Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams open Ohio Valley Conference play over the next couple of weeks at the Dunn Center with four games that could very easily set the tone for the rest of the season for the Govs.
The Govs open next week with a Thursday, December 28th doubleheader versus SIU Edwardsville followed by a Saturday December 30th doubleheader versus Eastern Illinois, they then open the new year with a pair of single games versus UT Martin, with the women’s team playing the Skyhawks on January 3rd and the men’s team play on January 4th – in a game that will be carried on the CBS Sports Network.
They close the four-game conference opening homestand with a doubleheader versus Southeast Missouri on January 6th.
And while all conference home games are important, this stretch of games is even more so with both teams being picked to finish out the postseason tournament field in the conference’s pre-season poll.
The men’s basketball team was picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams — with only four returning lettermen returning – and enter OVC play with a 5-7 record, while the women’s team – picked to finish ninth place out of 12 teams after having to replace last year’s conference Player of the Year Tearra Banks – start OVC play with a 7-4 record.
The top eight teams in the final regular-season conference standings make the OVC tournament field.
One positive going into this stretch of games is that both teams have been solid at home with the men’s team having gone 5-2 in the pre-OVC home games, while the women’s team finished their home non-conference schedule with a 4-1 mark overall.
Another positive is that all four opponents — both men’s and women’s teams — come in with below .500 records after their respective pre-conference slate of games.
In fact, the four men’s opponents to open OVC play were picked to finish no better than sixth in the conference’s preseason poll, with SIUE picked 12th, Southeast Missouri 10th, UT Martin eighth and Eastern Illinois sixth.
Although all four currently have losing records, the women’s opponents were picked to finish a little higher in their preseason poll, with Tennessee Martin being picked to finish second, SIUE fourth, SEMO fifth and Eastern Illinois 12th.
So, it is imperative to get off to a good start with these first four home games, with a tough road stretch of games at Tennessee Tech (January 11th), Jacksonville State (January 13th), Tennessee State (January 18th) and Belmont (January 20th) looming before returning home to face Eastern Kentucky on January 25th.
