Austin Peay (7-21/2-12) vs. SIU Edwardsville (12-14/8-7)
Thursday, February 26th, 2015 | 7:00pm CT
Clarksville, TN | Dunn Center
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay men’s basketball will recognize four seniors and one redshirt junior who will be playing their final home game, 7:00pm, Thursday, as the Govs play host to SIU Edwardsville, in a game to be televised by the American Sports Network from the Dunn Center.
Seniors Chris Freeman, Ed Dyson, Jeremy Purvis and Damarius Smith along with junior Zavion Williams will play their final home games as Governors. The quintet will be honored during a pregame ceremony.Freeman is the only one to have played all four seasons as a Gov. Williams, meanwhile, is a fourth-year junior who will graduate this spring.
The senior Govs hope to leave the Dunn Center a winner and end the current eight-game losing streak. The Governors are coming off 76-64 road loss at Eastern Kentucky, the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions. The Govs rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit to cut the lead to six with 6:11 left before missing a three pointer.
SIUE having already secured an OVC tourney spot for the second straight year by basically taking care of business at home. The Cougars are 8-7 in league play, going 7-1 at home while being 1-6 on the road. They clinched an OVC berth last weekend, coming from behind at home to beat Southeast Missouri, 75-72, Thursday, and UT Martin, 76-68, Saturday.
SIUE defeated the Governors in Edwardsville, 69-65, January 22nd in a game that saw Josh Robinson score 17 points while Chris Horton tallied 15 points and 16 rebounds. Horton enters Thursday’s game needing two blocked shot to pass Josh Lewis (2000-03) for first place on the all-time blocked shots list while moving into second place on the OVC list behind Lorenzo Coleman (439, 1993-97).
The More You Know
The Series: This is the seventh meeting between Austin Peay and SIUE, one of the newer OVC members. APSU trails the series 2-4. The Governors have lost three straight including the January 22nd meeting in Edwardsville by a 69-65 count. Josh Robinson had 17 points in the defeat while Chris Horton had 15 points and 16 rebounds. Kris Davis led all scorers with 18 points while Keaton Jackson had 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots for the Cougars.
What A Win Would Mean: The Govs would improve to 8-21…they would gain their second OVC road victory…they would improve to 3-12 in league play….they would improve to 6-7 at home this season…they would snap an eight-game losing streak…it would be APSU’s third win of 2015….they would go to 1-6 in February…it would make Dave Loos 3-4 all-time against SIUE…it would make Loos 3-4 all-time against SIUE coach Lennox Forrester…it would be Dave Loos’ 473rd career victory and 391st APSU victory.
What A Loss Would Mean: The Govs would fall to 7-22 overall…it would be their ninth straight loss…it would drop the Govs to 2-13 in the OVC…they would go to 0-6 in February…Loos would drop to 472-426 overall and 390-373 as Governors head coach.
Broadcast Information
Radio • Governors Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Greg Walker
Analyst: David Loos
TV • American Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Ron Thulin
Analyst: Rich Zvosec
Governors on the Web
Live Video: www.OVCDigitalNetwork.com/showcase
Live Audio: www.LetsGoPeay.com
Live Statistics: www.statbroadcast.com