Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Opening a stretch of four consecutive games against teams ranked among the top 11 in NCAA Division II,  Missouri S&T's men's basketball team pulled off one of the biggest stunners of the season with a 62-55 win over No. 2-ranked Southern Indiana Thursday night to take down one of the eight remaining undefeated teams in the D-II ranks.

A 76.2 percent performance from the floor in the second half made the difference, as the Miners overcame a deficit that had reached 18 points at one juncture to post their first win over a team ranked among the top five nationally since the 1992-93 season when S&T beat No. 2 Washburn.

Things didn't start out so well for S&T as the Miners were held scoreless for the first seven minutes of the contest, falling behind 12-0 before Nusrath Khan (Morton Grove, Ill./Maine East)'s layup got S&T on the scoreboard.   USI went into a scoring drought of its own during the first half, which allowed the Miners to hang in with the Eagles until the hosts made an 11-2 spurt to turn a 15-6 lead into a 26-8 advantage at the 5:24 mark.

However, the Miners had a strong finish to the first half, scoring 13 of the final 15 points of the period and getting a layup by Khan just before the first half ended to trim the lead to seven at 28-21.

S&T continued to cut into the Eagle lead in the opening moments of the second half, as Bryce Foster (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) drained a pair of perimeter jumpers to bring the Miners to within three a minute into play.  But after the second basket by Foster, USI quickly responded by pushing its lead back into double figures, moving back in front by 10 after Isaac McClure scored at the 17:13 mark.

S&T answered back, getting to within four on a jumper by Tommy Pelczynski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) with 12:21 to go to for USI to use a timeout.  Austin Davis got the lead back to seven with a three-pointer as the shot clock was winding down, but a put-back by Michael Jackson (Wichita, Kan./Wichita East) and a reverse layup by Foster made it 42-39 with 10:06 to play.  Moments later, Khan scored inside to cut the Eagles' lead to one at 42-41.

The Miners then grabbed their first lead of the night after Pelczynski made a steal and sent Khan down the floor for a layup, putting S&T up by a point with 8:16 remaining.

Khan scored again on a jumper in the lane with just over seven minutes left to put S&T up by three, then baskets by Curtis Okafor (Kansas City, Mo./Bishop Miege) and another jumper by Khan kept the lead at three after the Eagles twice cut the margin down to one.

But with 3:13 to go, McClure hit a 15-foot jumper that also fouled out Foster; the ensuing free throw was missed however, to keep the USI lead at one.  S&T got the lead right back when Khan hit a driving layup with 2:48 to go, then after getting a defensive stop, Pelczynski drilled a three-pointer at the 1:50 mark to give the Miners a 56-52 lead.

The Miners would wrap up the win at the free throw line, making six-of-eight over the final 42 seconds as the Eagles – who shot just 39.2 percent for the night as the Miners controlled the pace of play throughout the evening – scored just three points after the McClure basket with 3:13 left.

S&T, who finished the night shooting 52.1 percent from the field, scored on 21 of its 27 possessions in the second half and each of the last six.

Khan led four Miners in double figures with 15 points, while Pelczynski ended up with 13, Jackson with 11 and Foster with 10.  The Miners were outrebounded by 10 (36-26), but turned the ball over just 10 times on the night.

USI (10-1, 2-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) was led by McClure with 17 points and Taylor Wischmeyer with 16.  The Screaming Eagles' leading scorer, Brandon Hogg, was held scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting in the contest.

The Miners' stretch of games against nationally ranked teams continues Saturday when S&T (2-10, 1-3 GLVC) plays No. 4-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan in a 3:15 game in Owensboro, Ky.  The Panthers improved to 11-0 with a 20-point win over Drury Thursday night.