NEW ALBANY, Ind. – The IU Southeast men's basketball team opened conference play with a 77-64 victory over IU Kokomo on Saturday.
 
IU Kokomo jumped out to an early 9-5 lead, but IU Southeast answered with a 10-0 run to take a 15-9 edge. IU Southeast extended their lead to seven at 19-12.
 
IU Kokomo fought back to make it a one-point game at 19-18. With a 24-22 lead, IU Southeast used a 7-2 run to jump ahead 31-24. IU Southeast closed the half on a 6-0 run to lead 37-27 at the half.
 
IU Kokomo cut the lead to five at 39-34 two minutes into the second half. With a 43-38 lead, IU Southeast used an 8-0 run to take a 51-38 advantage. IU Kokomo cut the lead to nine at 55-46, but IU Southeast was able to increase their lead back to 13 at 62-49.
 
A 9-2 IU Kokomo run put the Cougars right back in the game at 64-58, but IU Southeast answered with a Caleb Brown three to give the Grenadiers a 67-58 edge. IU Kokomo made it 67-60, but an 8-1 IU Southeast run put the Grenadiers ahead 75-61.
 
IU Southeast would go on to win 77-64.
 
"Great team win," IU Southeast head coach Wiley Brown said. "IUK is a great team. The key to this victory was team defense. We pressed them full court and got some turnovers. We pressured defense in half court, and changing up our defense made them uncomfortable."
 
IU Southeast forced IU Kokomo to turn the ball over 19 times in the game. The Grenadiers had 14 steals by seven different players, five of which had two or more steals.
 
Camden Pfeister led IU Southeast with 21 points and four assists. Pfeister went 7-10 from the floor and 7-7 from the free throw line. Lane Lauderbaugh had 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Eli Meyer had 12 points and tied for the team lead with three steals. Trent Hinkle had 11 points, six rebounds, and three steals.
 
IU Southeast returns to action on Tuesday for a non-conference road trip against Campbellsville-Harrodsburg.