Austin Peay (7-20/2-11) vs. Eastern Kentucky (16-10/8-5)
Monday, February 23rd, 2015 | 6:00pm CT
Richmond, KY | Paul S. McBrayer Arena
Richmond, KY – Officially eliminated from Ohio Valley Conference post-season competition, Austin Peay State University now will attempt to play conference spoiler during the season’s final week. First up will be Eastern Kentucky, 6:00pm, Monday, in Paul McBrayer Arena.
Eastern Kentucky comes in 8-5 (16-10 overall), trailing Belmont by one game in the OVC East (the two teams are even in the loss column). The Colonels had been the OVC East’s hottest team before losing to Belmont, 66-61, Thursday night.
It happened without star guard Corey Walden, who was out with a minor injury. Prior to that loss the Colonels had rolled off six straight wins, ascending to the division’s top spot.
Despite Walden’s absence, EKU led by as much as 16 second-half points against Belmont. Walden is expected to play against the Govs. One of the OVC’s best guard, he leads EKU in scoring at 18.7 points per game while dishing out 4.0 assists per contest.
Senior center Eric Stutz is averaging 15.3 points, shooting 61 percent from the floor and 45 percent from three-point range. Timmy Knipp has stepped into the starting lineup this season to average 10.8 points per game. Walden, Stutz and Knipp all are shooting 80 percent or better at the free-throw line for a team shooting 77.4 percent.
The Governors enter the contest reeling from Saturday’s 89-54 defeat at Murray State. It was APSU’s seventh straight defeat. Chris Freeman, Khalil Davis and Josh Robinson were APSU’s only double-figure scorers with 12 points.
Leading scorer Chris Horton, who had 10 rebounds, was held to just six points on 2-of-8 shooting.
The Governors season-long shooting woes continued as they made just 18 of 54 shots, 33.3 percent. It was the 19th time this season APSU below 40 percent.
The More You Know
The Series: This is the 111th meeting between Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky, with the Govs holding a 60-50 advantage. The Governors lost last season’s only meeting, 96-75, in Clarksville, February 22nd, 2014. It was the Colonels second straight win in the series.
What A Win Would Mean: The Govs would improve to 8-20…they would gain their second OVC road victory…they would improve to 3-11 in league play…they would improve to 2-12 on the road this season…they would snap a seven-game losing streak…it would be APSU’s third win of 2015…they would go to 1-5 in February…they would improve the overall series record 61-50 against Eastern Kentucky…it would make Dave Loos 35-18 all-time against Eastern Kentucky…it would make Loos 12-7 all-time against Eastern Kentucky coach Jeff Neubauer.
What A Loss Would Mean: The Govs would fall to 7-21 overall…it would be their eighth straight loss…it would drop the Govs to 2-12 in the OVC…the Govs would slip to 1-13 on the road…they would go to 0-6 in February…Loos would drop to 472-425 overall and 390-372 as the Governors head coach.
Broadcast Information
Radio • Governors Sports Network
Play-by-Play: David Loos
Analyst: Brad Kirtley
Governors on the Web
Live Video: www.OVCDigitalNetwork.com/showcase
Live Audio: www.LetsGoPeay.com
Live Statistics: www.statbroadcast.com
