Govs return from finals to face Top 20 Memphis

APSU Men’s Basketball

Memphis, TN – Austin Peay and Memphis will be seeking more answers when they resume post-finals play, 7:00pm, Thursday, at the FedExForum.

For the Govs, they again will see how the club responds to a line up and rotation change created by the absence of preseason All-OVC forward Anthony Campbell, who suffered torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, December 19th, in practice during a non-contact drill.

In all reality, not much could be ascertained from the 112-52 defeat of Fontbonne, Saturday night. Junior forward Josh Terry, who started the season’s first four games before incurring a hip injury, scored 12 points against the Griffins in replacing Campbell in the starting lineup.

But Memphis has its own set of personnel issues. Leading scorer and rebounder Wesley Witherspoon (13.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg) underwent knee surgery last week for a meniscal tear and is expected to miss five weeks. Meanwhile, another forward, 6-11 reserve Angel Garcia (6.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg) has elected to leave the program to turn professional in Spain at fall semester’s conclusion. Sophomore forward D.J. Stevens (2.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg)  recently suffered a groin injury and also will be out against the Govs.

As a result, the Tigers  will take off the redshirt of 6-8 forward Hippolyte Tsafack and make him available to play against the Governors.

Tsafack is a member of one of the nation’s top freshman classes–Scout and www.Rivals.com had the recruiting class ranked No. 2 while ESPN had it rated No. 4. Even without Tsafack to this point, five of the Tigers top six scorers are freshmen. Guards Will Barton (12.4 ppg) and Joe Jackson (10.8 ppg) are two of the Tigers three double-figure scorers.

Forward Tarik Black, who played high school ball at Ridgeway for Wes Henning–father of former Govs star Adrian Henning–is averaging 7.0 ppg and 4.3 rpg while leading the team in blocked shots (11).

For the Governors, this will be the final appearance of senior point guard Caleb Brown in his hometown. Brown, who played at Raleigh Egypt High School, particularly has been effective in the last six games, averaging 5.8 apg. His play will be important against a high-pressure Tigers team that is averaging 11.4 steals per game. This also will be the seventh time APSU head coach Dave Loos will have face his alma mater.