WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 63, Austin Peay 58
Little Rock 71, @Tulsa 57
MOREHEAD STATE 63, AUSTIN PEAY 58
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Despite an early deficit and slow start, Morehead State Men's basketball used a 21-2 first-half scoring run to get back in the game and then fought tooth and nail against Austin Peay at home in Johnson Arena Wednesday night before prevailing 63-58 over the Governors in front of a raucous crowd.
The Eagles improved to 2-3 overall and won the program's fifth straight over its former Ohio Valley Conference rival. MSU led for only 7:57 of the night but still won its 54th home game in the last five seasons.
MSU trailed 17-4 eight minutes into the contest but held the Govs to only field goal over the next 10 minutes and surged ahead 25-21. MSU built its first-half lead to as much as 28-21 following Kade Ruegsegger's at 1:50 and led 30-26 at the break.
In a game of runs by each team, APSU scored the second half's first 10 points to surge back ahead 36-30 with 15:10 left. APSU led 44-35 with 11:58 left in the game before MSU started its rally back. The Eagles cut it to 47-46 on Kenny White Jr.'s jumper at 7:14. An 8-0 run from 5:22 to 2:58 turned the tide again in MSU's favor. Dieonte Miles scored six of the eight Eagle points in the flurry, and the Eagles never trailed again. MSU forced three turnovers and two missed shots by the Govs in the final minute to stave off the visitors.
White, Jr. paced his team with 18 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Miles tied his career-high, set in the last game against Chattanooga, with 13 points. Jalen Breazeale and Jerone Morton each scored 11, and Morton had a career-best five assists.
Austin Peay was led by LJ Thomas with 22 points and 20 from Isaac Haney.
Morehead State out-rebounded the Govs 35-30 and shot 49 percent (24-of-49) for the game.
LITTLE ROCK 71, TULSA 57
TULSA, Okla. - Little Rock overcame a slow start with a hot second half to run by Tulsa 71-57 Wednesday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. The win is the Trojans' second straight road victory after dropping two straight to start the six-game road swing.
Little Rock (3-2) trailed 25-20 at halftime, but they took the lead back early in the second half and after Tulsa took one final lead, the Trojans went on another run and led by as many as 17.
Lawson, a Creighton transfer, led all scorers with 23 points. He also chipped in 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Isaiah Lewis scored 17 points and was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Mwani Wilkinson added 16 points and 9 boards before fouling out in the second half. Ante Beljan, who missed a part of the game when he landed awkwardly on his ankle, scored all 11 of his points in the second half.
Sophomore Tyshaun Archie led TU with 15 points.
Little Rock began the second half with a 12-2 run and took a 32-27 lead with 16:39 to play in the game. The Trojans led by eight when freshman Caleb Pennyfeather slammed home a dunk at the 15:13 mark, but Tulsa responded and cut the margin to 41-40 on a three-pointer by Isaiah Barnes. Archie added another bucket moments later to give the Golden Hurricane a 43-42 lead and capped an 8-0 run.
The Trojans didn't panic, and when Wilkinson hit a jumper to give the Trojans a 43-32 lead with 9:43 to play, they never tailed again. Little Rock rattled off a 13-1 run that gave them a 53-43 advantage with 6:49 to play when Beljan hit two free throws. Beljan's layup with 3:46 left pushed the lead to 17.
Neither team shot very well in a low-scoring first half. Wilkinson hit a jumper to give Little Rock a 2-0 lead with 19:42 to play in the half, and the Trojans didn't lead again in the first half. The Golden Hurricane threatened twice to take control of the game leading by eight with 9:17 to play and nine with 2:52 remaining when Archie hit a three. However, Little Rock closed the half on a 6-2 run on threes by Lewis and Wilkinson to cut the lead to 25-20 at halftime.
Tulsa entered the game averaging more than 80 points in the first four games, including scoring more than 100 twice, but the Trojans stymied them Wednesday night holding them 36.7% shooting from the field for the game.