COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Tech looks to shine in the national spotlight Thursday night when it plays host to the UT Martin Skyhawks on ESPNU. Much of the attention coming into the game is focused on UTM's preseason OVC Player of the Year Lester Hudson, but Tech would love to steal the spotlight from the high-scoring Skyhawk senior.

The game tips off in Eblen Center at 8 p.m., following a 5 p.m. women's contest.

The Golden Eagles and coach Mike Sutton hope to gain the advantage early after splitting the two games against the Skyhawks last season, including a loss in Eblen Center.

Tech is 8-7 overall with a 2-3 record in the conference after dropping a pair of games to Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky on the road by a combined seven points. Tech fell in the last minute to the MSU Eagles, 64-62, on Thursday night before taking a tough, 85-80 loss to the Colonels in Richmond on Saturday night.

The Skyhawks split their two games last weekend with a win over Tennessee State after dropping the contest to Austin Peay. The loss to the Governors ended a six-game winning streak. So far this season UT Martin is 9-6 overall and 2-3 in the OVC.

During the winning streak, the Skyhawks picked up wins over former OVC member Middle Tennessee as well as Central Arkansas.

Hudson has been the leading scorer for the Skyhawks every game this season with a season high 41 in the win over Central Arkansas. He has scored at least 20 points in every game -- his season low was 20 points on two occasions, both at SEC members South Carolina and Tennessee. Averaging 26.7 points a game, Hudson is second in the nation in scoring average behind only Stephen Curry of Davidson.

But UT Martin has other scoring options, including Marquis Weddle who is averaging 13.2 points a game. Olajide Hay is third on the team with 9.0 points a game in the eight games he has played in. Delrico Lane is leading the squad with 65 assists and is second in steals with 35. Hudson sits atop the Skyhawk stats with 37 take-aways.

Brett Campbell is in his 10th season as the helm of the UT Martin program after serving on the staffs at Austin Peay, Central Florida, Birmingham Southern and Kennesaw State.

Tech got a career-high from junior Frank Davis against Eastern Kentucky with 24 points including seven three-pointers. The game marked the second time this season that Davis hit six consecutive three-point attempts to tie the school record.

Davis is just one of four Golden Eagles in double-figures this season. Junior Will Barnes is averaging 11.5 a contest with senior Daniel Northern right on his heels with 11.4 a game. Davis is putting up 11.0 a game while fellow junior DJ Lindsay is scoring 10.9 ppg.

In last year's first contest, Tech traveled to Martin and lit up the scoreboard posting a 100-95 win over the Skyhawks at the Elam Center.

Amadi McKenzie and Anthony Fisher scored 21 points each and Davis netted 20 points to lead the Golden Eagles. McKenzie added nine rebounds and four assists to his totals. Davis was 6-for-8 from 3-point range and also had five assists and five steals.

Northern posted his league-leading ninth double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and also blocked four shots. Barnes scored 11 for his third consecutive double-figure performance, and Rashaud Nixon added 10.

UT Martin, which came into the contest tied with the Golden Eagles in the standings, was led by Weddle with 30 points, including 8-for-16 3-pointers. Hudson had 27 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, and Benzor Simmons added 18 points.

The second time around, Tech held Hudson, one of the nation's most prolific scorers, to nine points, his only game of the season shy of double digits, but UT Martin found enough firepower elsewhere to pull off an 82-79 Ohio Valley Conference victory, avenging the loss in Martin.
Northern posted a double-double to lead Tech with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Fisher also scored 19 points and dished out seven assists for the Golden Eagles. McKenzie finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Barnes added 13 points.

Tech yielded the lead in the final two minutes. UT Martin got 29 points from Weddle and a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds from Gerald Robinson.

For tickets, visit or call the Athletics Ticket Office in Eblen Center (931-372-3940), or click here.