January 6, 2012

Rematch of OVC title game in store as Morehead State visits

It’s a rematch of the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference championship game as Tennessee Tech welcomes Morehead State into Eblen Center for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off Saturday.

Morehead State

8-9, 2-2 OVC

Tennessee Tech

11-6, 3-1 OVC

Final	1	2	T
Morehead State 8-9, 2-2 OVC	24	31	55
Tennessee Tech 11-6, 3-1 OVC	33	33	66

Game Leaders

Morehead State

Pts: HOLDEN, Marsell - 15

Reb: PROFFITT, Ty - 9

Ast: OWENS, Kahlil - 3

Tennessee Tech

Pts: Kevin Murphy - 24

Reb: Jud Dillard - 9

Ast: Kevin Murphy - 6

Team Stats

Game Statistics	Morehead State	Tennessee Tech
Field Goals	(21-49)	(18-44)
Field Goal %	42.9%	40.9%
Rebounds	30	29
Assists	11	13
Turnovers	20	13
Pts off Turnovers	7	17
2nd Chance Pts	8	12
Pts in the Paint	16	16
Fastbreak Pts	2	0
Bench Pts	18	13

Full stats

Tech has won four of its last five games

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – It's a rematch of the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference championship game as Tennessee Tech welcomes Morehead State into Eblen Center for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off Saturday.

Tech picked up its 10^th win of the season and improved to 2-1 in OVC play with a 92-86 victory over Tennessee State Thursday night. The Golden Eagles have now won four of their last five games and four consecutive at home and sit just one game out of first place in the OVC. Morehead State also enters the contest at 2-1 in league after a victory over Jacksonville State on Thursday.

In Tech's last outing, three Golden Eagles scored 20-plus points and TTU scored 92 points, the highest total by any OVC team in a conference game this season. Tech shot 58.5 percent from the field and went 21-for-25 at the free-throw line.

Saturday's game with Morehead State marks the 135^th meeting between the two squads, a series which began in 1949. MSU holds a 73-61 edge over Tech all-time and swept the Golden Eagles in three games last season. Morehead has won the last nine games in the series – Tech's last victory came in the early part of the 2007-08 conference schedule.

One of those games was the league title game, in which Kenneth Faried and Demonte Harper both poured in 20-plus points to lead the Eagles to an 80-73 victory. Morehead State went on to upset Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Kevin Murphy and Jud Dillard lead Tech in scoring, averaging 19.4 and 18.5 points per game, respectively. Dillard also leads the Golden Eagles in rebounding, pulling down 8.4 boards per contest while Zac Swansey leads the team in assists with 6.0 helpers per game.

Morehead State's leading scorer, Terrance Hill (13.3 ppg), is lost for the season with a knee injury. The Eagles are now led on the scoreboard by guard Ty Proffitt with 9.4 points per game. Three other MSU players are scoring better than seven points per game, including Drew Kelly who netted 20 at Jacksonville State. Kahlil Owens is the Eagles' leading rebounder at 5.6 boards per game.

The Eagles are coming off back-to-back victories – a 63-55 victory at Jacksonville State and a 68-64 win at home over Austin Peay in a game nationally televised on ESPNU. Morehead State is 8-8 on the season with quality non-conference wins coming over Ball State, Princeton and Binghamton.

Tickets for Saturday's game are available at the Eblen Center ticket office or by calling (931) 372-3940. The game will be broadcast live on WCTE-TV as well as over the airwaves on WHUB, AM 1400 and on the Internet at www.1400TheHub.com . Live video webstreaming is available on OVCSports.tv.