Eastern Kentucky Downs EIU, Morehead State Beats SIUE

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois went 1-of-10 from 3-point range for a large portion of the second half as Eastern Kentucky snapped the Panthers seven-game home win streak on Thursday night.  EKU won 91-84 to sweep the regular season series.

EIU fell to 11-12 overall, 4-7 in the OVC.  EKU moved to 12-12 overall, 9-2 in the OVC.

EIU held a 38-37 lead at the half as Marvin Johnson had a dunk with 22 seconds left in the half in what proved to be a big night for bench production from the Panthers bench.

Johnson finished with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists as he was able to drive the basket to create points.  Jordan Skipper-Brown was 6-of-6 from the field with five dunks with 12 points off the bench while Kashawn Charles had 12 points off the bench knocking down 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

EIU was 6-of-12 from behind the arc in the first half but cooled off in the second half.  EIU ended the half 4-of-16 with Wallace and Charles combining for three 3-pointers in the final 56 seconds of the game.  Wallace led EIU with 25 points.

The Colonels took the lead on the opening possession of the second half on a jumper by Jomaru Brown.  Wallace countered to give EIU the lead at 40-39 with 18:05 to play, it would be the Panthers final lead of the night.

Tre King put EKU in front with a dunk and the lead extended to five points on jumpers by JacQuess Hobbs and Brown.  EIU was able to cut the lead to one point on two occasions but could never regain the lead. 

EKU took a double digit lead with 5:05 to play on free throws by King.   He led EKU with 22 points as all five Colonels starters finished in double figures. 

Morehead State 58, SIUE 49

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE snared a season-high number of rebounds, but experienced season-low scoring in bowing to Morehead State 58-49 on

Thursday at First Community Arena at the Vadalabene Center.

The Eagles improved to 12-12 overall and 6-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The SIUE men's basketball team fell to 5-19 and 2-9 in falling to Morehead State for the second time this season.

"Both teams didn't shoot well, so it was a frustrating night for the shooters and to coach at both ends," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "Statistically, we did some good things. We played with a lot of energy and I like the way we guarded. Now, we need to improve our execution."

Zeke Moore aimed to ignite the Cougars in the second half after they trailed 16-15 at the break. Moore scored all of his game-high 13 points and hit the game's first three-pointer –with just more than five minutes remaining – to get the Cougars within 43-40. Moore also collected seven rebounds.

"Zeke did some good things and we had more movement with our offense in the second half," Barone said.

Yet Morehead State refused to buckle when SIUE closed the gap. The Eagles used a 10-2 spurt after Moore's three-pointer to open a 53-42 advantage with 1:45 remaining and never looked back.

Brandon Jackson added eight points and seven rebounds for the Cougars, while Mike Adewunmi snagged a team-best nine rebounds. in total, five Cougars had seven or more rebounds.Shamar Wright and Williams both had seven rebounds. 

SIUE hadn't pulled down more than 50 rebounds in a game since snagging 57 against Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 2, 2019.
"I thought that early in the game we set the tone with our rebounding," Barone said. "And we kept talking about it, telling our guys to keep rebounding because both teams were missing shots."

Overall, SIUE made 21 of 69 shots, including just 1 of 17 from three-point land. The Cougars converted 6 of 13 free throws. The Eagles made 24 of 59 shots, went 2 of 19 on their three-pointers, sank 8 of 18 foul shots and had 40 rebounds. Tyzhaun Claude led the Eagles with 12 points.

SIUE trailed 16-15 in a low-scoring, rough-and-tumble first half, where defense ruled. The Cougars made only 7 of 35 shots and the Eagles connected on just 7 of 30 shots. Together, they were 0-for-19 from three-point range. SIUE did snag 36 rebounds, 16 more than Morehead State. Jackson had six points and five rebounds to pace the Cougars.

SIUE entertains OVC foe and third-place Eastern Kentucky (12-12 and 9-2) at 3:30 Saturday and then plays at Eastern Illinois (Feb. 13) and Southeast Missouri (Feb. 15) next week. The Cougars then return home to face co-leaders Austin Peay (Feb. 20) and Murray State (Feb. 22). Their final home game is against Eastern Illinois (Feb. 29).

"Eastern Kentucky has an identity of doing things in a certain way, so we have to prepare for them that way," Barone said.