BOX SCORE & PBP (HTML) | BOX SCORE & PBP (PDF) | REPLAY OF RADIO BROADCAST
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year Kevin Murphy scored a game-high 24 points, including six three-pointers, and host Tennessee Tech held off a Morehead State second-half comeback attempt in a 66-55 win on Saturday night at the Eblen Center.
MSU falls to 8-9 and 2-2 in the OVC, while TTU moves up to 11-6 and 3-1 in league contests. The Golden Eagles broke a nine-game losing skid to MSU as well.
Junior Marsell Holden led MSU with 15 points on the strength of five three-pointers. Senior Ty Proffitt collected a team and career-high nine rebounds and scored nine points in 36 minutes.
TTU took advantage of 20 Morehead State mistakes, outscoring the Eagles 17-7 in points via turnovers. The Golden Eagles also outscored MSU 21-5 at the free throw line, but MSU did win a close rebound battle, 30-29. The Eagles have now only been out-rebounded once in the past 10 games.
Murphy, a senior, added a team-high six assists for Tech, while junior Jud Dillard totaled 14 points and nine rebounds and senior Zac Swansey had 10 points.
The visitors fell behind 29-16 following a Murphy jumper at the 3:45 mark of the first half, but the Eagles doubled up Tech in the final three minutes. A pair of three-pointers by Holden and freshman Deandre Mathieu pulled MSU to within 33-24 at the break.
The Golden Eagles increased their advantage to 10 early in the second half before MSU began to chip away at the deficit. The Eagles trimmed the hosts margin to 50-46 with 8:24 remaining, but that was as close as MSU got.
Morehead State shot 43 percent (21-of-49) for the night, including 8-of-22 from three-point range. TTU hit 45 percent in the opening half before the Eagles limited them to just a 37 percent efficiency in the final half.
The Eagles continue their three-game OVC road trip on Wednesday at Tennessee State. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. ET.
