RICHMOND, Ky. – On the night the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference championship banner was unveiled, the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team took advantage of 33 turnovers by Savannah State University in a 76-53 victory at McBrayer Arena.
Eastern, which ranked second in the nation in turnover margin last season (+6.3) committed 19 fewer turnovers than the Tigers (0-1) and out-scored the visitors 27-9 off turnovers.
Senior guard Corey Walden had eight of EKU’s 17 steals. He also added 20 points and five assists. Newcomer Ja’Mill Powell had 14 points while fellow newcomer Denzel Richardson posted a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
EKU led by only two, 25-23, before going on an 11-0 run with 4:10 left in the first half. Five different players scored during the spurt. Isaac McGlone’s three-pointer from the right wing got it started. Richardson capped it with a lay-up for a 36-25 Eastern lead with 1:52 to go before the break. The Tigers went 2:18 without scoring.
The Colonels scored just two points in the first seven minutes of the second stanza. Savannah State got as close as three before Walden’s defense fueled a 17-3 Eastern run. He got it started with a steal and then went the distance to convert the lay-up while getting knocked to the floor. He added a free throw to complete the old-fashioned three-point play.
A second Walden steal led to a basket by Deverin Muff. The Colonels had three offensive rebounds during the surge. A steal by McGlone led to another lay-up by Walden. Richardson’s three-pointer and a jumper by Powell finished off the run and put EKU in front 55-38 with 8:39 left in the game.
Savannah State never got closer than 15 the rest of the game. EKU scored the final six points. The final margin of 23 points was the home team’s largest advantage of the night.
Saadiq Muhammad led the Tigers with 13 points and nine rebounds. Brian Pearson scored 10 points off the bench. Savannah State made just 9-of-20 attempts at the free throw line (45 percent).
Eric Stutz contributed 13 points, six rebounds, three steals and a block in the winning effort.
The Colonels struggled from the field, making just 39.7 percent of their shots (25-of-63). Eastern hit on only 5-of-26 attempts from three-point range (19.2 percent).
Eastern Kentucky will be back in action on Tuesday at home against Kentucky Christian. Tip-off at McBrayer Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m.
NOTES
Eastern Kentucky entered the game with the 15th longest home court non-conference winning streak in the nation. That streak is now at 23 straight games.
Junior newcomer Denzel Richardson finished with EKU’s first double-double since Eric Stutz posted 11 points and 11 rebounds at Belmont on Jan. 25, 2014.
EKU has now won three straight season-openers and 17 straight home-openers.
Corey Walden is 56 points away from becoming the 33rd player to score 1,000 points as a Colonel. He now needs 77 more steals to break the EKU career record of 221.
Eric Stutz is 148 points and 28 rebounds away from becoming the 13th player in Eastern Kentucky to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds.
EKU now leads the all-time series with Savannah State, 4-1.
