30 F
Clarksville
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
HomeSportsAPSU Mens Basketball 2017-18 Schedule filled with Quality Opponents

APSU Mens Basketball 2017-18 Schedule filled with Quality Opponents

APSU Sports Information

APSU Men's BasketballClarksville, TN – First-year head coach Matt Figger has put together a 2017-18 slate that will test his new-look Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team early and often.

A quartet of high-major opponents, an appearance in the NIT Season Tip-Off and five participants in the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament dot the schedule—an ambitious 12-game non-conference slate ahead of the grueling, expanded 18-game gauntlet that is the Ohio Valley Conference schedule in 2017-18.

Austin Peay Men's Basketball has ambitious 2017-2018 schedule. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Men’s Basketball has ambitious 2017-2018 schedule. (APSU Sports Information)

“This will allow us to see where we’re at, right off the bat,” Figger said. “We’re going to be tested in the first two games with a new group we’re trying to get blended together.

“I like our schedule. Fans will have plenty of opportunities to get out and support the team, and I expect there to be awesome crowds at all the games. Our schedule, from a competition standpoint, you’re looking at four (non-conference) teams that played in the NCAA Tournament and two more that made postseason tournaments.”

After an exhibition contest against Sewanee (November 4th), the Governors first four regular season contests will fall under the umbrella of the NIT Season Tip-Off—at Vanderbilt to open the regular season, November 10th, before visiting Virginia for the first meeting between the two programs. It will also mark the first time since the 2009-10 season the Govs will kick off a campaign against two schools that made the previous NCAA Tournament.

The latter half of the NIT Season Tip-Off finds the Governors at home against Oakland City (November 16th) and UNC-Asheville (November 19th)—the Governors first contest against the Bulldogs since 1979. Meetings with Bethel (Tennessee), November 22nd, and Miami University, November 26th, close a four-game homestand for Austin Peay.

A meeting with Oklahoma State (November 29th) kicks off a post-Thanksgiving stretch that includes three of the next four contests away from the Dunn Center. Alabama A&M (December 2nd) will visit Clarksville for the first meeting between the teams before the Govs close the non-conference road schedule with visits to Illinois (December 6th) and Evansville (December 16th), with the Governors seeking their first win against the Fighting Illini since scoring one college basketball’s most prodigious upsets in the 1987 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The final two non-conference contests will be at the Dunn Center—the second time in three seasons APSU has closed a non-conference slate with back-to-back home games. 2017 Sun Belt Tournament champion Troy pays Austin Peay a visit, December 19th, while Western Kentucky will make its first visit to the Dunn Center since 2004 in a December 22nd game to round out the pre-conference slate.

Austin Peay kicks off the conference schedule with a rarity—a four-game homestand, its first to open league play since the 2004-05 season which, including the final two non-conference games, provides Austin Peay its first six-game homestand since a seven-game stretch at the Dunn Center during that same 2004-05 campaign.

The Governors will complete most of the first half of the OVC West schedule during this stretch against SIU Edwardsville (December 28th), Eastern Illinois (December 30th), UT Martin (January 4th) and Southeast Missouri (January 6th). It’s also the earliest conference opener since the league moved away from pre-Christmas break conference games following the 2010-11 season—the last time the league schedule was 18 games.

That will be followed by the first of two four-game OVC road trips, stretching January 11th-20th at Tennessee Tech (January 11th), Jacksonville State (January 13th), Belmont (January 18th) and Tennessee State (January 20th).

The Govs get a two-game respite from the road against Eastern Kentucky (January 25th) and Morehead State (January 27th) before becoming road warriors again from February 1st-10th at UT Martin (February 1st), Southeast Missouri (February 3rd), Murray State (February 8th) and Eastern Illinois (February 10th).

Following that daunting stretch, the Govs close the regular season with three home games in their last four contests—against Tennessee Tech (February 15th), Jacksonville State (February 17th), followed by a trip to SIU Edwardsville (February 22nd) rounding out the road schedule.

Austin Peay’s final home game, and the regular-season finale for 2017-18, will be against rival Murray State, February 24th—last season, the Governors toppled the Racers in a thrilling 84-81 win in the Dunn Center.

Below is a brief summation of the non-conference schedule. Be sure to keep up with everything happening around Austin Peay at LetsGoPeay.com and the official Facebook page of Austin Peay athletics, as well on Twitter and Instagram (@letsgopeay).

OPPONENT (DATE) 2016-17 RECORD POSTSEASON APSU VS. OPPONENT ALL-TIME LAST MEETING (RESULT)
Vanderbilt (Nov. 10) 19-16 NCAA Tournament (First Round) 2-14 Nov. 13, 2015 (L, 41-80)
Virginia (Nov. 13) 23-11 NCAA Tournament (Second Round) First meeting First meeting
Oakland City (Nov. 16) 20-8 Christian College NIT (Third Round) 7-0 Nov. 14, 2016 (W, 107-67)
UNC-Asheville (Nov. 19) 23-10 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (First Round) 1-0 Jan. 4, 1979 (W, 79-71)
Bethel (Nov. 22) 18-13 SSAC Championship (quarterfinals) 31-9 Dec. 1, 1969 (W, 98-97)
Miami U. (Nov. 26) 11-21 MAC Tournament (First Round) 0-1 Nov. 19, 2016 (L, 70-76)
Oklahoma State (Nov. 29) 20-13 NCAA Tournament (First Round) 0-1 Nov. 17, 2001 (L, 58-81)
Alabama A&M (Dec. 2) 2-27 None First meeting First meeting
Illinois (Dec. 6) 20-15 NIT (quarterfinals) 1-3 Nov. 21, 2014 (L, 66-107)
Evansville (Dec. 16) 16-17 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament (quarterfinals) 7-17 Dec. 12, 2016 (L, 69-77)
Troy (Dec. 19) 22-15 NCAA Tournament (First Round) 3-0 Dec. 5, 2015 (W, 80-71)
Western Kentucky (Dec. 22) 15-17 Conference USA Tournament (First Round) 14-39 Dec. 28, 2016 (L, 92-97)
RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles