Mississippi State def Mississippi Valley State 89-68
Mississippi State out-scored Mississippi Valley State 50-28 in the paint and shot 59.6 percent from the field to defeat the Delta Devils 89-68 Monday night in Starkville, Miss.
The Bulldogs held a major advantage in the paint and notched 39 points from Roquez Johnson and Gavin Ware .
Fred Thomas scored 17 for Mississippi State (2-0). Trivante Bloodman and Travis Daniels also finished in double digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Delta Devils (1-2) were led by Jordan Washington with 18 points. Tyler Corley scored 17.
Johnson’s 20 points tied a career-high and the senior forward was 9 of 11 from the field and grabbed six rebounds. Ware was 9-of-10 from the field and also had eight rebounds.
Mississippi State shot 69 percent in the first half to build a commanding 58-34 halftime lead. The Bulldogs were 15 of 21 at the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes, and outrebounded Mississippi Valley State 47-25.
The Delta Devils actually outscored the Bulldogs 34-31 in the second half and forced 26 turnovers on the night. MVSU also shot 34.3 percent in the first half and committed eight turnovers in the half.
The Delta Devils are now 0-5 all-time against Mississippi State. Andre Payne is in his first season with the Delta Devils after an eight-year coaching stint at Wiley College in the NAIA ranks.
Indiana def Texas Southern 83-64
Mike Davis made his first return to Assembly Hall Monday night only to fall at Indiana 83-64.
TSU only led twice, 4-3 and 8-6, but IU started pulling away midway through the first half. After the Tigers closed to 20-18, Indiana used a 21-4 run to open up a 41-22 lead. Texas Southern closed the deficit to 44-29 at halftime and 54-44 with 14:32 left in the game.
Indiana (2-0) followed Friday night’s 66 percent shooting spree by knocking down 57.1 percent from the field and 10 of 15 from three point range against the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament champs.
Tonnie Collier led the Tigers (0-2) with 16 points and Deverell Biggs had 14, not quite enough against the Hoosiers’ new shooting stars.
But Blackmon answered with back-to-back three pointers and the Tigers couldn’t get closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Texas Southern: Davis, the last coach to lead the Hoosiers to a Final Four, received a rousing ovation from the crowd during introductions.
Southern def LSU-Alexandria 76-65
Adrian Rodgers scored 23 points and Trelun Banks added 16 to lead Southern past NAIA LSU-Alexandria 76-65 on Monday night.
Rodgers made 8 of 16 field goals and 7 of 8 free throws and Banks made 14 of 17 free throws.
A jumper by LSU-Alexandria’s Andre Gonzaque with 8:02 left in the first half made it 17-16, but Southern (1-1) responded with a 12-0 run, including six points by Rodgers, pushing its lead to 13.
LSU-Alexandria closed the first half with a 5-0 run to make it 32-25, but would get no closer.
Southern scored 34 points in the paint and attempted just three 3-pointers. The Jaguars made 34 of 41 free throws.
The game served as an exhibition for LSU-Alexandria, which was led by Darius Johnson’s 20 points. DeAngelo Coleman scored 12 and Darryl Millburn added 11.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff def CSU Bakersfield 56-49
Arkansas Pine Bluff topped CSU Bakersfield 56-49 Monday Night in its third and game from Hawaii in the 50 Anniversary of the Outrigger Resort Classic.
Jovaughn Love led all scores with 17 points for the Golden Lions. Marcel Mosley added 15 points with Tevin Hammond adding 10.
UAPB shot 9-of-16 from three point range and shot 39 percent from the field overall.
Courtesy: SWAC.org
