Austin Peay (7-14/3-4 OVC) vs. UT Martin (14-8/4-3 OVC)
Thursday, January 26th, 2017 | 8:00pm CT
Clarksville, TN | Dunn Center
Clarksville, TN – In a rematch of last season’s Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship game, Austin Peay State University men’s basketball team will host UT Martin in a primetime, nationally-televised contest, 8:00pm, Thursday, in the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay has won three of its last four entering play Thursday night. St. Louis native Josh Robinson has been at his best in front of the TV cameras this season, averaging 31.0 ppg in Austin Peay’s previous two televised contests.
Thursday also will be Austin Peay’s “Hoops for Heroes” event, honoring two military families in the greater Clarksville area.
About the UT Martin Skyhawks
After winning eight of 10 to start the season, UT Martin is .500 (6-6) since December 10th, opening OVC play with a 4-3 mark. Led by Kedar Edwards (6.5 rebounds per game) and Javier Martinez (6.3), the Skyhawks boast a rebounding edge of 4.0 per game, but that number has dipped to 0.4 in OVC play.
UT Martin enters Thursday on a three-game winning streak, polishing off Southeast Missouri, Eastern Illinois and SIU Edwardsville in its first three contests against OVC West Division foes.
Summing Up Murray State
In front of a raucous crowd, the Govs snapped a seven-game home losing streak to the Racers in a thrilling 84-81 overtime victory, January 21st. Jared Savage (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Kenny Jones (11-11) each posted double-doubles, while Robinson and John Murry led the way for Austin Peay in scoring with 22 points apiece.
Last Time Out Against UT Martin
With Chris Horton hobbled by an ankle injury, the Governors were picked up by Savage (career-high 24 points) and Robinson (20 points, 10-for-12 from the line) to earn their first conference title since 2008.
The Govs hit a team single-game record 16 three-pointers, with Savage’s career-high eight one off the program individual record.
Keep An Eye On
This is the last of three scheduled appearances for the Govs in 2016-17 before a national audience; Austin Peay is 2-0 in nationally-broadcast games so far this season, against SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois.
Robinson (21.9 ppg) maintains his lead in the OVC scoring race over Murray State’s Jonathan Stark (21.0) and Belmont’s Evan Bradds (20.9); he ranks 12th in the nation entering Thursday’s contest.
In 13 of 21 games this season, Jones has shot at least 60 percent from the floor. He ranks fifth (57.7 percent) in the conference in shooting among qualified players and currently ranks 10th in APSU history (230-for-418, 55.0 percent) among players with 200 or more career made field goals.
A win would give head coach Dave Loos 499 in his Austin Peay career.
Since OVC play started, Murry is averaging 18.7 ppg and 1.6 steals per contest, while maintaining one of the conference’s best free-throw shooting marks (33-for-41, 80.5 percent).
This contest pits two of the league’s most prolific offenses against one another: UT Martin ranks third in the league in scoring (78.1 ppg), one spot ahead of the Governors (78.0).
In the last 12 games, Robinson has shot up the all-time scoring list, moving from 27th (1,080 points) to 12th (1,364). He needs 64 points to pass Lenny Manning (1981-84) for 11th all-time. At his current pace (21.9 ppg), he would pass Fly Williams and take over 10th place all-time during the regular-season finale against Southeast Missouri.
He also needs three three-pointers to pass Donald Tivis (1988-91) for seventh all-time and eight to take over sixth from Anthony Campbell (2008-12).
APSU Govs Online
Check back at LetsGoPeay.com and on Austin Peay’s Official Athletics Facebook page often for up-to-date news about all Governor athletics, as well as the Governor men’s basketball Twitter page (@AustinPeayMBB). Live stats will be available during the game at www.LetsGoPeay.com, and all (except the January 26th contest against UT Martin, which will be found on CBS Sports Network) home games and Ohio Valley Conference games can be viewed on www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com.
Postgame video interviews and other videos from around APSU Athletics can be found on our YouTube page (www.youtube.com/letsgopeay).
