Austin Peay (6-11/1-2) vs. Belmont (10-7/2-2)
Saturday, January 17th, 2015 | 7:30pm
Clarksville, TN | APSU Dunn Center
Clarksville, TN – With that first Ohio Valley Conference win—barely—in its pocket, Austin Peay State University men’s basketball will attempt to make it two straight wins when it plays host to Belmont, 7:30pm, Saturday, in Dave Aaron Arena.
That win snapped a three-game Governors losing streak and provided them their first OVC victory, improving to 1-2 in conference play.
Freshman guard Josh Robinson, making his first start, led the Governors with 15 points. However, it was his back-to-back three pointers in less than 30 seconds that spurred the Govs comeback.
Williams finished with 13 points in only 10 minutes while Chris Horton narrowly missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.
After being charged with a season-high 21 turnovers at Tennessee Tech, the Governors bounced back to commit a season-low 10 against Tennessee State. But the Govs shooting woes continued to crop up against TSU. A 1-of-9 shooting drought saw a two-point Govs lead become a 11-point second-half deficit, necessitating the comeback.
The Governors will be facing a Belmont team reeling from back-to-back setbacks to West Division foes. After opening the season with a pair of tight home victories against Southeast Missouri and SIU Edwards, the Bruins lost at Eastern Illinois, 84-73, in a game they made just 7-of-43 three-point attempts, before losing at Murray State, 92-77, Thursday night.
Craig Bradshaw, a preseason All-OVC pick, is the OVC’s leading scorer at 19.4 points per game while forward Evan Bradds comes in at 13.8 ppg and sophomore guard Taylor Barnette, a Virginia transfer, is averaging 11.3 ppg.
Bruins head coach Rick Byrd, now in his 34th head-coaching season, is seeking his 700th career win against the Governors.
The Series
This is the 43rd meeting between Austin Peay and Belmont, which joined the OVC two years ago–the two teams formerly battled as members of the Volunteer State Athletic Conference during the 1950s and early 1960s.
The Governors hold a 30-12 lead in the series, but the Bruins have won the last five meetings, including a 93-68 decision, February 8th, 2014, in Nashville, TN.
The More You Know
What A Win Would Mean: The Govs would improve to 7-11…they would gain their second straight OVC victory…they would improve to 2-2 in the OVC…they would improve to 6-1 at home…they would improve to 31-12 against Belmont…it would be APSU’s first win against the Bruins since they joined the league in 2012-13…it would be APSU’s second win of 2015… they would go to 2-3 in January…it would make Dave Loos 16-13 all-time against Belmont…it would make Loos 10-8 all-time against Belmont coach Rick Byrd…it would be Dave Loos’ 471st career victory and 389th APSU victory.
What A Loss Would Mean: The Govs would fall to 6-12 overall…it would be the Govs first OVC home loss… it would be the Govs second home loss this season…it would the Govs sixth straight loss in the series…they would fall to 0-4 against Belmont since the Bruins joined the league two years ago…the Govs would fall to 1-3 in the OVC…APSU would fall to 1-3 against the OVC East…Loos would drop to 471-416 overall and 389-363 as the Governors head coach.
Broadcast Information
Radio • Governors Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Greg Walker
Analyst: David Loos
TV • GovTV • OVCDN
Play-by-Play: Barry Gresham
Analyst: Ethan Schmidt
Governors on the Web
Live Video: www.OVCDigitalNetwork.com/showcase
Live Audio: www.LetsGoPeay.com
Live Statistics: www.statbroadcast.com
