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APSU Governors hit the road to take on Tennessee Tech

Austin Peay (4-11) at Tennessee Tech (5-11)

Thursday, January 5th, 2017 | 7:30pm CT
Cookeville, TN | Eblen Center

APSU Men's Basketball - Austin Peay State UniversityClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University hits the road for the first time in Ohio Valley Conference play to take on Tennessee Tech, 7:30pm, Thursday, at the Eblen Center.

Tennessee Tech snapped a five-game losing streak with an OVC-opening win against SIU Edwardsville on New Year’s Eve.

Austin Peay Men's Basketball travel to Tennessee Tech Thursday for a 7:30pm CT matchup. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Men’s Basketball travel to Tennessee Tech Thursday for a 7:30pm CT matchup. (APSU Sports Information)

The Golden Eagles are averaging 84.8 ppg in their five victories but have been held to 67.3 points in 11 losses.  

Although this game will mark the start of a four-game road trip at a pivotal point in the OVC schedule, it will knock out much of the Governors travel for the conference slate.

After finishing this trip—which includes journeys to Jacksonville State, SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois (combined mileage: 1,223)—the remainder of Austin Peay’s conference road schedule traverses just 947 miles.

Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles

Tennessee Tech Golden EaglesThe Golden Eagles’ conference-opening win against SIU Edwardsville snapped a five-game losing streak which spanned nearly the entirety of December and was just their third win against a Division I opponent in 2016-17. Tennessee Tech gets it done defensively, holding opponents to 43.1 percent shooting and pilfering 7.1 steals per game, both marks good for fourth in the league.

Junior Aleksa Jugovic carries the load for the Golden Eagles, averaging 16.6 ppg (sixth in the OVC) and hitting 2.9 3-point FG per game. If the game is close late, he’s not the guy Austin Peay wants on the line; Jugovic leads the conference in free-throw percentage (88.5 percent) and ranks 37th in the nation.

Summing Up Belmont

A late second-half run by Austin Peay pushed preseason OVC favorite Belmont to the limit, with the Bruins ultimately prevailing in an 82-77 decision in the conference-opener for both squads. Belmont’s Taylor Barnette, who led all scorers with 28 points, hit four free-throws down the stretch to seal the Bruins’ victory.

Last Time Out Against Tennessee Tech

The Governors kicked off their run to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title with a 92-72 win against the Golden Eagles in the first round of the OVC Tournament, March 2nd.

Despite an off-night for Josh Robinson (11 points, 3-for-11 from the floor), the Governors prevailed thanks to a super-human 37-point, 21-board performance from Chris Horton and a suffocating defense that limited Tennessee Tech to 38.7 percent (24-for-62) shooting and 17.2 percent (5-for-29) from beyond the arc.

Keep An Eye On

  • Robinson has a career-long six game streak of 20-point performances after leading the Govs with 26 in the conference opener against Belmont; he’s averaging 24.7 ppg during that stretch. It’s the longest streak of 20-point games by a Gov since Drake Reed (January 31st-February 28th, 2009).
  • Kenny Jones has shot at least 60 percent from the floor in 11 of 15 games this season.
  • Robinson needs 33 points to pass Lamonte Ware (1987-89, 90-92) for 18th all-time and is four three-pointers away from passing Travis Betran (2012-14) for ninth all-time.
  • Opponents are averaging 13.0 three-pointers over the Governors last four contests.
  • A win would give Austin Peay back-to-back victories over the Golden Eagles for the first time since winning four straight from 2007-09.
  • Free-Throw Wars: If it comes down to the free-throws, both teams are in good shape. Jugovic (88.5 percent) leads the league, but Austin Peay’s duo of Robinson (83.3 percent, fourth) and John Murry (82.5 percent, fifth) are the only pair of teammates to rank in the OVC’s top-five.
  • Tennessee Tech has not beaten a Division I team at home since November 17th.

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 www.LetsGoPeay.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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