SATURDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 84, Little Rock 61
Eastern Illinois 84, @SIUE 73
@Tennessee State 67, Tennessee Tech 53
Morehead State 65, @Southeast Missouri 59
@Southern Indiana 74, Lindenwood 64
UT MARTIN 84, LITTLE ROCK 61
MARTIN, Tenn. - The home success for the University of Tennessee at Martin men's basketball program continued in a big way today as the Skyhawks dialed up an impressive 84-61 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Little Rock.
Today's triumph gave UT Martin its 16th victory of the 2022-23 campaign, doubling up its win total from last season under head coach Ryan Ridder. It also improved the Skyhawks to 13-1 in the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center, which is only one victory shy of tying the program's single-season home wins record in the NCAA Division I Era (since 1992).
Parker Stewart topped UT Martin (16-11, 8-6 OVC) in scoring for the 10th time this season, generating 18 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Jalen Myers continued his stellar stretch of play with 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks while KJ Simon (14 points, five rebounds) and Jordan Sears (12 points, team-high four assists) also helped guide the Skyhawks, who went on a 24-0 run in the first half.
The Trojans (8-19, 4-10 OVC) were led by 19 points off the bench from Isaiah Palermo. CJ White and Ethan Speaker added 10 points apiece but Little Rock was held to 10.5 percent shooting (2-of-19) from three-point range, including an 0-for-16 stretch over the final 35:55 of the contest.
The Trojans led 5-0 before Myers dropped in six of the Skyhawks' first nine points of the game to give UT Martin its first lead at 9-7 at the 16:19 mark. Less than two minutes later, Stewart and Sears drained treys on back-to-back trips down the floor but Little Rock soon reclaimed a 16-15 advantage with 13:22 to go before the halftime break.
That would be the last time that the Skyhawks would trail as the aforementioned span of 24 unanswered points followed over a stretch of 6:31. Seven different UT Martin players provided scoring during the run, including a trio of three-pointers by Stewart in an 89-second span during the early stages of the surge. By the time the dust settled, a pair of Desmond Williams free throws with 6:32 to go in the first half ballooned the Skyhawk advantage out to 39-16.
All in all, the stingy UT Martin defense held Little Rock to 0-for-13 shooting and a pair of turnovers as it made its game-altering run as the Trojans wouldn't get any closer than 21 points the rest of the way.
A Simon three-pointer from the right wing just before the halftime buzzer padded the Skyhawk lead to 46-22 at the intermission. Stewart's 16 points led all scorers as UT Martin knocked down 43.8 percent (7-for-16) of its three-point field goal tries and sank 11 of its 12 attempts from the free throw line (91.7 percent). White's eight points paced Little Rock.
Sears tallied five consecutive Skyhawk points early in the second half before a Simon free throw with exactly 17 minutes left resulted in UT Martin's biggest lead of the day (54-25).
An old-fashioned three-point play by Williams at the 9:34 mark kept the Skyhawk advantage at 29 points. KK Curry and Koby Jeffries each scored on driving layups just 40 seconds apart from each other to keep the margin at 29 points (74-45) with seven minutes remaining.
Simon scored six straight UT Martin points – the first four coming on a pair of dunks in a 44-second span – to keep the Skyhawks in cruise control until the final horn.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 84, SIUE 73
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Eastern Illinois shot 67 percent in the second half and 57 percent for the game as the Panthers snapped a 13-game OVC road losing streak with an 84-73 win at SIUE on Saturday afternoon at First Community Arena.
Nick Ellington scored 15 of his career-high 21 points in the first half to help the Panthers hold a 35-31 lead. EIU jumped out to the early lead with a 12-2 run putting EIU up 17-9. Cameron Haffner drained a 3-pointer and Kinyon Hodges had a dunk during the run.
In the second half EIU continued to hit big shots as they stretched the lead to double figures at 61-50 on a Caleb Donaldson lay-up with ten minutes left in the game. Hodges pushed the Panther lead to 13 points at 65-52 as he finished the night with 17 points and eight rebounds.
SIUE would cut the lead back to single digits four times in the final ten minutes with the Panthers able to keep it at a three-possession game down the stretch.
The Cougars cut the margin to seven with 2:14 left on a Damarco Minor lay-up making it 75-68. Donaldson answered for EIU on that possession. Shamar Wright made it a seven-point game once again for the Cougars with free throws with 1:42 remaining.
Donaldson delivered at the end with a 3-pointer as he finished with 11 points and six assists. EIU finished the night 7-of-13 from 3-point range.
Minor led the Cougars with 19 points. Wright had 17.
TENNESSEE STATE 67, TENNESSEE TECH 53
NASHVILLE - On Saturday, the OVC men’s basketball game between Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State was suspended with 3:04 remaining and TSU leading 67-53 due to an injury suffered by a TTU player.
In accordance with the NCAA Rulebook (Section 4), both teams agreed to end the game at the point of interruption and declare Tennessee State the winner. Because the contest had reached “a reasonable point of conclusion” (at least 30 minutes for basketball), the statistics will count for both teams.
The Tigers (16-11, 8-6) had four players score in double figures, led by Jr. Clay, who had 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Dedric Boyd added 15 points and six rebounds and Adong Makuoi helped out with 12 points, two steals and two blocks.
Tennessee State collected 42 rebounds in Saturday's game compared to Tennessee Tech's 34, led by Clay's seven boards.
The Tennessee State defense held Tennessee Tech shooters to only 28.3 percent from the field, including 26.7 percent from three-point range. The Tigers also kept Diante Wood to 3-of-13 shooting in the game. The Golden Eagles did not get many second opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only eight offensive rebounds and scored eight second chance points while Tennessee State pulled down 33 defensive rebounds.
After jumping out to a 14-13 advantage, Tennessee State went on a 6-0 run with 12:40 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Zion Griffin, to increase its lead to 20-13. The Tigers then surrendered that lead and entered halftime down 31-28.
Tennessee State narrowed its deficit to 42-40 before going on an 8-0 run, finished off by Boyd's three, to seize a 48-42 lead with 13:02 to go in the contest. The Tigers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 67-53 win.
MOREHEAD STATE 65, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 59
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - --Drew Thelwell, Alex Gross and Branden Maughmer combined to score 49 of Morehead State's 65 total points as the Men's Basketball Eagles knocked off the Southeast Missouri Redhawks 65-59 on the road Saturday.
With the win and the SEMO loss, MSU now grabs a two-game lead in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with fur games to play before the tournament. MSU held SEMO to its lowest scoring output on its 2022-23 season.
The Eagles (17-10, 10-4 OVC) had three players score in double figures, led by Thelwell, who had a career-high 24 points after leading scorer Mark Freeman went out early. Gross tacked on a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Maughmer chipped in as well with 12 points and two steals off the bench.
Morehead State out-rebounded the Redhawks 36-27 in Saturday's game, paced by Gross' 10 boards. The Eagles also grabbed 10 offensive rebounds and scored 10 second chance points.
Morehead State's defense held SEMO to only 38 percent shooting from the field, including just 28 percent from beyond the arc. SEMO scored 17 points below its season average. The Redhawks did not have much luck cleaning up their misses on the offensive glass either, as they finished with just five offensive rebounds while Morehead State cleared 26 defensive rebounds.
After jumping out to a 21-19 advantage, Morehead State went on an 11-0 run with 5:02 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Gross, to increase its lead to 32-19. The Eagles then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 34-25 advantage. Morehead State did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 20 of its 34 points close to the basket.
Morehead State kept its lead intact before going on a 7-0 run to grow the lead to 59-45 with 6:15 to go in the contest. The Redhawks narrowed the margin down to five on a couple of occasions but missed some buckets late before MSU didn't allow second chance opportunities. Morehead State capitalized on six Southeast Missouri State turnovers in the period, collecting 10 points off those turnovers.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 74, LINDENWOOD 64
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Basketball picked up a big victory on Senior Night, defeating Lindenwood University, 74-64, Saturday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles go to 14-13 overall and 7-7 in the OVC, while the Lions are 9-18, 4-10 OVC.
USI moves up into a tie sixth in the OVC standing, one game out of the four-way tie for second with four games to play in the regular season. The top eight teams in the OVC advance to the league's postseason tournament scheduled for March 1-4 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
The Eagles started slow, while the Lions got off to a quick start and had an early 18-8 lead with 13:55 left in the first half following a 10-2 run. USI closed the gap to four points, 22-18, on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) with 9:41 on the clock.
After Lindenwood pushed its lead back to nine, 25-16, USI shrank the deficit to three points, 27-24, after a pair of free throws by senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan), who had a team-best 12 points in the opening half. The three-point deficit would be as close as the Eagles would come in the first 20 minutes as the teams went into the intermission with the Lions leading 35-29.
The second half started very differently for the Eagles as they used an 8-2 run to knot the game at 37-37 before three minutes were gone on a Polakovich layup. USI would take its first lead since the opening bucket, 41-40, when senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) threw down a dunk at the 15:30 mark.
After trading buckets and leads, USI went on a 7-0 run to lead 55-48. Freshman center Kiyron Powell (Evansville, Indiana) sparked the run with an old fashion three-point play and a pair free throws that were sandwiched around a pair of charity shots by Swope to give USI its largest lead to that point (seven points).
Lindenwood closed the gap to 62-60 with 3:26 to play when USI spun off 10-straight points to lead by 12, 72-60, with under a minute to play. The Eagles and Lions traded free throws in the final 30 seconds before USI closed out the 74-64 victory.
USI had three players reach double-digits in the scoring column, led by Polakovich's 23 points. The senior was a red hot nine-of-12 from the field and five-of-eight from the stripe, while grabbing a game-high nine boards.
Simmons and Swope followed with 17 points and 14 points respectively. Swop also had a game-high five assists.