USAFA, CO – Led by Tate McCubbin’s 19-point, five-assist, four-steal performance and 31 points off turnovers, Austin Peay State University (APSU) basketball earned its second-straight win to open the 2025-26 season with a 74-54 victory against Air Force, Saturday, at Clune Arena.
McCubbin, who led Austin Peay (2-0) in scoring for the second-straight game, was followed in scoring by double-digit performances by Anton Brookshire (16 points) and Zyree Collins (14), who also eclipsed 10 points in the Governors’ season-opener against Bryan, Monday.
APSU led wire-to-wire in the victory against Air Force (0-2), with Anton Brookshire connecting on a game-opening three-pointer. After Brookshire’s quick strike was quickly answered by the Falcons, the Govs made three-straight attempts from the field, with the 7-0 run beginning with McCubbin’s first of three triples on the night.
A 9-2 Air Force run tied the game at 12 shortly after the under-12 media timeout, but APSU made four-straight field goals to break the stalemate and lead 21-12 less than two minutes later.
Leading 27-10 following a Quan Lax basket, McCubbin went on to score APSU’s final six points of the opening period and help build the Govs’ lead to 33-22 after 20 minutes of play.
McCubbin led all scorers with 14 points and three steals in 13 minutes of action through the first half, as the Govs collectively shot 53.8% (14-26) from the field and held the Falcons to 30.4% (7-23) in addition to its 36.4% (4-11) mark at the free throw line.
After the halftime break, Brookshire made back-to-back three-pointers on the Govs’ first two trips down the court, and a Creighton Morisch layup extended the lead to 16 1:50 into the period.
The Falcons cut their deficit to as few as 12 points in the final 13 minutes, with a three-pointer by AFA’s Ethan Greenberg making it a 57-45 game with 7:42, but the Govs responded with eight unanswered points, extending their lead to 20.
Six of APSU’s final eight points came from the charity stripe, with Collins making 5-of-6 from the line and Robinson connecting on both of his attempts, leading APSU to its 20-point victory in USAFA, Colorado.
The Difference
Austin Peay State University forced 22 Air Force turnovers, with 11 in both halves, and outscored the Falcons 31-15 in points off turnovers.
Box Score Bullets
Austin Peay State University started the season 2-0 for the second-straight season.
The Governors’ 202 points this season are the most in back-to-back games since combining to score 211 points against Calvary (116) and Purdue Fort Wayne (95), December 8th and December 15th, 2018.
The 203 points also are the fourth-most points APSU has scored in its first two games of a season, trailing only 1969’s 216 points, 1973’s 214 points, and 1972’s 213 points.
After defeating Butler (11/9/24) in last year’s road opener, the Governors have won their first road contest in back-to-back seasons for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 1987-88.
Austin Peay State University has not trailed this season and has led for 76:34-of-80 minutes thus far.
Austin Peay State University improved to 2-1 all-time against Air Force and 1-1 against the Falcons in USAFA, Colorado.
The Governors improved to 3-1 all-time in Colorado with the second-straight win in the state, and the first since a November 22nd, 2015 victory at Northern Colorado.Austin Peay made seven three-pointers in the victory and now has made at least five triples in 66 of its last 68 games.
Anton Brookshire’s game-opening three-pointer extended APSU’s streak of consecutive games with a triple to 736 – a stretch that began February 23rd, 2002 against SEMO.
Zyree Collins, Anton Brookshire, Tate McCubbin, Collin Parker, and Creighton Morisch started the second-straight game for APSU, with McCubbin’s start being his 20th-straight starting nod.
Matt Enright and Rashaud Marshall were the first Govs off the bench. For Marshall, it marked his second-straight game being in the first substitution.
Parker led APSU with a game-high +18 +/-.
Follow the APSU Govs
For news and updates throughout the 2025-26 basketball season, follow the Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team on X and Instagram (@GovsMBB) or check back at LetsGoPeay.com.
Next Up For APSU Men’s Basketball
The Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team continues its trip to the American West when it faces Wyoming in a Tuesday 7:30pm CT contest at Arena Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming.
