Marcus Roper scored 15 points, Wayne Martin and Christian Griggs-Williams added 10 apiece, and Tennessee State forced Jacksonville State to its worst offensive performance of the season in a 61-46 win on Saturday night.
Tennessee State (19-8, 10-4) moved into a tie with Tennessee Tech for second place in the East Division of the Ohio Valley Conference, 1.5 games behind first-place Belmont.
Jacksonville State (8-21, 4-10) set season lows for points, field goals made (15) and shooting efficiency (25 percent). The Gamecocks trailed by six at the break and failed to score from the field until the 15:00 mark, when a dunk from Jared Hamilton cut the Tigers' lead to eight.
Roper followed with a 3-pointer to push Tennessee State's lead back to double digits.
Hamilton led the Gamecocks with 21 points and nine rebounds.
Tennessee State won the battle inside, outrebounding Jacksonville State 49-37 and outscoring the Gamecocks in the paint 28-12.
