THURSDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 82, @Eastern Kentucky 65
@Southeast Missouri 65, Austin Peay 60
Tennessee State 72, @UT Martin 59
@Jacksonville State 63, Eastern Illinois 45
TENNESSEE TECH 82, EASTERN KENTUCKY 65
RICHMOND, Ky. - Kevin Murphy scored a career-high 34 points and Tennessee Tech shot 56 percent from the field en route to an electrifying 82-65 victory over Eastern Kentucky at McBrayer Arena Thursday night. The win moved the Golden Eagles into sole possession of third place in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Tech (13-8, 5-3 OVC) handed the Colonels (12-10, 5-4 OVC) their first home loss of the season - EKU entered the game 8-0 in Richmond. The win was the second-consecutive for the Golden Eagles, who continue their road trip with a nationally-televised contest at Morehead State on Saturday.
Murphy shattered his previous career-high of 31 points, set against Murray State in 2010-11 and again against Wilberforce earlier this season. He secured the milestone when he sank two free throws with 1:09 left to play.
It was also Murphy who helped the Golden Eagles back into control of the game after Eastern Kentucky had cut a 16-point first-half Tech lead to three at the 11:43 mark. With Tech leading 52-46, Murphy sank a three-pointer to extend the lead back to nine. He then scored seven consecutive points on another three, a jumper and a dunk in which he drove the baseline, stretching Tech's advantage back to 62-48.
Murphy also moved up two slots on Tech's all-time scoring list, surpassing Anthony Fisher and Frank Jones to move into fourth. He has now scored 1,749 points in his Tech career.
In addition to his 34 points, Murphy also added six rebounds and three assists and went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Jud Dillard scored 14 points, came up one rebound shy of a double-double and went 8-for-9 at the charity stripe. Dillard moved within 21 points of becoming the 34th member of Tech's 1,000-point club - he now has 979 career points.
Chase Dunn added eight points for the Golden Eagles while Zac Swansey and Zach Bailey both contributed seven. Swansey added five rebounds and three assists while Bailey went 5-for-5 at the free-throw line. Bassey Inameti scored four points and blocked three shots, moving into sixth on Tech's all-time blocked shots list. He now has 86 blocks on his career.
Tech shot 56 percent from the field, went 7-for-12 from the tree-point line, and was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, going 27-for-29 to shoot 93 percent. The Golden Eagles were strong defensively as well, holding Eastern Kentucky to 42 percent shooting and keeping the Colonels to just 26 first-half points, the second-lowest number to which Tech has held an opponent in the first half this season (Morehead State scored 25). The Golden Eagles also outrebounded the Colonels 32-21.
Tech jumped on the Colonels early, going on a 14-4 run to take an 18-7 lead with 11:57 left in the first half. The Golden Eagles led by as many as 16 in the first period and went into halftime with a 36-36 advantage.
Eastern Kentucky began to fight its way back in the game around the 14-minute mark of the second half, going on a 14-3 run to cut the Tech lead to three at 48-45 on a Jeff Johnson three-pointer with 11:43 left. From there, however, Dillard converted a layup and Dunn drained two free-throws, extending the lead back to seven and setting the stage for Murphy to put the Colonels away.
Jaron Jones led the Colonels with 23 points and five rebounds while Eric Stutz added 13 points.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 65, AUSTIN PEAY 60
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (11-9, 6-2) maintained its claim on second-place in the Ohio Valley Conference with a big 65-60 win over Austin Peay (8-14, 5-4) Thursday night in front of a season-best home crowd of 2,950 at the Show Me Center.
Southeast put a halt to APSU's five-game winning streak and ended a stretch of seven-straight losses in its all-time series against the Governors.
The Redhawks led by 17 points on two occasions late in the first half, before APSU erased that deficit.
After Corey Wilford's three-pointer gave Southeast a 34-17 with 5:37 left in the opening period, the Governors countered with a 26-8 run en route to taking a 43-42 lead on Josh Terry's layup at the 13:50 mark of the second half.
The game then turned into a slugfest in the final five minutes, with Southeast delivering the knockout blow in the end.
APSU held a 60-59 edge following two free throws by Will Triggs with a little under three minutes on the clock.
Leon Powell came up with a big block on APSU's next possession and Marcus Brister made a layup to spur a stretch of six-straight points in the final 1:36.
Ahead, 61-60, after Brister's bucket, Tyler Stone blocked a shot. Powell later followed his own miss with a tip-in at the other end to give the Redhawks a three-point cushion with 38 seconds.
Southeast made another huge stop defensively when Brister drew a charge with 22 seconds. Josh Terry drove the lane and made contact with Brister before being whistled for the offensive foul.
Lucas Nutt's two free throws just one second later polished off the 65-60 victory.
Southeast stormed out to a 13-2 lead in the game's first five minutes, capitalizing on an early cold shooting spell by APSU. The Governors turned the ball over six times and made just three field goals in the first 12:15.
Shortly after Terry's jumper tied the game at 2-2, the Redhawks rattled off 11 unanswered points, as APSU went scoreless for over four minutes.
Nutt and Marland Smith each buried a three-pointer, while Stone added four points and capped the run with a layup at the 15:05 mark.
Southeast pushed its lead to 17 when Smith knocked down a jumper (9:08) and Wilford drained a three-pointer (5:37) in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
The Governors followed Wilford's trey up with an 11-3 run to slice Southeast's lead to single-digits (37-28) at the half.
Southeast man-handled APSU, 50-26 (+24), on the glass. The Redhawks, held a stifling 21-9 advantage on the offensive end en route to their season-high in rebounds.
Powell and Stone each turned in double-doubles to lead Southeast. Powell scored 12 points and had a game-high 18 rebounds, while Stone, despite being in foul trouble, added 11 points and 11 boards. Powell's double-double marked his team-high fifth of the season.
Wilford (12), Smith (11) and Brister (11) also scored double figures. Brister also had eight rebounds, while Wilford knocked down three 3-pointers off the bench in the first half alone.
In addition, Southeast overcame a season-high 23 turnovers.
Terry led all APSU scorers with 18 points, while Triggs and Tyshwan Edmondson added 11 and 10, respectively.
APSU shot 44 percent (11-of-25) and outscored Southeast, 32-28, in the second half.
TENNESSEE STATE 72, UT MARTIN 59
MARTIN, Tenn. - Tennessee State University used a combination of defense and strong second-half shooting to defeat UT Martin, 72-59, at the Elam Center on Thursday evening.
Three Tigers reached double-digits as Tennessee State improved to 12-10, 5-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference. TSU used a 16-to-6 run in the second half to pull away and sweep the regular season series with the Skyhawks.
The Skyhawks (3-19, 0-9 OVC) turned the ball over 20 times, shooting 44 percent (20-of-46) for the game. TSU scored 25 points off 20 UTM turnovers.
Offensively, the Tigers shot 48 percent (23-of-48) from the field, making 24-of-34 attempts at the free throw line. TSU was out-rebounded by an opponent, 31-29, for the first time in 11 games.
Patrick Miller led the Tigers with 17 points, all of which were scored in the second half. The sophomore was 7-of-11 from the field. He also dished out three assists, notching a career-best two blocks and a steal.
Reigning Co-OVC Newcomer of the Week Kellen Thornton scored 14 points, picking up three boards in 24 minutes.
Also reaching double-figures for the 21st straight game was Robert Covington. The junior forward added 11 points, swatting away three blocks, recording three steals and dishing out two assists in 24 minutes.
Forward Kenny Moore set a season-high with four assists and three rebounds. In 20 minutes of action, Moore also picked up a block and a steal.
Senior Wil Peters added seven points and three rebounds, while freshman M.J. Rhett notched four points and four rebounds. Guard Jay Harris tallied seven points, an assist and a steal.
Tennessee State held a narrow 26-25 lead over the Skyhawks in the first half. The Tigers shot 37 percent (11-of-30) from the field, as Covington led TSU with 10 points. The Tigers scored 20 of their 26 points off of UTM turnovers, forcing 14 in the first half.
The Tigers jumped out early to a 10-5 advantage with 15:36 left on the clock as Covington and Harris combined for all the points. UTM fought back tying the game at 10, but TSU used a 10-0 run to stretch their lead to 10.
UTM used a 9-to-2 run, narrowing the Tigers' advantage to 22-19 with 3:43 left in the first period. The Skyhawks used back-to-back baskets from Corderio Maclin to take a brief 25-22 lead. TSU snapped a six minute scoreless drought with four consecutive points, taking a 26-25 lead at the break.
In the second half, TSU started on a 16-to-6 run, capped off by a Chris Conner trey at 14:32 to take a 42-31 advantage. TSU stretched its lead to 16 with a basket at 8:37. From there, the Tigers traded baskets and sealed the win at the free throw line.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 63, EASTERN ILLINOIS 45
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team used a dominant effort on the glass and controlled the tempo against Eastern Illinois on Thursday night to cruise to a 63-45 win in Ohio Valley Conference action at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
Four Gamecocks (8-14, 3-6 OVC) scored in double figures and sophomore Nick Cook grabbed his second-career double-double to grab their second-straight win. A 12-0 run that started midway through the first half put JSU in front of the Panthers (9-10, 2-5 OVC) for good and set the tone for a win that tied for JSU's most lopsided league victory since the 2005-06 season.
Junior Dion Waiters pulled in a career-high 12 boards to go along with Cook's 10, helping a JSU team that had been ourtrebounded in its last six games by an average of 7.3 boards to an impressive 42-28 advantage on the glass. No other Gamecocks pulled in more than four boards but all nine that played grabbed at least one, with eight of the nine recording at least one of the team's 18 offensive rebounds. JSU used those offensive boards, which were more than EIU's defensive rebounds, to grab 19 second-chance points.
Sophomore Brian Williams scored nine points in each half to lead all players with 18 points. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native was 7-for-14 from the floor and tied his career high with four 3-pointers made on eight attempts from behind the arc. Cook's 12 points went alongside a career-high three assists, while also picking up two blocks.
Freshman Darion Rackley scored 11 and dished four assists off of the bench, while junior Tarvin Gaines pitched in 10 points despite being limited to 19 minutes because of foul trouble.
The Panthers got 14 points and 11 rebounds from Alfonzo McKinnie, while leading scorer Jeremy Granger and third-leading scorer Joey Miller combined to go 3-for-19 from the floor. EIU did get 13 points from the free throw line, thanks to 18 attempts that were twice the amount the Gamecocks shot.
The Panthers' lone moment came early, when a 7-2 run gave them their largest lead of the night with over 17 minutes to play in the first half. The Gamecocks answered with nine in a row to claim an 11-7 lead, and, after six-straight by the Panthers gave them their second lead of the night, JSU used its big run to claim it for good.
The Gamecocks outscored the Panthers 21-9 over the final 10 minutes to claim a 32-22 lead at the intermission and never allowed EIU to get within six before erupting to put the game away in the second half.