Tech stays in-state for first OVC road trip to Belmont, Tennessee State
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Tech heads off on its first road trip of 2018, traveling to Nashville this week for meetings with Belmont and Tennessee State.
By Layne Weitzel, TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE – Tennessee Tech heads off on its first road trip of 2018, traveling to Nashville this week for meetings with Belmont and Tennessee State.
Tech tips off with Belmont on Thursday, Jan. 4 at 5 p.m. CT and Tennessee State on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 2 p.m. CT.
"Now we get to go on the road to the best team in the league, but we've got to be excited about that," said head coach Kim Rosamond after Tech's game on Saturday against Eastern Kentucky. "We've got to be excited about another opportunity. There is still a ton of basketball to be played. It's about how you bounce back and how you respond, and we've got to respond in a really positive way at Belmont on Thursday night."
- 2016-17 record: 27-6, 16-0 Ohio Valley Conference (won the regular-season title; defeated 7-seed Eastern Kentucky 94-64 in the tournament championship)
- Notables: Belmont is now led by first-year head coach Bart Brooks after former head coach Cameron Newbauer left to fill the same position at the University of Florida. Tech's last win over Belmont was a 61-57 victory in the 2013 OVC tournament, which turned out to be the penultimate game before Newbauer was named head coach… The Bruins have at least two players in the OVC's top 10 of each of the following statistical categories: scoring (Kylee Smith [19.6] and Darby Maggard [16.3]), rebounding (Jenny Roy [7.9] and Smith [7.5]), field goal percentage (Maggard [.473] and Smith [.460]), assists (Maggard [5.3], Smith [4.7] and Roy [4.1], 3-point percentage (Maggard [.426] and Smith [.389]), 3-point field goals made (Maggard [3.3] and Smith [2.8]), assist/turnover ratio (Maggard [3.6], Roy [3.1] and Smith [1.6]) and defensive rebounds (Smith [6.2] and Roy [4.7]).
- 2016-17 record: 10-16, 5-11 Ohio Valley Conference (tied for 11th in the regular season)
- Notables: Standout freshman guard Taylor Roberts has won four of the eight OVC Freshman of the Week honors this season. Roberts ranks sixth in the league in both scoring (16.1 PPG) and rebounding (7.5 RPG) and is the youngest player in the top 10 of each category. She also leads the OVC in free throw percentage, making 86.6 percent of her tries… Only two of Tennessee State's 15 players hail from Tennessee, while eight of Tech's 15 players are from the Volunteer State.
