Austin Peay Governors Basketball looks to get back on track at Jacksonville State Gamecocks

January 23, 2013 |

Austin Peay Governors vs. Jacksonville State

Thursday, January 24th, 2013 | 7:00pm (CT)
Pete Mathews Coliseum | Jacksonville, AL.

Jacksonville, AL – Austin Peay has a difficult task ahead this weekend. The Govs must attempt to right a teetering ship on the road.

The Govs head to Jacksonville State, 7:00pm, Thursday, in their bid to end a three-game losing streak-all at home.

Austin Peay Men’s Basketball.

JSU’s four league losses have been to the top three teams in the OVC’s East Division, one that has shown dominance over the West Division so far this season. After last week’s games, the East is 16-3 in head-to-head games with teams in the West, and four East teams are undefeated against the other Division. The Gamecocks are 3-0 against teams from the West, with all three wins coming on the road.

APSU incurred a disappointing sweep from SIUE and Eastern Illinois a week ago in a weekend that saw almost nothing go right. In losing to SIUE, the Govs, one of the nation’s top three-point shooting teams entering the contest, shot a ghastly 2-of-19 from beyond the arc.

Then against Eastern Illinois, the Panthers found the backdoor repeatedly against the young Govs.

Fastbreak

• This is Dave Loos’ 23rd season as Austin Peay head coach and he is 368-325 at APSU-the winningest basketball coach in Ohio Valley Conference history-while 450-378 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 going 1-3 on its recent homestand, APSU heads to the road for the next three games, seeking to attain its first road win of 2012-13.
• APSU enters the game having lost three straight and 11 out of their last 12 games following a 77-66 loss to Eastern Illinois, last Saturday.
• This is the second game of Jacksonville State’s four-game homestand. The Gamecocks also will play Murray State, Saturday, and Morehead State, February 2nd to complete the homestand.
• JSU is trying to snap a two-game skid after losses to Tennessee State, 66-60, and Eastern Kentucky, 73-62, last week.
• JSU’s four league losses have been to the top three teams in the OVC’s East Division.
• The Gamecocks are 3-0 against teams from the West, with all three wins coming on the road.
• For the balanced Gamecocks, four players average in double figures, led by Darion Rackley’s 14.0 ppg.  Rackley has been out with a hand injury.
• On the year, Tarvin Gaines is averaging 13.9 points per outing, but his scoring in league play is a team-best 16.0 points per game

What You Should Know

The Series: This is the 20th meeting between Austin Peay and Jacksonville State, a pair of Ohio Valley Conference foes, with the Governors holding a 17-2 lead. The Gamecocks snapped an 11-game losing streak in the series during last season’s OVC tournament, rallying for a 75-70 decision. APSU claimed the regular-seaon meeting 60-57, January 14th, in Clarksville.

Deeper Meanings

What A Win Would Mean: The Govs would win their second OVC game…they would improve to 6-15…they would go 2-5 in January…it would be the Govs’ first OVC road win… it would be the Govs’ first road win in 2012-13…they would go to 18-2 all-time against Jacksonville State…it would make Dave Loos 18-2 all-time against JSU….it would make Loos 8-1 against current JSU coach James Green…it would be Loos’ 451st career victory.

What A Loss Would Mean: The Govs would drop 11 games below the .500 mark at 5-16…the Govs would lose their third fourth straight game…the Govs would fall to 1-1 against OVC East teams…the Govs would fall to 0-8 on the road this season…the Govs would fall to 1-6 in January…it would be Dave Loos’ 326th APSU loss and 379th all-time.

Willfully

With his five-of-six fieldgoal performance against Eastern Illinois, junior forward Will Triggs extended his streak to eight straight games of shooting 50 percent or better from the floor. Over that period Triggs has connected on 51 of 74 shots (68.9 percent) while tallying double figures in each. He has averaged 15.5 ppg during that timeframe.

Anomaly

When Austin Peay shot 21 of 42 from the floor against Eastern Illinois it was the fourth time this season the Govs shot 50 percent or better and lost.

Why They Are Free

Over the last five games, guard Travis Betran and forward Anthony Campbell have combined to make 46 out of 49 free throws (93.9 percent). Betran has gone 30-of-32 at the charity stripe, including 5-of-5 against Eastern Illinois, while Campbell has been 16-of-17 at the line.

Crazy Eights

Travis Betran and Will Triggs each scored 14 points against Eastern Illinois, making it eight straight games the juniors have scored double figures.

Core Temp

After going four straight games without scoring, freshman guard Cory Arentsen has made at least two three-pointers in three of the last four games, including going three-of-four from three-point range against Eastern Illinois. Arentsen now is shooting 49 percent from three-point range on the season.

Media Center

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

WVRY 105.1-FM

www.letsgopeay.com

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