Morant, Cowart lead Murray St. past Tennessee State, 100-62
MURRAY, Ky. (AP) — Ja Morant had 24 points and nine assists, Darnell Cowart added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Murray State never trailed in its 100-62 win over Tennessee State on Saturday night.
Morant, who rolled his ankle in Thursday's loss to Belmont, made just 6 of 15 from the field but hit 11-of-14 free throws and had four steals in 28 minutes. Shaq Buchanan finished with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting for Murray State (16-3, 7-1 Ohio Valley Conference).
Buchanan scored seven points in a 9-2 opening run and the Racers had runs of 12-0, 11-0 and 10-0, the last of which pushed their lead to 40 points before going into the break at 60-22.
Tennessee State (5-15, 2-4) missed its first eight shots and made just 7 of 29 (24 percent) in the first half. Donte Fitzpatrick-Dorsey led the Tigers with 14 points and Stokley Chaffee scored 13 with nine rebounds.