K.J. Riley posted the first double-double of his career but a basket with 0.6 remaining by Ja Morant gave Murray State a 66-64 victory over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Tuesday evening inside the CFSB Center.

“Our guys played well tonight, we played well enough to win the game.  Give credit to Murray State; they made big plays down the stretch,” Aces head coach Walter McCarty said.  “We grew up; our guys played their tails off.  We wanted to control the pace.  I told our guys to enjoy the moment.”

“It is fun watching these guys grow up.  We are starting to become consistent; if we play this way every night, we will be a tough team to beat.”

Riley had 13 points and 11 rebounds on his way to the double-double.  John Hall recorded 12 pionts while Marty Hill finished with 10.  Dainius Chatkevicius scored nine points, all in the second half, while Noah Frederking had a nice game with eight.  Murray State saw Ja Morant finish with 27 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds on 10-of-25 shooting.  Shaq Buchanan notched ten points.

John Hall helped the Aces tie it up at 2-2 to put UE on the board.  Trailing 9-4, K.J. Riley was fouled on a 3-point attempt and drained all three free throws to cut the deficit to just a pair.  Murray State used a Tevin Brown trey to cap off a 5-0 run that gave them a 14-7 lead, matching what would be their largest advantage of the half.

Hall struck again with a 3-pointer to end the run before a steal and runout by Marty Hill resulted in an and-one that cut the gap to one – 14-13.  With just under nine minutes left in the half, the Aces took their first lead of the night on a Riley layup that made it a 17-16 game in favor of UE.  After a Racer bucket, Jawaun Newton drained a triple that put Evansville up 20-18.

Murray State was able to rally back to retake the lead before pulling back out to a 7-point lead in the final 3:45 of the first stanza.  With the score tied at 25-25, MSU finished the half on a 10-3 stretch to take a 35-28 lead into the half.  Riley led all players with 12 points in the first 20 minutes.

Shea Feehan got his second basket of the day to open the second half, but another three by Brown pushed the lead to a game-high eight points for MSU – 38-30.  With the Racers up 40-32, Marty Hill found his shot, scoring seven in a row for the Aces to get them back within one. The Aces hit 6 out of 7 shots over that span, but Murray State was able to retake the lead at 51-45.

With under seven minutes left, Noah Frederking helped UE go on a 13-0 as he scored seven in a row.  Newton and Dainius Chatkevicius helped to cap it off as UE took a 58-51 lead with under five minutes remaining.  Murray State never gave up and battled back.  Ja Morant continued his stellar game, pushing the Racers back into a 61-61 tie with a minute on the clock.

MSU was able to retake the lead at 64-62 with under 30 ticks left.  With 18 seconds remaining, John Hall hit the two biggest free throws of the night to tie it up, but a last-second bucket by Morant gave Murray State the 66-64 win.

UE finished with a 38-34 rebounding edge and shot 43.4% for the game.  The defense held MSU to 39% shooting.

On Saturday, the Aces play host to Green Bay in a 4 p.m. game at the Ford Center.

Despite a valiant comeback attempt, University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball could not overcome early foul troubles and a sluggish third-quarter as it fell to defending national champion and No. 15 University of Central Missouri, 74-71, Tuesday evening.

After trailing by 15 points heading into the fourth quarter, the Screaming Eagles found themselves with an opportunity to tie the contest in the late stages of the game after a three-pointer by junior guard Ashley Johnson(Louisville, Kentucky) was immediately followed by a Central Missouri foul that sent freshman forward Ashlynn Brown (Perrysburg, Ohio) to the free throw line with the Eagles trailing by two points.

Brown hit the first free throw to pull the Eagles to within a single point at 72-71, but missed the second as Central Missouri corralled the rebound with 35 seconds to play.

USI (8-2), which saw an eight-game win streak come to a halt, forced the Jennies into a missed shot on the defensive end, but an offensive rebound followed by a foul allowed junior forward Kim Crown to sink a pair of free throws to give Central Missouri a three-point edge with 7.6 seconds left in the game.

Senior guard Alex Davidson (Salem, Indiana) had her attempt at the game-tying three-pointer swatted away by Central Missouri senior guard Paige Redmond as the Jennies were able to hold off the Eagles for the three-point win.

The Eagles, who led by five points early in the contest, rallied from an 11-point first-quarter deficit to take a brief 26-25 advantage early in the second period. Early foul trouble, however, plagued the Eagles throughout the contest as Central Missouri was able to forge a 36-32 halftime advantage.

USI, which had three starters with three fouls heading into the intermission, got an early three-pointer from sophomore guard Emma DeHart (Indianapolis, Indiana) in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 36-35.

The Jennies (8-2), however, used an 11-2 run from that juncture to build a 47-37 advantage; before closing the third quarter with an 8-2 run to take a commanding 58-43 lead into the final 10 minutes of the game.

Led by Brown and Johnson, the Eagles outscored the Jennies 28-16 in the fourth quarter to make a game of it. Brown scored all of her nine points in the period, while Johnson scored seven of her nine points in the final 10 minutes

Davidson led all scorers with 19 points, including 16 in the first half, while senior center Kacy Eschweiler(St. Charles, Missouri) had eight points despite sitting most of the first half with foul trouble.

Redmond had 18 points and five assists to pace the Jennies, who held a decisive edge in free throw shooting (18-of-29 compared to USI’s 7-of-13).

USI returns to action December 30 when it hosts No. 8 and 2017 national champion Ashland. The Ashland Eagles (9-1), who were the national runner up a year ago, visit the University of Indianapolis Wednesday before coming to Evansville and the Physical Activities Center December 30.