Men's Basketball Recaps - Jan. 30

Men's Basketball Recaps - Jan. 30

MONDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 77, Austin Peay 57
@Tennessee Tech 98, SIUE 80
Southeast Missouri 74, @Eastern Illinois 53
USC Upstate 82, @Jacksonville State 77


TENNESSEE STATE 77, AUSTIN PEAY 57
NASHVILLE - A strong shooting performance coupled by a balanced scoring attack gave Tennessee State a 77-57 blowout victory over rival Austin Peay on Monday evening at the Gentry Center.

The Tigers (14-10, 7-4 Ohio Valley) took over the lead midway through the first half and
never looked back, giving Austin Peay (9-15, 6-5 OVC) their largest margin of defeat in an OVC game since the Tigers knocked off APSU 80-63 at the Gentry Center in 2001.

Monday evening's 14th victory matched Coach John Cooper's most wins in a season as TSU moved into sole possession of third place in the Ohio Valley Conference. 

TSU made 30-of-57 from the floor for 53 percent, out-rebounding the Govs 35-to-30. The Tigers dished out 16 assists compared to just three for APSU. Behind the arch, the Big Blue knocked down seven of 17 for 41 percent.

Kellen Thornton tied a season-high 15 points, corralling five rebounds in 23 minutes. Monday was Thornton's fourth consecutive double-digit performance.

Extending his double-figures streak to 23 games, Robert Covington had 13 points and eight rebounds. Covington swiped four balls, picking up a block. Wil Peters handed out the rock seven times, tying a season high, while notching 11 points and three boards.

Combinations of Kenny Moore and Jordan Cyphers added nine points each. Moore picked up four boards and two assists in 19 minutes. M.J. Rhett added eight points, six rebounds and a season-high three assists.

Guard Patrick Miller hit 4-of-7 from the field with eight points, four rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes.

The Tigers opened the game with a 7-2 lead, before Austin Peay tied the game at 12. A 13-to-4 advantage extended the Tiger's advantage to nine with 5:29 left on the clock.

TSU opened up to a 10 point advantage from a pair of Kenny Moore free throws. The Tigers closed the half with a 29-20 lead.

In the second half, TSU utilized a 21-to-11 run to build 48-31 advantage with 14:59. The Governors never could narrow the gap as TSU extended its' mark to 26 at 11:12.

TSU outnumbered Austin Peay 40-to-24 in the paint and forced 12 Austin Peay turnovers. Center John Fraley led the Govs with 21 points and five rebounds.

TENNESSEE TECH 98, SIUE 80
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Multiple scoring records fell in Tennessee Tech's 98-80 victory over SIUE on Monday at Eblen Center as Kevin Murphy poured in 50 points.
 
In the process, the senior guard set a new all-time Tennessee Tech scoring record as well as the Eblen Center record, establishing a new personal career-high as well. The previous single-game scoring record at Tech was 48 points, set by both Ron Filipek in 1965-66 and Jimmy Hagan in 1958-59. The previous Eblen Center high was set by John Best in 1993 with 38 points. Additionally, Murphy also tied the Eblen Center high for most field goals made in a game with 16.
 
Murphy's final line read 50 points on 16-for-21 shooting to go with seven rebounds. He went 6-for-9 from three point range and was 12-for-14 at the free-throw line. He also moved into second on Tech's all-time scoring list, passing John Best. He now has 1,827 career points.
 
Murphy entered the game averaging 20.0 points per game and raised his average to 21.3. He is now tied for sixth in scoring in NCAA Division I. The 50-point game was one of just nine in Ohio Valley Conference history and came up five points short of tying the all-time conference record.
 
In addition to Murphy's epic evening, another milestone was reached in the game as junior guard Jud Dillard became the 34th member of Tech's 1,000-point club. Dillard finished with six points and now has 1,003 in his career. Dillard reached the milestone with 5:30 left in the first half on a layup.
 
With the win, the Golden Eagles improved to 14-9 overall and 6-4 in the OVC, avenging a December loss to the Cougars in Edwardsville. Tech moved into fourth place in the league and is a half-game behind Tennessee State in third.
 
The 98 points the Golden Eagles scored was the most this season and the most since Tech scored 109 in a triple overtime game against UT Martin on Jan. 13, 2011. The last time the Golden Eagles scored as many points in a non-overtime game against a Division I opponent came on Jan. 3, 2009, when Tech poured in 103 points against Southeast Missouri.
 
Monday's  game was tied at 23-all with 8:38 left to play in the first half, but Tech took control from there, going on a 10-0 jaunt to take a lead it wouldn't lose. After SIUE cut the lead back to six at the 3:12 mark, the Golden Eagles responded by outscoring the Cougars 15-5 over the rest of the half to take a commanding 48-33 lead into halftime.
 
Tech quickly built its advantage to 20 early in the second half on a Dillard jumper with 18:54 remaining to make the score 53-33. Thirteen points was as close as SIU Edwardsville would get for the rest of the evening as Tech built its lead as high as 24.
 
Though Murphy stole the spotlight, two other Golden Eagles also notched career-high numbers. Zac Swansey dished out 14 assists, besting his previous high of 12, and Javon McKay tied a career-high with 15 points and set another with five rebounds.
 
Tech also got nine points from Zach Bailey, who was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line, while Terrell Barnes delivered five points and eight rebounds.
 
The Golden Eagles shot 55 percent from the field, went 7-for-14 from three-point range and 25-for-30 at the free-throw line. They dished out 22 assists as a team compared to SIU Edwardsville's nine and held the Cougars to 42 percent from the field.
 
Jerome Jones led SIU Edwardsville with 25 points and four other Cougars reached double-figures, including Mark Yelovich, who notched a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
 
The game was a back-and-forth affair for the first 12 minutes of the first half, and SIUE held a four-point lead at the 15-minute mark.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 74, EASTERN ILLINOIS 53
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Southeast Missouri outscored Eastern Illinois 43-17 in the second half en route to a commanding 74-53 win Monday night in Ohio Valley Conference action at Lantz Arena.
 
Southeast (12-9, 7-2), which trailed, 36-31, at the half, came from behind to earn its eighth victory in 10 games. The Redhawks also dealt the Panthers (9-12, 2-7) their sixth-straight loss.
 
The Redhawks began the final period with a 13-2 burst over the first 4:01 to take a 44-38 lead. Michael Porter scored five points and Leon Powell chipped in four and threw down a dunk off a Marcus Brister pass.
 
After Zavier Sanders made a layup to cut Southeast's lead to 44-42 at the 14:45 mark, the Redhawks blew the game open.
 
Southeast followed Sanders' basket with a 20-0 run to take a 64-42 lead as EIU went scoreless for over eight minutes. Tyler Stone scored eight points as one of four different Redhawks who contributed to that surge which ended on Powell's two free throws with 7:14 on the clock.
 
Stone would throw down a dunk off a pass by Corey Wilford to give Southeast its biggest lead at 68-44 (5:23) before the Redhawks nailed down their seventh league win.
 
Southeast shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field in the first half, as Smith knocked down four three-pointers.
 
Smith buried a trey to give the Redhawks their biggest lead of the half (12-6) with 15:56 left to play.
 
Jeremy Granger heated up to score seven-straight points, before Morris Woods made a jumper, giving the Panthers their first lead at 19-18 (10:03).
 
Moments after Wilford sunk a three-pointer to give Southeast a four-point cushion (29-25), EIU answered with an 11-2 run in the last 4:22 to take its halftime lead.
 
Smith led all scorers with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-16 field goals, five of which came from behind the arc.
 
Stone followed with a double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Powell added 12 points and Porter finished with 10 and six boards in 18 minutes off the bench. Powell had seven rebounds and made a season-high 8-of-10 free throws, as well.
 
Southeast shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) and outrebounded EIU, 42-25. The Redhawks grabbed 14 of their rebounds on the offensive end.
 
Granger led the Panthers with 12 points. EIU shot just 24 percent (6-of-25) from the field in the second half.
 
The 21-point win marked Southeast's largest in conference play this season. In addition, the Redhawks won a league game on the road by 20 or more points for the first time since 2003-04. That year, Southeast beat EIU, 84-64, on Jan. 13.

USC UPSTATE 82, JACKSONVILLE STATE 77
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Five Gamecocks scored in double figures for the second-straight game on Monday, but the hot shooting of USC Upstate was the story in an 82-77 Spartans win at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The Gamecocks (9-15), who went over a year without having five players score in double digits until achieving the feat on Saturday, watched Brian Williams pour in 21 points to lead the quintet on Monday. However, the Spartans (14-9) blistered the nets by shooting 64 percent, including a 7-for-9 effort from behind the arc to extend their winning streak to four games and end JSU's at three.

Willliams, a sophomore from Lawrenceville, Ga., went 9-for-14 from the floor but put the Gamecocks on his back for a stretch in the second half. He scored 18 of his points in the final 20 minutes, a period in which he made eight of his nine attempts from the floor. He was 3-for-6 from behind the arc on the night, while dishing three assists and pulling in four rebounds.

Junior Tarvin Gaines added 13 points, six of which came from his seven free throw attempts, while freshman Darion Rackley pitched in 11 after being named the Ohio Valley Conference's Freshman of the Week earlier in the day. Sophomore Grant White scored a career-best 10 points, and sophomore Nick Cook also added 10. Junior Ronnie Boggs scored nine in the loss.

USC Upstate also had five players in double figures, a group led by Ty Greene's 17. Ricardo Glenn scored 11 but led all players with eight rebounds.

JSU was led on the glass by Cook, whose five boards paced a 28-26 advantage in the rebounding column.

Upstate won the battle inside, using a 38-30 advantage in the paint, and outscored JSU 16-11 in points off turnovers despite turning it over 17 times to just 12 for the Gamecocks.

The game saw 14 lead changes and seven ties, but the lead only swapped hands twice in the second half. Upstate took a 40-37 lead into the half, and after stretching it to as many as eight several times in the first eight minutes, the Gamecocks finally mounted a run.

JSU put together an 11-0 run the turned a seven-point deficit into a 60-56 lead with 8:27 remaining, but seven unanswered from the Spartans to answer gave them the final lead of the night. They would extend it to as many as many as eight with less than 90 seconds to play, but JSU had one more run in it.

After treys from Williams and Gaines, and then a pair of free throws from Cook that pulled the Gamecocks to within two with 17 ticks remaining, Greene made one of his two free throws to give JSU a shot down three. Gaines try from well beyond the top of the key missed, and the Spartans got away with the win.