CLARKSVILLE, Tenn — (ESPN Clarksville) One goal in the books. Hopefully, the first of many to be achieved in 2019. Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team picked up win No. 20 in an 83-70 dispatching of Southeast Missouri in their penultimate home contest to the 2018-19 season thanks to stifling second-half defense and four Govs in double figures.
It wasn’t the fastest start the Govs have ever enjoyed. Call it an emotional hangover after Terry Taylor’s career day at Morehead State or the effort expended in holding off the Eagles on Saturday; whatever the case, the Govs weren’t as sharp as the faithful would’ve liked them to be in the early going.
Compounding that trouble was a Southeast Missouri (9-19, 4-11 OVC) squad that came out on fire in the first half. The Redhawks hit 10 of their first 13 shots, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and established tenuous control in the early going. Against this onslaught, the Govs were helped by forcing nine turnovers over the first 12 minutes of play; despite the decided disadvantage in shooting efficiency, Austin Peay (20-8, 12-3) was able to stay close thanks to volume—the Govs took 10 more shots than the Redhawks over that opening 12 minutes.
Austin Peay tied the game up by doing what it does as good as anyone in the league—getting into the paint and letting its playmakers work. Steve Harris sliced the lane with 8:35 to go to cut it to two, then Taylor passed out of a double-team to a wide-open McGhee, who converted the dunk to tie it up. Not to be left out, Taylor nailed one of his patent-pending rainbow threes to give Austin Peay its first lead in over seven minutes with 6:12 remaining in the half.
The teams spent a few minutes trading buckets and stops until a Zach Glotta three with 2:48 to play kick-started a half-ending 11-3 run for the Govs, punctuated by Antwuan Butler’s scooping lay-up with two seconds to play in the half to send Austin Peay into the locker room with a 41-36 lead.
There were 12 combined fouls assessed the entire first half; there were half that many by the first media timeout of the second half as the referees got the game back under control after a chippy end to the opening period. The result was a disjointed opening few minutes to the second half that saw Austin Peay hit just two of its first 13 shots in the half but Southeast Missouri unable to capitalize on the Governors lack of success.
As has so often been the case, it was McGhee—the gregarious enigma who has provided life off the bench—who provided the spark that helped the Govs begin pulling away. With just over 10 minutes remaining, McGhee hauled in a missed Chris Porter-Bunton free-throw and muscled it up and in while drawing the foul. The and-one was good to give the Govs a 59-51 lead; McGhee would eventually finish with 18 points and 19 rebounds, his fourth career double-double and the most rebounds by a Gov in a single game since 2016.
McGhee’s three-point play was the pinnacle of a 12-2 Austin Peay run that ended with the Governors leading by double-digits. After the struggle to get back on top in the first half and the struggle to pull away in the second, the final five minutes or so were pretty formulaic—the Govs would score, and then they’d stop Southeast Missouri from scoring. Some late Redhawk free-throws brought the visitors’ deficit below 20 but by then it was too late to throw a scare into the Govs.
Saturday, February 23 is Senior Day and the final regular season home contest. UT Martin will be in the building. Plan to be in attendance, wear red and scream really loudly. Tip-off follows the conclusion of the women’s game, which will tip at 1:30 p.m.