Athens, GA – There’s little of note and less to remember about the Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s basketball team’s visit to Georgia, which ended the Governors non-conference slate with a 78-48 loss to the Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum. Better instead to look forward, as looking back offers nothing of consequence.
The old coach-speak adage of, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” may be true, but against an upper-echelon team with a bevy of talent, a good start certainly wouldn’t hurt.
That is… not what happened for the Govs, who committed four turnovers and missed five of seven shots to fall behind 16-4 just over five minutes into the game.
Even once Austin Peay State University managed to right the ship on the offensive end, Georgia kept the pedal to the metal, extending the lead to 15 with 8:31 to go in the half.
Sensing the game slipping away, the Govs bore down defensively and closed the first half by playing some of the finest ball displayed by Austin Peay this season, closing the frame on a 15-5 run. Freshman Jordyn Adams scored seven of the final nine points himself, beating the buzzer with a finger roll to cut it to a 31-26 Bulldog lead at halftime.
The Govs went into halftime with all the momentum, but Georgia quickly snatched the good vibes away by opening the second half on an 22-2 run.
By the time APSU was able to get its feet back under itself, the Bulldogs had built a 25-lead that would prove difficult to overcome, despite yet another outstanding effort from Adams (15 points) and Terry Taylor (18 points, nine rebounds)–the duo combined to hit a respectable 43.3 percent (13-for-30) from the floor against the Bulldogs, while the rest of the Govs combined to shoot just 11.8 percent (4-for-34).
The Difference
You can make a case for rebounding margin, transition points or bench production, but basketball is often much simpler than that. Monday night, one team shot poorly and one team shot tremendously. The Govs 26.6 percent mark was firmly on the wrong side of that equation, and the worst by the Govs in a single game since November 13th, 2015 at Vanderbilt.
APSU Notably
The APSU Govs have lost eight straight dating back to last season—Austin Peay State University’s longest road losing streak since a nine-gamer in 2016-17.
The Govs have now used seven different lineup combinations, including four in the last four games.
Eli Abaev, Antwuan Butler and Pavle Djurisic all returned to action after missing much or all of the St. Pete Shootout.
Taylor led the Govs in rebounding for the 50th time in his Austin Peay State University career.
In losses, the APSU Govs are now shooting 38.1 percent (153-for-402) in seven losses this season.
APSU set season-lows in points, field goals made, field goal percentage, free-throw percentage and fouls.
The Govs finished the non-conference road slate winless for the third time in four seasons.
Milestone Watch
Taylor became the 12th player in program history with 70 career rebounds.
Coaching Quotables with APSU Head Coach Matt Figger
On the early part of the game
“We told them all week how fast they were and how well they get out in transition, and it’s hard to mimic that. Early on, our young guards didn’t get back in tandems to stop the ball, get us under control, they didn’t do it. We were getting open looks and open shots and they weren’t falling. But we had fight to ourselves in the first half.”
On Georgia’s defense
“They switched a ton of stuff defensively. They put three guys around Terry and dared our other guys to make a play, make a basket do anything and as a result, we were 5-for-34 in the second half. We’ve got to be able to generate offense for more than just Terry and Jordyn.”
Next Up for APSU Men’s Basketball
At last, with a difficult non-conference slate in the rearview mirror, the APSU Men’s Basketball team can turn their attention to the true prize–the beginning of Ohio Valley Conference play and the march to March and the OVC Tournament. It all gets underway for Austin Peay Thursday night in the Dunn Center, when Southeast Missouri visits as part of the second game of a doubleheader, with the women set to tip at 5:30pm.
