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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Junior Dwan Caldwell registered a career-high 29 points, and the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team knocked down 59 percent from the field en route to a 91-84 victory over Morehead State on Saturday evening at Johnson Arena.
Caldwell, who entered the game averaging 10.1 points, recorded his 18th double-figure scoring performance this season by connecting on 7-of-9 from the floor and 15-of-15 from the free-throw line. He also collected a game-high nine rebounds.
Tennessee Tech drilled 29-of-49 from the field, including 25-of-37 from inside the three-point line, and 74 percent (29-of-39) from the foul line. The Golden Eagles also recorded 17 assists, eight blocked shots and limited themselves to 12 turnovers.
Tennessee Tech, which has won six of its last eight games, improves to 16-15 overall, 9-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 6-9 on the road. Morehead State, which has still won 11 of its last 17, slips to 19-12 overall, 10-6 in the league and 9-5 at home.
"We just didn't bring it tonight," Head Coach Sean Woods said. "Our effort on both ends of the floor was disappointing, especially on Senior Night. We didn't rebound like we should have, we didn't play good defense and we didn't make key free throws."
MSU continues to hold a 77-64 all-time advantage against TTU. The schools end up splitting the 2013-14 regular-season series, each winning on the road, and could face each other in the second round of the OVC Tournament next week in Nashville.
Tennessee Tech enjoyed its largest advantage of 13 points on the first possession of the second half. Morehead State cut the deficit to two on multiple occasions down the stretch, but got no closer as the Golden Eagles held on for the seven-point decision.
"Give Tennessee Tech credit for the way they played tonight," Woods said. "They had a good game plan coming into this one and followed it. I've always said it's tough to win college basketball games on the road, and that's exactly what were able to do."
Morehead State managed a 33-31 rebounding advantage, including 13-6 on the offensive glass. The Eagles, who continue to pace the OVC in total rebounds, offensive boards and rebounding margin, have only been outrebounded one time this season.
Sophomore Brent Arrington tossed in a team-high 21 points for the Eagles, while junior Angelo Warner contributed 17, senior Drew Kelly added 15 and junior Kareem Storey collected 13. Arrington drilled 6-of-9 from the field and 7-of-10 from the charity stripe.
Warner also posted eight rebounds and four steals. Kelly managed six rebounds and eclipsed 1,000 career points as an Eagle, while Storey dished out a team-best five assists.
Caldwell paced four Golden Eagles with 10+ points. Senior Dennis Ogbe contributed 18 points, while classmate Jeremiah Samarrippas handed out a game-high nine assists.
Kelly, Chad Posthumus and student manager Josh Davis were honored prior to their final home games at MSU. Kelly and Posthumus have combined for 633 points and 489 boards in 2013-14.
Fourth-seeded Morehead State opens this year's conference tournament in the second round on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT). The Eagles will face the winner of No. 5 Tennessee Tech and No. 8 SIU Edwardsville. All contests will be played at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.
"We've lost some of our momentum, but the plan is to get it back this coming week in Nashville," Woods added. "It's more about us at this point and less about our opponents. We need to be more efficient on both ends of the floor and get back to what has made us successful."
