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INDIANAPOLIS – No. 7 UIndy men's basketball had 12 steals and forced 17 turnovers that led to 24 fast break points and 32 points off turnovers to defeat Missouri S&T, 93-77, at Nicoson Hall on Saturday afternoon to remain undefeated and match the program's best start since 2003-04 (12-0).
The Greyhounds (12-0, 4-0 GLVC) shot 54 percent (33-61) from the field, including 10 three-pointers, and converted 17-of-21 at the free throw line (.810). The Miners (4-8, 0-5 GLVC) made 19-of-22 free throws (.864) and shot 48 percent (26-54) from the field, but couldn't overcome the turnovers.
Reece Cheatham led all players with 25 points, in addition to tying his career high with six assists and team-high four rebounds.
James Hollowell added 18 points, while
Leland Brown had 16 points, season-high five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Tyrae Robinson gave UIndy four in double figures with 13 points and UIndy career highs of five assists and four steals.
The Miners also had four players with 10+, led by Zach Ellis with 20 points and Nusrath Khan scored 15.
The lead went back-and-forth four times in the first five minutes as S&T led by two, 11-9, after a pair of free throws by Ellis. After the teams traded empty possessions,
Brennan McElroy created five consecutive points for UIndy by feeding Hollowell for a three-pointer and then stole the ball from Ellis and went the distance, 14-11, with 14:14 to play and force the Miners to burn a timeout.
That didn't slow down the Greyhounds as the run extended to 16 points in a row to put them up by 14, 25-11, with 11:53 remaining after a seven-point play by the Greyhounds. Brown stole the ball from Mudi Eruteya and went the distance for the lay-up, in which he was intentionally fouled by Eruteya. That resulted in two free throws that he converted and possession for UIndy, which converted on a three-pointer by
Avery Harmon.
The lead increased to 20, 38-18, after a jumper by
Quinten Hunter and remained 19 at halftime, 49-30, after Cheatham knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner with seven seconds left while Missouri S&T was trying to switch from man to zone mid-possession.
The Greyhounds opened the first six minutes of the second half on a 19-10 run to increase its lead to 28, 68-40, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk from Cheatham to McElroy and the outcome was never in doubt the rest of the way.
The competition stiffens for UIndy next week with a road trip to No. 6 Kentucky Wesleyan (12-0, 4-0 GLVC) on Thursday and No. 10 Southern Indiana (10-2, 3-1 GLVC) on Saturday.
