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HomeSportsAPSU Basketball plays Tennessee State in Nashville, Thursday

APSU Basketball plays Tennessee State in Nashville, Thursday

Austin Peay at Tennessee State

Thursday, January 18th, 2018 | 5:00pm CT
Nashville, TN | Gentry Center

APSU Men's BasketballNashville, TN – Austin Peay State University men’s basketball seeks its second straight road win by traveling just down I-24 to face Tennessee State, 5:00pm, Thursday, January 18th, 2018 in an Ohio Valley Conference matchup at the Gentry Center.

The contest start was pushed up two-plus hours because of weather/road conditions from the recent winter storm.

Austin Peay Men's Basketball faces the Tennessee State Tigers at the Gentry Center Thursday. Tip off is at 5:00pm. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Men’s Basketball faces the Tennessee State Tigers at the Gentry Center Thursday. Tip off is at 5:00pm. (APSU Sports Information)

Playing the third of a four-game road swing, the Govs look to maintain the energy established at Jacksonville State.

They captured their season’s first road win impressively by downing defending OVC Tournament champion Jacksonville State, 87-67, Saturday.

More importantly, Austin Peay, at 10-8 overall, looks to improve to 6-1 in conference play while Tennessee State (7-10, 2-4 OVC) hopes to build momentum as it begins a four-game OVC homestand. 

Senior frontcourt standout Averyl Ugba tallied a career-best 35 points to go with 11 rebounds in the victory while freshman forward Terry Taylor added another double-double, with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Guard Zach Glotta came off the bench to record a career-best 20 points, including 4-of-6 3-point shooting.

About the Tennessee State Tigers

Tennessee State TigersTSU comes in after a stinging 82-79 OVC defeat at SIU Edwardsville, Saturday, that prevented a sweep of its OVC Illinois road trip (the Tigers won at EIU, 69-65, Thursday). The Tigers hope to improve on their 2-4 league mark as they begin a four-game homestand.

The Tigers, who forced 20-plus turnovers in the previous two games, lead the OVC in steals (8.0 per game) and turnover margin (+1.76). Guard Delano Spencer leads the way offensively (15.4 ppg), including 49 three-pointers, while 6-9 Christian Mekowulu (12.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg) provides a strong presence inside. 

Last Time Out Against Tennessee State

The Governors fell by a 70-66 final score to Tennessee State, February 4th, 2017, at the Dunn Center. Darreon Reddick scored 19 points and had two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to seal TSU’s victory. The Governors , who trailed by 12 points in the opening half, came back to lead by as much as 11 in the second half before struggling offensively down the stretch as they were held to only two points over a nine-minute stretch. John Murry led all scorers with 20 points.

Notably

APSU Men's Basketball - Averyl UgbaFor the second time this season senior Averyl Ugba was named OVC Player of the Week. The Silver Spring, MD, native scored a career-best 35 points, on 17-of-21 shooting, and grabbed 11 rebounds in the win at Jacksonville State. For the week, he averaged 25.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, shooting 65 percent from the floor in the two games.

Austin Peay’s defensive improvement (-15.2 ppg) from 2016-17 to 2017-18 is ranked second only behind Central Michigan’s (-18.9 ppg). The Govs permitted 83.8 ppg a year ago and only 68.6 ppg this season.

Averyl Ugba‘s 17 field goals against Jacksonville State are an NCAA single-game high this season.

APSU Men's Basketball - Terry TaylorFreshman Terry Taylor and senior Averyl Ugba are the only Govs teammates since at least the 1990-00 season to record double-doubles in the same game three or more times.

The Governors own a plus-8.6 rebound differential over the opponents during the last eight games.

Feshman Terry Taylor (8.6 rpg) and senior Averyl Ugba (7.4 rpg) are the only set of teammates in the OVC’s Top-10 rebounding category, ranking third and ninth, respectively.

In going 10-8, the Govs own a 20.5 margin of victory in those 10 victories.

Junior guard Zach Glotta cracked the 20-point barrier for the first time against Jacksonville State.

His previous scoring high was 15 points against Oakland City, November 14th, 2016. Glotta was 4-of-6 from 3-point territory against JSU and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line.

A win would be Austin Peay’s first at the Gentry Center since 2014 and only the second in the last six at TSU.

APSU Govs Online

Check back at LetsGoPeay.com and on Austin Peay’s Official Athletics Facebook page often for up-to-date news about all Governor athletics, as well as the Governor men’s basketball Twitter page (@AustinPeayMBB). Live stats will be available during the game at PeayStats.com, and all home games and Ohio Valley Conference games can be viewed on www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com.

Postgame video interviews and other videos from around APSU Athletics can be found on our YouTube page (www.youtube.com/letsgopeay).

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