Tennessee State Knocks Off SIUE, 81-65

The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for the Cougars, who dropped to 9-18 overall and 3-11 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Tigers improved to 11-16 overall and 6-9 in the league.

Tennessee State never trailed in the game and SIUE tied the score only once, at 14-14, after a three-pointer from Shaun Doss, Jr. with 11:09 to play before halftime. The Tigers stretched the lead to 13 at the break thanks in part to nine offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points in the first 20 minutes.

"Unfortunately, we hit a little bit of a wall where they continued to get the second chance points going into halftime," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said.

The Cougars did a better job on the boards in the second half, but it wasn't enough. SIUE never got closer than 12, and TSU pushed its lead to as many as 18 points.

"We got a few stops, but we didn't capitalize after those stops," Barone said. "(Tennessee State) got to a lot of 50-50 balls and even to some deflections that we had. They made plays that we didn't."

The Cougars turned the ball over 18 times for the game, and the Tigers turned those miscues into 18 points.

"We had 18 turnovers, only 11 assists and we were outrebounded," Barone said. "That's a game that's hard to win on the road."

Doss scored 15 points to lead three players in double figures for the Cougars, who shot 43 percent for the game and scored 30 points in the paint. SIUE knocked down 17-19 from the free throw line. Doss was 4-4.

"Doss did a good job," Barone said. "He put us on his back at one point."

DeeJuan Pruitt scored 13 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Shamar Wright added 12 points. Courtney Carter scored eight points. He was 4-4 at the free throw line.

Kassim Nicholson led the Tigers with a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for the 10th double-double of his season. Marcus Fitzgerald, Jr. scored 16 points. Dedric Boyd and Shakem Johnson each scored 12 points.

The Tigers hit on 49 percent (31-63) of their shots for the night.

SIUE remains in Nashville to face Belmont Saturday.

"I don't anticipate our guys being anything but prepared," Barone said.  "I am disappointed in our performance this evening, but I am not disappointed in this team. We're still putting ourselves in position to have some success. We'll lock in tomorrow and see how it goes."