COOKEVILLE, Tenn -- A cascade of Miami turnovers and cold shooting to start the second half opened the door, and Tennessee Tech took advantage on the way to a 77-64 Golden Eagles victory Friday at the Hooper Eblen Center.
The win allowed Tennessee Tech (8-4) to remain undefeated (7-0) on its home court. Miami, meanwhile, fell on the road for the third time in as many trips.
After 20 minutes, it appeared the . . .
That 11-point bulge quickly disappeared after the break as Tennessee Tech mounted an 11-0 run fueled by Miami turnovers and aided by RedHawk misses.
“It’s hard to score when you come out turning the ball over,” MU head coach John Cooper said. “We had entirely too many turnovers, and it put us in a tough spot. … On the road, you can’t afford to turn the ball over and have those droughts.”
LJ Livingston, who led Miami with 16 points and eight rebounds, finally ended MU’s slide with a free throw at 15:36, but its first field goal of the stanza came at the 14:33 mark on a jumper by Geovonie McKnight.
Tennessee Tech, meanwhile, had turned up the scoring heat. The Golden Eagles shot 45.5 percent from the field and 27.3 percent outside the arc before intermission. They would hit 15 of 25 (60%) from the field and 5 of 10 treys (50%) in the second stanza. After scoring 25 in the first half, Tennessee Tech put 52 points on the board coming home.
The hosts tied things at 36-all before Miami regained the lead, and the RedHawks held a 47-40 advantage after Zach McCormick’s layup. However, Tech then went on an 18-5 run to lead 58-52.
Eric Washington’s trey at 4:34 pulled MU within a bucket at 60-58, but the Eagles outscored Miami 17-6 the rest of the way. Washington’s triple was the only RedHawk 3-pointer of the second half.
Joining Livingston in double figures for Miami were Washington (14), Mills (12) and McKnight (10).
Hakeem Rogers (19) and Martin (16) followed Rowe in double figures for Tennessee Tech.
The road test gets even tougher for Miami Tuesday when it meets Dayton at UD Arena – one of the tougher venues in which MU will play this season. Game time is 7 p.m. ET