Ohio Valley Conference

Senior Josh Taylor led all scorers with 18 points. Junior Justin Stommes added 17 points for EKU (7-4), but also turned the ball over a season-high seven times.

Tommy Freeman and Steven Coleman paced Ohio (7-3) with 16 points apiece. Meanwhile, point guard D.J. Cooper recorded his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists.

Eastern led the entire first half and built its biggest advantage of the game, 9-2, following three free throws from Stommes. Ohio came back to tie the game twice before intermission, but could never gain the lead. The two teams combined to shoot 1-for-19 (5.3 percent) from three-point range in the first half as the Colonels took a 24-23 lead into intermission.

Ohio finally went ahead with 15:13 left in the game after a Coleman jumper made the score 33-31 in favor of the Bobcats. After missing its first 16 three-point attempts, Ohio heated up by netting five of the next six long-range shots to turn a 36-35 deficit into a 54-42 cushion.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Freeman later in the half gave the Bobcats their biggest lead of the game, 61-46, with 5:41 showing on the clock. Freeman scored all 16 of his points in the second stanza thanks to netting four trifectas.

Eastern Kentucky made one final charge, capped by a Stommes three-pointer, to close the gap to eight points with 3:55 left, 63-55. However, the Colonels would get no closer the rest of the way.

The 51 points scored in the second half by Ohio were the most given up in a half by EKU this season.

Starting the second half with a four-point lead, the Racers (9-2) used a 9-0 run at the 11:40 mark to build their biggest lead of the day at 58-45.

The Racers saw B.J. Jenkins make a steal that led to an easy basket and it was followed by a three-pointer from Isaiah Canaan that gave MSU a 13-point advantage.

The Mocs (5-6) cut the Racer lead to six at 7:35, but Canaan followed with a three-pointer to put MSU ahead 63-54 with 6:43 remaining.

Tony Easley and Canaan led the way for MSU each scoring 16 points and together, the senior-freshman combination was 13-of-19 from the field.

Jenkins and Ivan Aska each scored 11 for the Racers, who shot 52 percent on 27-of-52 shooting, while holding Chattanooga to 38 percent on 23-of-61 shooting.

The Racers also forced the Mocs into 18 turnovers and had a 40-26 advantage on points scored in the paint.

MSU head coach Billy Kennedy was pleased to see his team come out on the winning side.

In the first half, the Racers trailed 18-8 at the 14:18 mark when they used defense to get back into the flow.

Canaan made a steal and converted and moments later Aska did the same to cut the Mocs lead to 20-16 at 10:00.

MSU drew even at 24-24 on a three-pointer by Isacc Miles with 6:28 left.

MSU's final basket of the first half was a steal and dunk by Aska and the Racers led 36-34 after Jasper Williams made a pair of free throws with 3.3 left.

Four Tigers finished in double figures. Josh Sain and Jacquan Nobles each chipped in 14 points. Nobles connected 5-of-9 from the field including 4-of-5 from three-point range.

Robert Covington scored 13 points and pulled in a game-high eight rebounds. Lonnie Funderburke scored a career-high 12 points while hauling in six boards and Jeremiah Crutcher dished out a season-high seven assists to compliment seven points.

TSU (3-9, 0-2) shot 36 percent from the floor and shot a season best from the free-throw line, 88 percent.

After the score was knotted up, 9-9, with 14:02 in the first, Vanderbilt outscored the Tigers, 34-16, to lead at intermission, 43-25.

In the second half, TSU trailed the Commodores by the largest lead of the night, 76-52 with 5:34 remaining.  TSU mustered a late 14-4 run with three minutes to play, but, the early deficit played the dividend.

Vanderbilt (7-3) dominated the paint, scoring 58 points underneath and winning the battle on the glass, 34-27. The Commodores shot 68 percent from the field and 43 percent from behind the arc.

Jeffery Taylor, John Jenkins, A.J. Ogilvy, and Festus Ezeli finished in double figures for VU. Taylor scored a game-high 20 points with Ogilvy following with 11 points and a team-high, six caroms. Jenkins posted 12 points and Festus chipped in ten points.

The victory elevated the Wildcats to 11-0 on the season and it gave them 1,999 all-time victories. Austin Peay, meanwhile, saw its five-game winning streak snapped as it fell to 7-5 on the season.

The Govs, trailing 49-35 at halftime, opened the second half on an 8-0 run to cut UK's lead to six points, 49-43, at the 17:38 mark. A jumper by Patrick Patterson and a pair of free-throws by John Wall stretched the UK lead back to double-digits where it stayed for much of the of the next six minutes before Caleb Brown knocked down a step-back three pointer with 8:25 left to make it a 70-61 contest.

The Governors then got the ball back on a missed DeMarcus Cousins dunk, but failed to convert,before the Wildcats reeled off the next 12 points-nine by Patrick Patterson, starting at the 7:04 mark. When Duran Roberson nailed a three pointer with 3:38 to stop the streak the contest was out of reach at 82-64.

In facing the nation's No. 3 team, Austin Peay knew it had to keep the game close and shoot the ball well. The Govs trailed by two points, 22-20, mid-way through the first half, but the Wildcats scorched an 18-6 run to make it 40-26 at the 5:13 mark.

Kentucky took a 49-35 lead into the break, in part due to a 21-11 rebounding advantage. The Wildcats shot 51.4 percent (18 of 35) from the floor, while the Govs made 13 of 29 (44.8 percent). The Wildcats also made 6 of 9 three-pointers in the frame.

Sophomore center John Fraley helped keep the Govs in it in the first half, scoring 11 of his 13 points, while senior guard Wesley Channels added eight. Channels scored a game-high 21 points, including five three pointer and led the Govs with five rebounds. Junior forward Duran Roberson added a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Fraley was 5-of-6 from the floor while blocking three shots.

Four Wildcats scored in double-figures, led by Patterson's 21 points while heralded freshman guard John Wall added 17 points and six assists. Kentucky outrebounded the Govs 44-24 and shot a perfect 18-of-18 from the free-throw line.

The win pushed Kentucky coach John Calipari past Adolph Rupp in the school record book for the best start by a first-year head coach. Rupp won his first 10 games in 1931. Kentucky will go for its 2,000th win on Monday against Drexel.

The Panthers had three players finish in double figures with Tyler Laser knocking down 14, Jeremy Granger had 13 and Ousmane Cisse finished with 11.  Cisse also pulled down ten rebounds to collect his 11th double-double of his career and move into 10th place on the EIU career rebounds list.

Trailing 28-20 at the half, EIU opened the second half with a 12-3 run as Granger connected on three jumpers and Cisse add two low post buckets to tie the game 36-36 with just under 12:30 left.

The two teams traded the lead over the next seven minutes with Cisse hitting a pair of free throws with just over five minutes left to tie the game at 50-50.  James Hollowell would put EIU up 52-51 with a runner in the lane at 3:22 and Laser drained a pair of free throws at 3:03 to give EIU a three point lead.  The Panthers would extend the lead to as many as six as they won their fifth road contest of the game.

Eastern Illinois built an early lead as Edin Suljic scored eight points in the first ten minutes as EIU built a 9-4 and then led 14-11.  Zavier Sanders tied the game at 16-16 before Belmont closed the half with a 12-4 run as they built a 28-20 halftime lead.

Scott Saunders came off the bench to lead Belmont with eight first half points and Drew Hanlen knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for the Bruins in the final 1:30 of the first half.

EIU shot 61 percent in the second half as they finished the game shooting 46 percent.  Belmont was limited to just 36 percent shooting for the game including only 26 percent (9-of-34) from 3-point range.

Ian Clark led the Bruins with 13 points while Jordan Campbell added 12.

Evansville (6-3) placed four players in double-figures, as James Haarsma led the way with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Bryan Bouchie came off the bench to score 18 points, and Denver Holmes and Colt Ryan each chipped in a dozen apiece for the Purple Aces, who shot 63 percent in the second half (15-for-24). Troy Taylor nearly missed a triple-double, grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out 10 assists while scoring seven points in 30 minutes off the bench.

Simmons, a junior from Miami, made 11 of his 18 shots - including two of six from beyond the three-point arc - and made 11-of-12 free throws in 34 minutes. Reuben Clayton and MJ Brown came off the bench to each score seven points for the Skyhawks (1-8).

UT Martin started the game strong, thanks in large part to Simmons. After Holmes gave Evansville a quick 2-0 lead just 13 seconds into the game, Simmons scored 13 of the Skyhawks' first 15 points - including a three-pointer that gave UT Martin its first lead of the night at 9-7 with 16:25 left in the first half.

The lead changed hands three times before the Skyhawks went on a 6-0 run capped off by a monster two-handed slam by Dominique Mpondo that made the score 17-12 at the 12:44 mark. Evansville came back to tie it at 17-17 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half before junior Marquis Weddle canned his first points of the season with two free throws to put the Skyhawks back on top.

Haarsma helped Evansville take the lead by scoring four points as part of a Purple Ace 5-0 run that put Evansville up 22-19, but Simmons answered right back with six of the Skyhawks' next seven points, putting UT Martin up 26-22. After a finger-roll fast break lay-up by Clayton in traffic, Evansville head coach Marty Simmons called a timeout. The Purple Aces responded with an 8-2 run to close out the half, tying the score at 30-all at the break.

Simmons' 19 points led all scorers in the first 20 minutes, as UT Martin overcame a 35 percent shooting half by hitting nine of its 10 free throws. Defensively, the Skyhawks held Evansville to 32 percent shooting, but the Purple Aces also took advantage of its charity stripe opportunities, converting on 12 of its 19 first-half attempts. Haarsma led Evansville with 10 points at the half.

Evansville came out hot in the second half, scoring the first five points of the half in 89 seconds to make the score 35-30. All the while, the Skyhawks went cold - not scoring its first field goal of the half until a three-point play on a leaner by Clayton at the 13:40 mark that cut the score to 42-36.

The Purple Aces responded by pushing its lead out to 11 points on three separate occasions before a Haarsma reverse lay-up put Evansville up by 13. A three-pointer from Simmons off an offensive rebound on the next possession made the score 53-43 with 10:08 left, but Evansville went on an 11-1 run to put the Purple Aces up 64-44 after the second of two made free throws by Bouchie.

Simmons tried his best to get the Skyhawks closer - at one point scoring 13 out of UT Martin's 14 points over a stretch of 7:40 - but UT Martin wouldn't get any closer than 16 points the rest of the way, as Evansville extended its lead to 24 with 2:02 left.

All 11 players on the roster saw action for coach Mike Sutton's squad, and all 11 contributed to the scoring. Junior Alfred Jones led the way with a career-high 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting and also tied his career-high with nine rebounds. Named the Player of the Game, Jones also had three assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

Senior Frank Davis added 15 points, four assists and three steals, and Kevin Murphy contributed 13 points and five rebounds. Senior Elijah Muhammad narrowly missed his first career double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds, in addition to three assists and two steals.

Charles Newton scored a career-high nine points while Terrell Barnes had seven points and a career-high eight rebounds. Riley Hunley and Byron Pickens also notched career-highs, getting four assists apiece.

Bryan's Astral Guerrier was 8-for-10 from the field and finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Keith Bauer added nine points. 

While the offense came up just short in a bid to reach 100 points for the 12th time in eight seasons under Sutton, the defense was something special, holding the Lions to 28.8 percent shooting and a season-low 44 points. It was the fewest points allowed by the Golden Eagles since holding Union College to 40 last season in an 87-40 Tech win.

Tech (5-6) blistered the nets for 61.1 percent shooting in the first half, hitting 22-for-36 from the field. The Golden Eagles used a 28-10 rebound margin and also used their size advantage to outscore Bryan 28-6 in the paint in the first 20 minutes.

The Golden Eagles finished the game hitting 55.6 percent (40-for-72), including 9-for-19 from long range for 61.5 percent.

Tech raced out to a 6-0 lead before Desmond Craig hit a 3-pointer for the Lions to make it a 6-3 contest. From there, Tech went on a 21-4 stretch to open a 27-7 lead with 12:20 remaining in the half. Senior Frank Davis started the run with a 3-pointer and capped it with a layup.

With Tech scoring 17 second-chance points in the opening period, the lead grew to 33 by halftime as Bassey Inameti scored on a putback with three seconds left.

Tech continued to do an outstanding job protecting the basketball, being charged with only nine turnovers in the game.