APSU Men’s Basketball (14-7, 6-2 Ohio Valley Conference) will be back on the road tonight as they clash with Tennessee Tech (7-14, 3-5 OVC) on Thursday, Jan. 31.
The Govs are coming off of their first home loss of the season, 96-92 to Belmont, were they were dominated on the inside and pushed around in the paint. The Tennessee Tech matchup will be a chance to see how the Govs respond to something they have not necessarily had done to them in some time.
“I think the ones that care will always respond. They will always respond,” Head Coach Matt Figger said. “The ones that do not [care], will not.”
The Govs have struggled on the defensive side of things recently, allowing 70 points or more in their last five games. The Golden Eagles average 70 points a game.
“[Tennessee Tech] is a big team. Their front line is high major in terms of how tall and big they are,” Govs Point Guard Zach Glotta said. “One of the things we did was work on getting back and guarding the ball and getting back to the fundamentals of defense.”
Leading scorer for Tennessee Tech is Junior Clay. TTU’s threat from outside the arch comes in the form of a Redshirt-Freshman from Camden, Tennessee, Hunter Vick. Micaiah Henry is shooting 63 percent on the season for the hosts, one of the most consistent stat lines in the OVC.
However, results from TTU do not always flow with their shooters as they are coming off their first win in their last five games. Additionally, the Golden Eagles have dropped their last two contests at their Eblen Center.
“We have to get back to doing the things we do to get back to winning road games and help us be successful,” Figger said. “That is sustaining 40 minutes and sustaining other teams runs from the energy of the home crowd.”
APSU’s largest threat is how well they shoot the ball. The Govs average 81 points a game and are shooting near 50 percent from the floor. All those numbers are higher then what TTU’s opponent’s averages are. In the contest, APSU will have to manage to keep their hotshot rolling at a place that many have struggled to finish the shot this season.
“That is one of the things we do well, we shoot the ball well,” Glotta said. “In all honest, Tennessee Tech is a tough place to shot in. The rims are stiff and it is a weird shooting environment.”
As of the current OVC standings, APSU sits in fourth while TTU is stuck in the mid-table at the eighth position.
Tip-off is scheduled is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the game airing on ESPN news.
Full OVC Standings
- Mu**ay St. (16-3, 7-1)
- Jacksonville St. (15-6, 7-1)
- Belmont (15-4, 6-2)
- APSU (14-7, 6-2)
- Eastern Illinois (12-9, 5-3)
- Morehead St. (8-13, 4-4)
- Eastern Kentucky (10-11, 3-5)
- Tennessee Tech (7-14, 3-5)
- Southeast Missouri (7-14, 2-6)
- SIU Edwardsville (6-14, 2-6)
- Tennessee St. (5-15, 2-6)
- UT Martin (6-13, 1-7)
