A scuffle leads to the ejection (and possible future suspension) of six SIU Edwardsville players, two teams lose on baskets in the final six seconds, and I can all but promise you nobody noticed.

Why not? Because a Division III player named Jack Taylor scored 138 points on 52-108 shooting in  a 179-104 win, a new NCAA scoring record. The funny thing is that Taylor only broke the school record by 49 points; Griffin Lentsch scored 89 a year and a day ago.

But I found none the above more shocking than this: Myles Taylor played 12 minutes tonight in UT Martin’s win over Lyon College. You know what that means? It means I GOT SOMETHING RIGHT! In case you’re confused, I humbly suggested in the First Word that if I were coaching, Taylor would sit once the Skyhawks got a double-digit lead, and for the most part, he did. I’m fairly certain it’s marks the first time ever that a sentence I wrote starting with the words “If I were coaching” ever remotely happened.

In all seriousness, it was a rough night for much of the conference, as tonight’s losses but the OVC”s overall record against Division I competition back under the .500 mark. But without a doubt, tonight’s games won’t haunt any team more than SIU Edwardsville.

Three Point Shot

1. SEMO appears to have found some consistency at the guard position in senior Corey Wilford. He has his third straight game with at least 16 points, and is shooting 42% from 3-point range. I think he might be the answer the Redhawks have been looking for in the backcourt.
2. Tennessee Tech may live and die by Jud Dillard. Dennis Ogbe, Lanerryl Johnson, or Jeremiah Samarippas need to step up and be a secondary scorer if the Golden Eagles are to have any consistent success this season.
3. Mike Liabo, welcome back?

Evansville 62, Tennessee Tech 50

Jud Dillard struggles to score, the entire team struggles to rebound, as Tennessee Tech is sent to their first loss of the season. A 22-2 first half run proves too much for the Golden Eagles to overcome, as Evansville controlled the pace despite 14 turnovers.

Evansville shot 49% from the field, led by a season-high 15 points from Ned Cox, and limit the Golden Eagles to just 21 rebounds on the night. All nine Aces that played scored, in another balanced scoring effort.

Dennis Ogbe and Lanerryl Johnson led the Golden Eagles with 10 points, and Jud Dillard was stopped short of double digit scoring for the first time this season. Even odder, Dillard played just 25 minutes in the loss.

Troy 59, Southeast Missouri 56

Antoine Myers completed a three-point play with six seconds remaining to lift Troy University to a win over the Redhawks. The Redhawks had one final attempt, but Lucas Nutt‘s desperation three-pointer from the top of the key fell short, sending Southeast to its second-straight loss.

Tyler Stone earned his third straight double-double on the year, and Corey Wilford continues to score in bunches for the Redhawks. While Nutt only scored three points, he dished out 6 assists.

The statistic of the night, and maybe even the year: Troy turned over the ball just 5 times in the win. Remember what I said in the first word about forcing turnovers? Came true again tonight. SEMO had 13.