EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball lost a hard-fought nail-biter in the 2022-23 home finale to Tennessee Tech University, 82-79, Thursday evening at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Screaming Eagles go to 15-15 overall and 8-9 in the OVC, while the Golden Eagles are 18-12, 10-7 OVC.
With the loss, USI remains in a sixth-place tie with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, which lost to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 79-74. The Eagles, who clinched a spot in the OVC Tournament Thursday, will likely be the sixth or seventh seed in next week’s league playoff depending upon the outcome of Saturday’s season finale at Tennessee State University.
After USI senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) scored the opening bucket, TTU surged to a 10-point, 16-6, lead by the first media timeout. The Golden Eagles would extend their margin to as many as 12 points twice (22-10 and 25-13) before seven minutes were gone.
Both teams were on a torrid pace from the field during the first seven minutes with TTU shooting 75 percent (9-12) and USI netting 60 percent (6-10).
USI battled back with an 11-0 dash to pull to with one, 25-24, and forced a TTU time out with 10:38 left before the break. The Screaming Eagles were five-of-seven during the run and was led by sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana), who had four of the 11 points during the sprint.
The USI Eagles continued their surge over the next five minutes and regain the lead at 5:39 of the first half, 35-34, on a layup by junior guard Gary Solomon (Detroit, Michigan). The advantage would be short lived as the Golden Eagles outscored USI the way they started the half with a 17-6 wave and led, 51-41, at the intermission.
After both sets of Eagles trades buckets to start the second half, USI senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) detonated a 19-5 explosion with a thunderous dunk to put USI back in front with 63-59. The Screaming Eagles would go eight-of-15 from the field during the surge, led by the six points from sophomore guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois).
The Golden Eagles, however, were not done, outscoring USI in the final six minutes, 23-13, in nailing down their 82-79 win.
USI had five players in double-digits, led by the 26-point performance of Swope. The sophomore guard, who had 14 in the first half and 12 in the second, was nine-of-18 from the field, four-of-eight from beyond the arc, and four-of-five from the stripe.
Polakovich and Hernandez followed with 12 points each. Polakovich marked his 13th double-double of the season with 14 rebounds, while Hernandez finished the contest two points short of a season high.
Graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) and Solomon rounded out the five double-figures with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.
Next Up For USI:
The USI Eagles finish the 2022-23 regular season campaign Saturday when they return to the road to visit Tennessee State University for a 3:30 p.m. contest.
Tennessee State Tigers posted an 88-82 victory over the University of Tennessee at Martin and watched their record go to 14-16, 10-7 OVC. The Tigers were led by graduate forward Zion Griffin, who had 19 points.
The Eagles lead the all-time series with Tennessee State, 3-2, after losing the first meeting of the season at Screaming Eagles Arena, 80-76. USI was led by Swope with 24 points.
Following Saturday’s matchup, the seeding for the upcoming OVC Tournament will be announced. The OVC Tournament runs May 1-4 at the Ford Center in Evansville.
The games will be streamed on ESPN+ (with cable subscription) in addition to being heard on ESPN 97.7FM.
