On to the OVC semifinals: Murphy's buzzer-beater sinks APSU
After Austin Peay's Anthony Campbell tied the game at 65 with six seconds remaining Tech's Kevin Murphy took the ball the length of the court and calmly sunk a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – After Austin Peay's Anthony Campbell
tied the game at 65 with six seconds remaining Tech's Kevin Murphy
took the ball the length of the court and sunk a buzzer-beating
3-pointer to lift the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team to a
68-65 over Austin Peay in the Dunn Center in the opening round of
the OVC Tournament. The Golden Eagles advance to the OVC
semi-finals to take on Morehead State on Friday at 8:00 p.m. on
ESPNU.
“In those situations coach just wants us to play it
out,” Murphy said. “We work on those things in practice
and I was just looking to get to the hole, but they left me open
for the three so I took it. It was my first buzzer-beater and it
felt good. Their fans were all over us all night so it was nice to
quiet them at the end.”
Elijah Muhammad gave Tech its slim 65-62 lead on a layup with 24
seconds to play. On APSU’s ensuing possession Campbell missed
a 3-point attempt with 13 seconds left. But he was able to corral
his own rebound and bury his second attempt to tie the game at 65
with just six seconds to play.
The game went back-and-fourth throughout as there were four ties
and six lead changes, but Tech never led by more than five points.
The Golden Eagles owned the glass with a 33-23 rebounding
advantage, including a 12-4 advantage on the offensive side which
led to 10 second-chance points. Tech scored 36 of its 68 points in
the paint.
Murphy and Alfred Jones paced the Golden Eagles with 18 points
each. Murphy hit 8-of-16 shots from the field and also finished
with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jones hit 9-of-11
shots, collected four rebounds and blocked two shots.
Muhammad finished the game with nine points, nine rebounds and four
assists, while Frank Davis had nine points and four assists as
well. Zach Bailey finished with three points, hitting a clutch
3-pointer that put Tech up 61-57 with three and a half minutes to
play that silenced a would-be Austin Peay run that nearly erased a
five-point Tech advantage.
“Tonight different guys stepped up for us, and it was a full
team effort,” TTU head coach Mike Sutton said. “We need
everybody to click all the time, and that’s what we got out
of our guys tonight.”
After shooting 38.5 percent in the first half, the Golden Eagles
connected on 65.5 percent (19-of-29) shots in the second half and
shot 52.7 percent for the game. The Golden Eagles struggled from
the free-throw line, connecting on just 4-of-13 attempts from the
line. Austin Peay shot 53.7 percent from the field for the game,
and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from 3-point distance.
Austin Peay built its largest lead of the game, a 41-33 advantage,
with just over 13 minutes to play, but Tech would chip away before
going on a 12-2 run to take a 54-49 lead with seven minutes to
play.
The meeting was the third of the season between the Golden Eagles
and Govs, and all three came down to the wire. Tech topped APSU
94-90 in Cookeville in January. When the teams met for the second
time it was Austin Peay erasing a late deficit to force overtime
and steal a 77-72 win.
Tech is the only road team to win an opening round game in this
year’s OVC Tournament, and advances to the semi-finals in
Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (formerly the Sommet Center)
along with No. 1 seeded Murray State, No. 2 Morehead State and No.
4 Eastern Illinois. Both semi-final games will be broadcast live on
ESPNU beginning with Murray State vs. Eastern Illinois at 6 p.m. on
March 5, and followed by Tech vs. Morehead State at 8 p.m. The OVC
Championship game will be March 6 on ESPN 2.
“When we played at Morehead State I thought we had tremendous
effort,” Sutton said. “And when they came to our place
I thought we looked good for 25 or 30 minutes, but not the whole
game. It’s going to take another great effort from our guys
in that game.”
The Golden Eagles advance to their first OVC semi-finals since
2006. Tech eliminated Austin Peay in the first round of the
tournament that year as well before falling to Samford.
Tickets for the semifinals and finals are on sale at the Athletics
Ticket Office in Eblen Center until noon Thursday. Tickets may also
be ordered online at TTUsports.com. The cost of the tickets is $20
each per session.
Tech students may purchase tickets for $5 per session with a valid
ID. Student tickets will also be on sale at the Eblen Center until
noon Thursday, or can be purchased at the Bridgestone Arena on the
day of each game with a valid TTU ID.
Tech fans are invited to gather for a pregame celebration,
sponsored by TTU Alumni Relations. The event will take place Friday
afternoon at the Big River Grille, located on Broadway Avenue in
Nashville. Times and additional details will be announced
Wednesday.
