MOREHEAD, Ky. - Senior Frank Davis was on fire from long range, connecting on 7-of-9 3-pointers, and freshman Jud Dillard made his first career start and recorded his first double-double, scoring a career high 25 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, but the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team fell at Morehead State Saturday night, 84-75 in OVC play.
Davis finished with 21 points, and sophomore Kevin Murphy reached double figures for the 17th consecutive game, chipping in with 16 points and five rebounds. Dillard hit 9-of-12 shots from the field, and five of his 12 board came on the offensive end. But second-place Morehead State was too much for Tech. Kenneth Faried led the Eagles with 26 points and 17 rebounds, helping lead MSU to a 39-29 advantage on the glass.
The Golden Eagles built a 23-18 lead in the first half, but the Eagles went on a 12-0 run to take a 30-23 lead. The Golden Eagles would chip away before the break, going into halftime down 32-34.
"I'm proud of our kids," TTU head coach Mike Sutton said. "We played hard. If we play that hard all the time we'll be in good shape."
The game saw a total of seven ties and eight lead changes. The Golden Eagles tied the game at 45 on a 3-pointer from Davis with 13:21 to play, but Morehead State went on a 7-1 run to take a lead they would not give back.
"We just needed to make a couple more plays in a hostile environment, and we didn't do it," Sutton said.
Tech, which leads the OVC in 3-point field goal percentage, hit 9-of-18 3's in the game, and shot 49.0 percent from the field, hitting 24-of-49 attempts. The Golden Eagles finished with 13 turnovers, which led to 19 MSU points. Morehead State shot 51.9 percent from the field, connecting on 27-of-52 attempts.
Steve Peterson scored 20 points for Morehead State, Demonte Harper had 17, Brandon Shingles finished with 13 and Maze Stallworth chipped in eight points and eight rebounds for the Eagles.
Elijah Muhammad finished with five points and a team-leading six assists for the Golden Eagles, and Alfred Jones finished with six points and five rebounds. Murphy, Jones and Bassey Inameti all fouled out for the Golden Eagles.
"The foul trouble changed our rotation, which really affected the game." Sutton said. "We've got to get a little bit more production out of our inside guys. They played well but we need a little more rebounding."
The Golden Eagles will wrap up their three-game road trip on Tuesday night at Austin Peay. Tech beat the Gov's in Cookeville earlier this season. The Golden Eagles will return home on Feb. 11 to take on Murray State, which will be Pack the House Night in Eblen Center. Tech will host UT Martin on Feb. 13.
For ticket information please contact the Golden Eagle athletics ticket office at (931) 372-3940 or visit TTUsports.com.
