Golden Eagles continue home stretch with Saturday rematch against Eastern Illinois
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team continues its three-game home stretch Saturday afternoon, playing host to Eastern Illinois in a 4:00 p.m. tilt in the Hooper Eblen Center.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
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33 | 34 | 67 |
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44 | 36 | 80 |
Team Stats
Eastern Illinois
| Game Statistics | Eastern Illinois | Tennessee Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (30-61) | (28-53) |
| Field Goal % | 49.2% | 52.8% |
| Rebounds | 26 | 35 |
| Assists | 20 | 25 |
| Turnovers | 11 | 11 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 10 | 16 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 2 | 2 |
| Pts in the Paint | 40 | 30 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 6 | 13 |
| Bench Pts | 10 | 22 |
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team continues its three-game home stretch Saturday afternoon, playing host to Eastern Illinois in a 4:00 p.m. tilt in the Hooper Eblen Center.
Tech wraps up the homestand with an 8:00 p.m. match-up against Eastern Kentucky on Monday, Feb. 15 following the Golden Eagle volleyball match with Eastern Illinois at 4:00 p.m.
Tennessee Tech (2-19, 2-13) vs. Eastern Illinois (7-15, 4-11)
Thursday, Feb. 13, 2021
4:00 p.m. CT
Eblen Center – Cookeville, Tenn.
The Broadcasts
TV: None
Radio: 106.1 The Eagle (Roger Ealey)
Webcast: ESPN+ (Dylan Vazzano & Michael Cooper)
SERIES/OPPONENT NOTES
Saturday marks the 45th meeting all-time between Tech and Eastern Illinois, with the Golden Eagles owning a 26-18 lead in the series.
In Cookeville, Tech holds a 15-6 advantage, with the team's last victory in the Eblen Center coming in a 94-84 decision on Dec. 31, 2015. The two teams have only met one other time since that win, a 67-60 victory by EIU on Jan. 12, 2019.
In last season's tilt, in Charleston, Eastern Illinois came out on top with an 84-59 victory.
Despite the loss, Jr. Clay (below) turned in a terrific performance with 22 points, three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
In three career games against the Panthers, Clay is averaging 18.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from deep and 92.3 percent from the charity stripe.
EIU's longest winning streak in the series sits at four games from Jan. 10, 1998 to Feb. 4, 1999.
Tech's longest winning streak in the series was six-consecutive spanning Jan. 24, 2004 through Jan. 19, 2006.
The two teams squared off earlier this season in Charleston, an 87-81 win for the Panthers on Jan. 2, 2014.
Damaria Franklin led all scorers with a career-high 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting and with four triples.
Clay scored 19 points with a trio of makes from distance while Keishawn Davidson finished with 12 points and six assists. Shandon Goldman added 13 points and team-high six rebounds off the bench.
QUICK HITTERS
SIUE turned in a shooting performance for the ages Thursday, defeating Tech 81-63 behind a 58.5 percent from the floor, 60 percent (12-of-20) showing from distance and 77.8 percent clip from the line.
Jr. Clay led all scorers in the contest with 19 points on 9-for-19 shooting. He also added three assists and three steals.
Keishawn Davidson turned in a season-high eight assists and grabbed six boards.
At EKU, the Golden Eagles drilled 15 3-pointers in the contest, tied for the fourth-most in a single game in program history.
Tennessee Tech earned its first win of the 2020-21 campaign by defeating SEMO 72-63 on Dec. 30, 2020, holding off a second-half surge by the Redhawks.
The win snapped an 11-game skid for the Golden Eagles, the longest in program history, after going through arguably the toughest non-conference slate in the history of the team.
A year after facing nine opponents who had won 20 games the previous season, Tech loaded up on a tough gauntlet yet again for the 2020-21 campaign.
Six of Tech's seven non-conference opponents won at least 19 games a season ago, with No. 10-ranked Tennessee as the only team with less (17).
Six of Tech's seven non-conference games came on the road, with the match-up against in-state rival Chattanooga the lone tilt in the Eblen Center.
At the conclusion of its final non-conference tilt at Western Kentucky, Tech's seven foes not in the OVC had combined for a 44-10 mark in 2020-21.
OVC opponents Austin Peay, Belmont and Murray State each compiled 21 or more wins a season ago and will square off with Tech twice this season, just adding to the incredibly challenging slate in 2020-21.
Through six games, Tech already has more double-doubles (three) as it did all of last season (two).
Tech was predicted to finish 9th overall in the 2020-21 OVC race in voting by the league's head coaches and SIDs. The Golden Eagles were selected to finish 8th in the OVC media poll.
Last season, Jr. Clay and Keishawn Davidson became the first pair of Tech teammates to each total at least 100 assists in the same season since 2001-02. That year, Cameron Crisp dished out 122 dimes while DeAntoine Beasley doled out 104 assists.
With an 83-70 win over Martin Methodist on November 9, 2019, Tech head coach John Pelphrey earned his first victory as the leader of the Golden Eagle program.
Pelphrey, who was named the 13th head coach in Golden Eagle history in April, also earned career win No. 150 on the night, the same day the Tech football team earned its 150th victory in Tucker Stadium on the day they celebrated the 150th anniversary of college football.
Both Davidson and Sylla were honored by the OVC on Nov. 11, picking up two of the league's first three weekly honors of the 2019-20 campaign. Davidson was named OVC Freshman of the Week while Sylla was recognized as the OVC Newcomer of the Week.
It marked the first time since 2015-16 that Tech claimed two of the OVC's three weekly accolades. The last time it occurred was Feb. 1, 2016 when Torrance Rowe won OVC Player of the Week and both Ryan Martin and Hakeem Rogers shared OVC Newcomer of the Week honors.
TOP IN THEIR STATES
Three of Tech's players for the 2020-21 season boast a particularly impressive feat as part of their respective resumes, all finishing as finalists for the Mr. Basketball Award for their state during their high school careers.
Junior guard Jr. Clay was a two-time finalist at the TSSAA Division II Class AA level while at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, earning the honor in 2017 and again in 2018.
Transfer sophomore guard CJ Gettelfinger was one of three finalists at the TSSAA Division II Class A level in 2018 while competing for Grace Christian Academy in Knoxville.
Freshman forward Kenny White Jr. was named a finalist for Kentucky's Mr. Basketball Award in 2020 while starring for Madisonville-North Hopkins High School in Madisonville, Ky.
Head coach John Pelphrey, a University of Kentucky Hall of Famer, was a Mr. Basketball Award winner during his high school days, claiming the honor for Paintsville High School in 1987.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 2020-21 Tech roster features 15 players (13 scholarship student-athletes) representing six states and three countries.
Six Golden Eagle players hail from the state Tennessee, while Arkansas and Illinois each boast two Tech players. Alabama, California and Kentucky are represented by one Tech player each.
Two international players round out the roster, including one Golden Eagle from Canada and another from Mali.
Tech has one graduate student, one senior, five juniors, four sophomores and four true freshmen.
Nine Golden Eagles stand 6-foot-5 or taller while the other six measure in at 6-foot-4 or shorter.
Nine members are new to the Tech squad for 2020-21, including Damaria Franklin, CJ Gettelfinger, Shandon Goldman, Austin Harvell, Marcus Hopkins, Taelon Peter, Jalen Stayton, Jamaal Thompson and Kenny White Jr.
Photo by Dave Winder, Murray State Media Relations
