SUNDAY'S SCORES
@#17 Indiana 90,
Eastern Illinois 55
@Vanderbilt 85,
Southeast Missouri 76
@Wyoming 81,
Tennessee State 66
#17 INDIANA 90, EASTERN ILLINOIS 55
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Eastern Illinois seemed poised to pull off the upset on Sunday afternoon leading by one point at the half at No. 17 Indiana.
The Hoosiers used a key 9-0 run early in the second half to bounce back from a 37-36 halftime deficit to pick up a 90-55 win over EIU at the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Panthers shot 59 percent from the floor in the opening half with two players scoring in double figures. Nakyel Shelton had 15 of his 17 points in the opening half. Zion Fruster scored ten of his 13 in the opening 20 minutes.
EIU trailed in the rebound column by just a 12-10 margin while the Panthers defense had picked up six first half steals.
In the second half EIU was limited to 17 percent shooting from the field as the Hoosiers offense began to heat up shooting 65 percent in the second half and 61 percent for the game.
Indiana held a 26-16 rebounding edge in the second half and allowed only two EIU steals.
Mackenzie Mgbako led four IU players in double figures scoring 18 points. Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo both had 17 as IU used its size to post a 56-24 points in the paint margin.
Artese Stapleton finished as EIU’s third scorer in double figures with 12 points.
VANDERBILT 85, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 76
NASHVILLE - BJ Ward poured in a career-high 22 points and made six 3-pointers as Southeast Missouri (0-2) gave Southeastern Conference member Vanderbilt (2-0) all it could handle in a 85-76 loss Sunday.
As a team, SEMO made 12 three-pointers and shot 52.2 percent from long range. The Redhawks outscored VU, 36-9, from beyond the arc.
Behind Ward's first three 3-pointers, SEMO started strong out of the gate.
The Redhawks made four of their first seven shots and proceeded to take their first double-digit lead of the season at 16-6 on Ward's third trey with 14 minutes remaining in the first half.
VU countered with a 21-6 run to grab a 27-22 advantage. Jason Edwards made a 3-pointer, was fouled and converted a 4-point play to tie the game at 20-20.
The Commodores then went ahead for the first time on their next possession when Tyler Nickel scored a layup. Nickel was fouled on and added a free throw to give VU a 23-20 edge with 8:30 left.
TJ Biel's 3-pointer narrowed VU's lead to 27-25 and SEMO again got within two on two free throws by Damarion Walkup that made it a 29-27 contest at the 5:21 mark.
SEMO closed out the opening stanza on a 5-0 run in the final 1:12 and used a running bank shot by Ward to narrow VU's lead to 40-38 at the intermission.
The Redhawks buried 7-of-13 three-pointers at a 53.8 percent clip in the first 20 minutes of play. Ward had a career-high four of those threes in the first half alone, while Biel added three of his own.
VU shot a mere 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from long range and was held without a field goal for the last 3:33 of the first half.
Ward quickly cut VU's lead to one (42-41) on a 3-pointer a little over one minute into the second half.
After VU responded with an 8-2 jaunt to build a 50-43 cushion. Nickel's 3-pointer ended that stretch with 17:33 to go.
Nickel later sunk another 3-pointer to put the Commodores ahead by 11 (56-45) one minute and 23 seconds later before SEMO countered with an 8-0 surge to make it a one-possession game.
Teddy Washington, Jr. made a layup and Biel and Washington, Jr. drained a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions bringing the score to 56-53 with 14:11 on the clock.
VU managed to get up by double figures following two free throws by Grant Huffman which gave the Commodores a 68-57 advantage with a little over nine minutes.
SEMO, however, continued to chip away and trimmed the margin to 70-65 on a 3-pointer by Washington, Jr. at the 8:00 mark.
VU fought off the Redhawks with a 15-11 run the rest of the way.
Ward shot 8-of-13 from the field with a career-best 6-of-7 three-pointers in his first start of the season and just the third of his career. He scored double-digits for the second-straight game this year.
Washington, Jr. followed with 19 points and Biel chipped in 12.
Edwards topped VU with 17 points, while Devin McGlockton had a double-double 14 points and 19 boards.
VU outscored SEMO, 32-8, at the free throw line for the afternoon.
WYOMING 81, TENNESSEE STATE 66
LARAMIE, Wyo. - The Tennessee State men's basketball team got a 27-point performance from the bench, but fell 81-66 to the Wyoming Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers (1-2) had three players score in double figures, led by Brandon Weston with 18 points. Aaron Nkrumah tacked on 13 points and three steals off the bench and Ahmir Langlais chipped in as well with a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Tennessee State outrebounded Wyoming 40-38 in Sunday's game, led by Langlais' 11 boards. The Tigers also pulled down 15 offensive rebounds and scored 15 second chance points.
Tennessee State struggled out of the gate, falling behind 43-28 heading into halftime.
Wyoming kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 56-37 advantage before Tennessee State went on a 9-0 run, finished off by Langlais' layup, to shrink the deficit to 56-46 with 13:43 to go in the contest. Wyoming responded and outscored the Tigers the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 81-66. Tennessee State took care of business in the paint, recording 20 of its 38 points in the lane.