
INDIANA 69, MOREHEAD STATE 68
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Jordan Lathon was without a doubt the best player on the floor at Indiana Tuesday night. The Morehead State guard scored a career-high 30 points, but the Eagles fell to the Hoosiers 69-68 at Assembly Hall. Lathon was looking for his 32nd, and game-winning points, but his shot was blocked at the final buzzer.
The Eagles (8-4) had two players score in double figures, led by Lathon, who also six rebounds. Riley Minix added his fifth double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Drew Thelwell added nine points, five assists and two steals.
Indiana's 17-0 second-half run ultimately sank the Eagles, who did not score for 6-plus minutes.
The Morehead State offense was strong from three-point land, making 10 threes on 34 attempts. Lathon hit a career-high six treys for the Eagles in the contest.
Morehead State's defense held Indiana to only 39 percent shooting from the field, including just 18 percent from beyond the arc. The Eagles also limited Mackenzie Mgbako to 3-of-14 shooting in the game.
After jumping out to a 23-21 advantage, Morehead State went on a 9-0 run with 6:10 left in the first half to increase its lead to 32-21. The Eagles then maintained that lead and entered halftime with a 36-25 advantage. Morehead State relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down five shots to account for 15 of its 36 points.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on an 8-0 run, finished off by Lathon's three, to grow the lead to 50-39 with 14:08 to go in the contest. Indiana then asserted control, outscoring the Eagles 30-18, including the 17-0 flurry, the rest of the way to hand Morehead State the 69-68 loss. Morehead State shot well from three-point range in the half, hitting five shots from deep to score 15 of its 32 points.
INDIANA STATE 90, TENNESSEE STATE 69
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Kinyon Hodges registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but the Tennessee State men's basketball team fell to the Indiana State Sycamores 90-69 on the road Tuesday.
In addition to Hodges' double-double, the Tigers (7-6) were led by Jaylen Jones, who put up 16 points, and by Christian Brown, who tacked on 10 points coming off the bench.
Led by Emmanuel Dowuona's two offensive rebounds, Tennessee State did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 11 boards that resulted in four second-chance points.
The Tennessee State defense was a problem in Tuesday's game, forcing 13 Indiana State turnovers. Those takeaways turned into 15 points on the other end of the floor. Hodges' two steals led the way individually for the Tigers.
After falling behind 32-25, Tennessee State went on a 6-0 run with 5:17 left in the first half to narrow its deficit to 32-31. Indiana State answered back and added to its lead, leaving the Tigers down 42-38 entering halftime.
Tennessee State narrowed its deficit to 52-49 before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by Jones' three, to seize a 56-52 lead with 13:12 to go in the contest. Indiana State re-asserted control, outscoring the Tigers 38-13 the rest of the way to hand Tennessee State the 90-69 loss. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 18 of its 31 points in the lane.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 79, SAINT FRANCIS (IL) 47
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball snapped a three-game losing streak with a big 79-47 victory over the University of St. Francis (Illinois) Tuesday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles rise to 3-9 after tonight's action, while the Fighting Saints are 2-5 in 2023-24.
Following an extremely slow start by both teams, USI exploded on an 18-6 run midway through the opening half to take control, 23-11. Sophomore guard Ryan Hall (Kettering, Ohio) led the charge with a pair of three-point field goals, while sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois) and senior forward/center Nolan Causwell (Duluth, Georgia) added five points and four points, respectively, during the run.
The Saint climbed back into the contest with a 11-4 spurt to close the gap to 27-22 with 2:53 on the first half clock before the Eagles could take back control. USI scored seven of the final 11 points of the half to lead 34-26 at the break.
Sophomore guard Jack Campion (Milton, Wisconsin) and Smith led the USI offensive attack during the first half with seven points each.
After the start of the second half, it was all USI as the Eagles went on a 13-0 run to lead 47-27 and held the Saints scoreless for the first 7:21 of the final half. Junior forward Jack Mielke (Downers Grove, Illinois) led the Eagles in the run with six of the 13 points.
USI continued to expand its lead to as many as 32 points in cruising to the 79-47 victory. The Eagles' defense held the Saints to 28.6 percent from the field in the second half (8-28) and 35.8 percent from outside (19-53) for the game. Offensively, USI shot 59.3 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes (16-27), 63.6 percent from beyond the arc (7-11).
Individually, Mielke had 15 second half points and led USI in scoring with a career-high 18 points. The junior forward was a blistering six-of-eight from beyond the arc to lead the way.
Smith followed Mielke with 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds. The sophomore guard/forward was four-of-eight from the field, including a pair of three-point field goals, and six-of-seven from the stripe.
Hall rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Eagles with a season-high 13 points, adding seven in the second half. He had the hot hand tonight, hitting five-of-seven from the field, including three-of-four from outside the arc.
MISSOURI STATE 79, LINDENWOOD 57
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Lindenwood men's basketball (5-7, 0-0 OVC) dropped their final away non-conference game of the season at Missouri State (8-4, 1-1 MVC) by a final score of 57-79. LU held to just 16 points in the first half on 6-28 shooting (21.4%).
Jaylon McDaniel was the leading scorer for the Lions after posting a career high 13 points on 5-11 shooting while pulling down four rebounds. Despite a poor shooting night, Keenon Cole (10 points, 2-11 FG) continued his streak of scoring 10+ points in every game this season.
Missouri State's Alston Mason caught fire on Tuesday night putting up a career high 34 points on 11-21 shooting including five triples. N.J. Benson also scored 17 points for the Bears while grabbing 12 rebounds.
Lindenwood jumped out to the early lead going up 6-0 including two spin move layups from McDaniel. Missouri State then went on a 18-2 run to take a 18-8 lead at the 9:37 mark. The Lions turned the ball over five times in the span.
Amoro Lado's layup with 8:31 stopped a five minute scoring drought for the Lions in which they went 0-7 from the field. The Bears ended the quarter on a 16-6 run to go into the half leading 16-34. LU's 16 points was the lowest point total for a half this season. They were also held to just six made field goals in the first half. Cole and Darius Beane, the Lions' two leading scorers, were both held scoreless in the first half.
Lindenwood then fell behind 16-41 coming out of halftime after a 7-0 by the Bears which was led by Benson scoring five of the seven points. Cole scored six early points in the second half to finally break into the scoring column.
Keith Haymon II led a second half charge that cut the lead to 12 at the 9:47 mark. Haymon made two threes on the evening, which were the only two by the entire Lindenwood team (2-16 3FG).
Missouri State's offense went on a 18-7 run to increase their lead to 70-47 at the 5:29 mark. The Bears shot 29-60 (48.3% FG) on Tuesday evening in rout to their eighth win of the season. Lindenwood was held to just a field goal percentage of 31.7%.
Nathan Johnson Jr. went 2-4 from the field while scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds for the Lions. Lado also scored eight points in the loss. Beane was held to just six points stopping his seven game streak of scoring in double figures.