By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Following one of the longest off-seasons in program history, a wait that saw every challenge thrown at a group of young men, the Tennessee Tech men's basketball time made its much-anticipated 2020-21 debut Wednesday night, falling on the road to Indiana, 89-59.
After enduring a spring tornado (an F4 twister ravaged Middle Tennessee in March, including parts of Cookeville), a summer of social unrest, and a global health pandemic, the Golden Eagles were finally able to roll out the basketballs and play the game they love.
"I thought our guys responded well after they learned a little bit how hard college basketball is," assistant and acting head coach Marcus King said. "That is such a great opponent, Indiana University, with what [head coach] Archie [Miller] does with his team and how they compete. We had a wake-up call there in the first half. In the second half, we went out there and competed. We learned. We grew as a team and got better. The guys stuck to The Code. They competed, and they learned about their jobs."
For about 30 minutes, the purple and gold gave a historically renowned Indiana program everything it could handle, all while missing two of its six returners from the 2019-20 campaign, a junior guard expected to contribute significantly this season and, of course, their head coach, John Pelphrey.
Pelphrey did not travel with the team while dealing with symptoms from COVID-19 while the three student-athletes stayed back due to COVID-19 protocols.
The Golden Eagles showed true grit early on, battling back-and-forth with the Hoosiers over the opening 10 minutes. Indiana took a quick 8-2 lead, but the purple and gold responded with six-straight points, to tie things up.
After a layup from the Hoosiers, Tech took its first and only lead of the contest as freshman forward Austin Harvell connected on a 3-pointer for the first points of his career. Indiana responded with a triple of its own and expanded its lead to six.
Tech clipped into the advantage, cutting the Hoosier advantage to just three halfway through the opening stanza. The offense would hit a cold spell to close the half, however, as Indiana closed out the half on a 28-2 run to take a 48-19 lead into the break. The purple and gold were held to just a 26.7 percent clip from the floor and 7.1 percent showing from deep.
In the second half, the Golden Eagles showed the same fight and determination they put on display in the opening 10 minutes. Tech more than doubled its first-half output, dropping 40 points on 55.6 percent shooting a 4-for-11 mark from beyond the 3-point line.
"I saw fight and competitive nature," King added. "I saw our leader who is not here, Coach Pelphrey. They embodied what he has taught, what he is about, and our Code. They competed at a very high level. They did not allow momentary distractions or failures stop them from understanding how to be successful."
The spark over the final 20 minutes seemed to stem from a Herculean effort on the glass by junior forward Amadou Sylla, who corralled 10 of his game-high 12 rebounds in the second half. He collected eight of those boards during an 11-3 run early in the period, filling the Golden Eagles with new energy.
Sylla added six points to the mix as well. Sophomore point guard Keishawn Davidson was the offensive leader of the Golden Eagles on the night, finishing a point shy of his career-high effort with 17 against the Hoosiers. He hit 7-of-14 from the field and dished out a team-high three helpers.
Freshmen forwards Kenny White Jr. and Austin Harvell both enjoyed strong collegiate debuts, becoming the first pair of Golden Eagle freshmen to score in double figures in their first career game in over 20 years. White finished 5-for-10 with 13 points while Harvell connected on four of his eight tries, including a team-best two triples.
Added to the team on Nov. 21, junior guard Jamaal Thompson made some history by checking into the contest late in the final minutes. A defensive back on the Golden Eagle football team, Thompson became the first Tech student-athlete to play both football and men's basketball since Derrick Gray (1989-92).
The Golden Eagles will continue their season on Monday, Nov. 30, returning to Cookeville for their home-opener against in-state rival Chattanooga. Tip is set for 6:00 p.m. CT in the Hooper Eblen Center.
Photo courtesy of IU Athletics
