Tennessee Tech Falls 71-54 to Southern Indiana
Tennessee Tech (7-11, 2-5 OVC) men’s basketball falls 71-54 to Southern Indiana (4-13, 1-6 OVC) on Thursday night at Hooper Eblen Center.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
27 | 44 | 71 |
|
|
27 | 27 | 54 |
Team Stats
Southern Indiana
| Game Statistics | Southern Indiana | Tennessee Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (27-71) | (21-60) |
| Field Goal % | 38.0% | 35.0% |
| Rebounds | 44 | 47 |
| Assists | 13 | 7 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 13 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 15 | 2 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 14 | 7 |
| Pts in the Paint | 38 | 34 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 12 | 9 |
| Bench Pts | 43 | 33 |
By Jeff Bowe, TTU Athletics Media Relations
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech (7-11, 2-5 OVC) men's basketball falls 71-54 to Southern Indiana (4-13, 1-6 OVC) on Thursday night at Hooper Eblen Center.
The Golden Eagles fall to 7-11 overall and 2-5 in conference play with the 17-point loss to Southern Indiana, which improves to 4-13 overall and 1-6 in OVC play with the win. TTU slips to 2-2 at home against USI all-time but still holds a 5-2 edge in the series. USI snaps an eight-game losing skid and secures its first conference win with the victory.
Tech finished with two players in double-digits, 16 off the bench from JaJuan Nicholls on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from the free throw line. Malik Ferguson finished with 10 points on 4-of-10 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line. Nicholls also led the team with seven rebounds as Tech won the battle of the boards 47-44.
Outside of those two in double figures, only Ja'Quavian Florence was close to double digits, finishing with nine points on 4-of-7 from the field, 1-of-2 from three off the bench. Ty Owens led the team in assists with three. Mekhi Turner made his first career start, adding four points and four rebounds.
Jah'Kim Payne grabbed a career-high five rebounds.
TTU (35%) attempted 60 shots to USI's (38%) 71 shot attempts as both teams finished in the 30 percentiles from the field. The Golden Eagles' best run offensively was an 11-0 push with 13:27 left in the second half.
Tech led by as much as eight in the first half with 5:36 left to play and went into the break tied with USI 27-27.
In the second 20 minutes, the Golden Eagles went cold from three, finishing 1-for-10 to go 3-for-20 from distance for the entire contest. Tech made 11 shots on 33 attempts (33.3%) in the first half and 10 shots on 27 attempts in the second half (37.0%) to finish 21-of-60 (35.0%) for the game, and 9-of-15 from the line.
Nine Golden Eagles tallied a point as the bench outscored the starters 33-21 for the game.
USI closed the game on a 21-4 run, including 19-0 at one point to pull away from Tech, 71-54.
Ismail Habib led the Screaming Eagles with 21 points, and Cardell Bailey was the second USI player in double figures with 17. Tolu Samuels grabbed 10 rebounds to lead USI.
Southern Indiana turned over the ball just three times for the game while Tech committed 13 turnovers. USI scored 15 points off the 13 turnovers, and TTU only managed two points off turnovers.
The lead changed five times, and the game was tied seven times.
Tech held the lead for 23:19, mostly in the first half, and USI maintained an advantage for 12:04.
NEXT UP
The Golden Eagles turnaround and face Morehead State on Saturday, Jan. 17. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT. Watch the action live on ESPN+ and listen on 106.1 The Eagle.
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