Eastern Illinois vs. Austin Peay Governors

Saturdya, January 19th, 2013 | 7:30pm (CT)
Clarksville, TN | Dave Aaron Arena/Dave Loos Court

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay will attempt to find a winning formula, 7:30pm, Saturday, when it plays host to Eastern Illinois in an Ohio Valley Conference contest in Dave Aaron Arena.

The Governors are coming off one of the most disappointing performances in years after a 66-53 home loss to SIU Edwardsville, Thursday night.

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

Not only did the Governors shoot poorly from the floor (38.5 percent), it was accentuated by 2-of-19 three-point shooting. The Governors entered ranked No. 7 nationally in three-point shooting percentage.

The Governors also were hammered on the boards by 39-28 margin-APSU has been out-rebounded in all five OVC contests.

APSU will have a chance to re-direct a listing ship against a Panther squad that has lost 12 straight games under new coach Jay Spoonhour.

Fast Break

• This is Dave Loos’ 23rd season as Austin Peay head coach and he is 368-324 at APSU-the winningest basketball coach in Ohio Valley Conference history-while 450-377 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 home stand, with this being Game No. 4. The Govs are 1-2 on the home stand.
• APSU enters the game having lost two straight and 9 out of their last 10 games following a 66-53 loss to SIU Edwardsville, Thursday night.
• This is Eastern Illinois’ first season under coach Jay Spoonhour, the son of the late Charlie Spoonhour, the former head coach at Missouri State, St. Louis and UNLV. Spoonhour spent the previous three seasons as head coach at Moberly (Mo.) Area Community College.
• Spoonhour took over a program that had no starters returning and just five lettermen returning.
• As a result, the Panthers were picked to finish last in OVC West Division.
• Eastern Illinois comes in amidst a 12-game losing streak and an 0-6 OVC mark.
• The Panthers have just one players averaging in double figures, 6-8 forward Josh Piper is at 10.1 ppg. Guard Morris Woods is averaging 10.5 ppg during conference play.

What You Should Know

The Series: This is the 37th meeting between Austin Peay and Eastern Illinois, a pair of Ohio Valley Conference foes, with the Governors holding a 23-13 advantage. The Governors have won the last three meetings between the two teams, including last season’s only contest, a 76-64 decision in Charleston. January 21st, 2012.

Deeper Meanings

What A Win Would Mean: The Govs would win their second OVC game…they would improve to 6-14…they would go 2-4 in January…it would be the Govs’ second OVC home victory of 2012-13…they would go to 24-13 all-time against Eastern Illinois…it would make Dave Loos 24-13 all-time against EIU….it would make Loos 1-0 against Panthers head coach Jay Spoonhour…it would be Loos’ 451st career victory.

What A Loss Would Mean: The Govs would drop 10 games below the .500 mark at 5-15…the Govs would lose their third straight OVC home game…it would snap the Govs three-game winning streak in the series…the Govs would drop to 4-5 at home this season…the Govs would fall to 1-5 in January…it would be Dave Loos’ 324th APSU loss and 377th all-time.

Willfully

With his five-of-nine field goal performance against SIU Edwardsville, junior forward Will Triggs extended his streak to seven games of shooting 50 percent or better from the floor. Over that period Triggs has connected on 45 of 68 shots (66.2 percent) while tallying double figures in each. He has averaged 15.7 ppg during that time frame.

Live By The Three

Austin Peay entered the SIUE game ranked fifth in the nation in three-point shooting at 42.3 percent. The Govs then suffered through their season’s worst shooting night, connecting on just 2 of 19 (10.5 percent).

Offensive Struggles

In the first four OVC contests, the Governors averaged 77.5 points per game in going 1-3. Against SIUE, the Governors could manage just 53 points–a season low. The Governors shot just 38.5 percent (20 of 52) from the floor-–the first time since the DePaul game (game No. 3) where APSU was held to less than 40 percent shooting.

Free-Throw No’s

Three games ago against UT Martin, the Govs made an impressive 27 of 31 (87.1 percent) of their free throws. On Thursday, the Govs suffered through one of their worst nights, connecting on just 11 of 21 (52.4 percent) against SIUE.

Moving On Up

For the second time in four games, freshman center Chris Horton recorded seven blocks in game when he did the trick against SIUE. In fact, the Georgia native now has 62 single-season blocks. As a result, Horton joined the program’s all-time shot blocker, Josh Lewis, as the only players in Governors history with 60 or more single-season blocks. Lewis did it three times, including 83 in 2003-04.

Four-Ever

Junior walk-on guard Jeremy Purvis scored four points against SIUE on four-of-four free throws. He also had four rebounds and four assists.

Media Center

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

WVRY 105.1-FM
www.letsgopeay.com ^[4]

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