Austin Peay Governors Basketball set to take on heated rival Murray State Racers at the Dunn Center Saturday

January 11, 2013 |

Murray State vs. Austin Peay Governors

Saturday, January 12th 2013 | 7:30pm (CT)
Dave Aaron Arena/Dave Loos Court | Clarksville, TN

Clarksville, TN – It’s that time again. It’s rivalry week, at least as far as the Ohio Valley Conference is concerned.

Up north, it will be Morehead State against Eastern Kentucky.

Down further south will be the OVC’s best rivalry as called by ESPN The Magazine-Murray State at Austin Peay.

APSU Men’s Basketball. (Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)

Murray State comes in with an impressive 11-4 record, but is coming off a stunning 77-65 home loss to Eastern Kentucky, Wednesday night.

The Governors, meanwhile, needed overtime to down Morehead State, 84-81, also Wednesday night.

Fastbreak

This is Dave Loos’ 23rd season as Austin Peay head coach and he is 369-321 at APSU-the winningest basketball coach in Ohio Valley Conference history-while 450-374 all-time in his 27th season as a college head coach

Austin Peay was picked to finish third behind Murray State and Southeast Missouri in the newly formed OVC West Division in the preseason poll.

After playing five straight games away from Dave Aaron Arena, the Govs now are amidst a four-game homestand, with this being Game No. 2.

APSU enters the looking to build momentum after defeating Morehead State, 84-81, Wednesday night in overtime to snap an eight-game losing streak.

When Travis Betran delivered the game-winning shot a split second prior to the horn sounding, Wednesday night, it was APSU’s first buzzer beater since Josh Terry beat Morehead State, December 12th, 2010.

Over the last two games, guard Travis Betran and forward Anthony Campbell have combined to make 27 out of 27 free throws. Betran has gone 17-of-17 at the charity stripe, including 7-of-7 against Morehead State, while Campbell has been 10-of-10, including two in Wednesday’s overtime.

Two days after being named OVC Newcomer of the Week for a fourth time, junior guard Travis Betran hit a game-winning buzzer beater three pointer against Morehead State. He finished with 20 points, the seventh time he has scored 20 points this season-the fourth time in the last five games. He’s now hit three or more three-pointers in 12 games this season.

In addition, he grabbed 11 rebounds for his season’s first and career third double-double. He followed that up with 15 points against UT Martin, going 4-of-7 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. Over the last four games, Triggs is averaging 19.5 ppg while shooting 72.7 percent (32 of 44) from the floor.

Murray State enters Saturday’s contest coming off a stunning 77-65 home defeat to surprising Eastern Kentucky, The Racers trailed by as much as 20 first-half points and were down by 14 at halftime.

Steve Prohm is the Racers’ second-year head coach, owning a 42-6 record.

Racers’ All-America guard Isaiah Canaan recently set the MSU all-time record for made three-point baskets. He comes in with 258 for his career. He leads the Racers in scoring at 21.6 ppg, including 48 three pointers this season.

Forward Ed Daniel is averaging a double-double at 14.7 ppg and 10.7 rpg. He has eight double-doubles this season. He had 10 offensive rebounds in the Racers’ win at SEMO last Saturday.

Senior guard Stacy Wilson is averaging 14.3 ppg as the Racers’ other double-figure scorer.

Murray State is 5-1 in true road games this season.

The Series

This is the 117th meeting between the two OVC rivals, Austin Peay and Murray State, with the Governors trailing, 75-41. The Racers swept the series from the Governors a year ago, with the Govs losing at home 87-75, January 2nd, before dropping an 82-63 verdict in Murray on February 11th. The Racers own a three-game winning streak in the series.

Game Winner

When Travis Betran delivered the game-winning shot a split second prior to the horn sounding,  Wednesday night, it was APSU’s first buzzer beater since Josh Terry beat Morehead State, December 12th, 2010.

Freebies

Over the last two games, guard Travis Betran and forward Anthony Campbell have combined to make 27 out of 27 free throws. Betran has gone 17-of-17 at the charity stripe, including 7-of-7 against Morehead State, while Campbell has been 10-of-10, including two in Wednesday’s overtime.

Be-Train

Two days after being named OVC Newcomer of the Week for a fourth time, junior guard Travis Betran hit a game-winning buzzerbeater three pointer against Morehead State.

He finished with 20 points, the seventh time he has scored 20 points this season–the fourth time in the last five games. He’s now hit three or more three-pointers in 12 games this season.

Triggs-On-Omics

On the heels of enjoying his best OVC weekend of his career, junior for ward Will Triggs continued his recent outstanding play against Morehead State. He finished with 20 points, going 7-of-9 from the floor. After delivering just one 20-point performance in the first 2 1/2 years of his career, Triggs now has two in his last three games.

He scored a career-best 29 points on 14-of-17 shooting against Southeast Missouri, January 3rd. In addition, he grabbed 11 rebounds for his seasons’s first and career third double double.

He followed that up with 15 points against UT Martin, going 4-of-7 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. Over the last four games, Triggs is averaging 19.5 ppg while shooting 72.7 percent (32 of 44) from the floor.

Magic Number

In defeating Morehead State in 84-81, the Governors won for the first time in six games when allowing 80 or more points. The Govs, in fact, are now just 2-10 when permitting 70 or more points this season.

Balance Missing

In the last five games, the Governors have had 17 double figure scoring performances, with 15 of the 17 coming from the trio of Travis Betran, Will Triggs and Anthony Campbell. Freshman Chris Horton scored 10 points against High Point in the consolation game of the Dr. Pepper Classic. And Thomas Greer recorded his first career double-figure scoring game against Morehead State with 11 points.

Perimeter Prowess

The Govs have shot 50 percent (28-of-56), including 11 of 21 against Morehead State, from the three-point line
in the last three games.

Bench Igniter

After watching the Govs bench be outscored 40-4 by UT Martin, redshirt freshman guard Thomas Greer recorded his career’s best performance by scoring 11 points, on four-of-four shooting, against Morehead State.

Greer, in fact, knocked down a trio of three pointers. It was only the fifth double-figure scoring performance by a Govs reserve this season and the first since Chris Freeman had 15 against Lipscomb.

Purvect Time

In the first 40 minutes of Wednesday’s game against Morehead State, walk-on point guard Jeremy Purvis scored just two points.

But in overtime, the junior had five key points. He scored the overtime’s first two points on free throws and then after Morehead State had tied the game with a three, he responded with one of his own with 2:17 remaining in the extra session.

Playing 36 minutes, he also committed just one turnover while dishing out four assists and collecting two steals.

Board Work Needed

In the last two games, opponents have grabbed a total of 42 offensive rebounds. In fact, Morehead had 12 in the second half Wednesday.

Media Center

Radio: Governors Radio Network
Play-by-Play: Greg Walker
Analyst: David Loos
Statistics: Patrick Miller

WVRY 105.1-FM
www.letsgopeay.com

Television: Peay Nation Broadcasting
Play-by-Play: Shane Lattimore
Analyst: Brandon Wilkerson

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