NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Damarco Minor's eighth double-double of the year helped SIUE men's basketball erase a 19-point deficit, but in the end, The Cougars fell on the road at Tennessee State 76-71.
Minor scored a season-high 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the game, marking the first SIUE player to score 30 or more points and grab 10 or more rebounds since Mark Yelovich in 2010. It is Minor's second 30-point game in his career at SIUE. He scored a career-high 32 at the 2023 OVC Tournament.
The loss ended a three-game winning streak for SIUE, which slipped to 9-7 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 16-13 overall. TSU improved to 10-6 in the league and 17-12 overall.
After scoring the first two points of the game, the Cougars went cold from the field and Tennessee State reeled off the next 21 points for a 21-2 lead with 11:21 to play before halftime.
"We're never not going to have a fight," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "You have to come in here and overcome every obstacle, but you can't put yourself down 21-2 to start the game."
Ray'Sean Taylor ended the slide with a layup at 11:02. The Cougars' first three-point make of the day came from Shamar Wright and cut the lead to 30-23 with 2:45 left. TSU led 36-25 at halftime.
"We went in at halftime and knew we didn't give them our best shot, but we liked what we doing and how we were controlling things at the end of the half," Barone added.
SIUE started the second half with a 23-9, sparked by a personal 13-0 run by Minor to push the Cougars in front 45-43 with 12:38 left.
"We were going to take (Minor) out and that was that stretch," Barone said. "I looked at him to see if he was good and Ray'Sean was saying to leave him in there."
Following a Tigers' miss and a defensive rebound from Minor, Shamar Wright buried a three from the right side to give SIUE its largest lead at 48-43.
Tennessee State scored the next nine points and never trailed in the game again. Brian Taylor II hit a pair of free throws with 6:00 left to pull the Cougars within three, but they never made it any closer.
Minor finished the game 11-23 from the field and 4-9 from long range. He scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half.
"It wasn't just him shooting the ball and taking a bunch of shots," Barone said. "He was shooting the right shots. He had it going, and the guys believed, and they trusted him."
Ray'Sean Taylor scored 14 points and Shamar Wright added 11 points.
SIUE connected on 24-67 shots (36 percent) overall. The Cougars were 8-30 (27 percent) from three-point territory and 15-23 (66 percent) at the free throw line.
Tennessee State made 20-45 (44 percent) from the floor and 7-17 (41 percent) from three-point range. The Tigers were 29-39 (74 percent) from the free throw line.
SIUE forced TSU into 20 turnovers and scored 19 points off the Tigers' miscues. Tennessee State outrebounded SIUE 41-36.
Michael Shanks (16) and Marcus Fitzgerald, Jr. (15) led four TSU players in double figures.
SIUE will travel to Eastern Illinois for a Tuesday night game. The Cougars are at Western Illinois Saturday to finish the regular season.
"We have a group of guys who care and a group of guys that expect to do really good things," Barone said. "We came away with a split, which was not what we wanted this weekend. But we know darn well we're going to go in there on Tuesday and do what has been asked of us."
