2022-23 Tennessee Tech Men's Basketball Schedule
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – A healthy mix of home and road games make up the schedule for the Tennessee Tech men's basketball team for the 2022-23 campaign, as the program announced its newest slate Wednesday for its fourth season under the watch of head coach John Pelphrey.
The Golden Eagles will celebrate their 100th anniversary during the 2022-23 season with 17 home games, including one exhibition, seven non-conference tilts, and nine Ohio Valley Conference contests. The schedule also presents 15 road tests throughout the year, including six during non-conference play.
Fans will get a preview of what's to come during the 100th anniversary celebration season on Oct. 27 when Tech hosts Cumberland University as part of an exhibition doubleheader with the Golden Eagle women's team (playing Stephen's College) for Purple Palooza.
The non-conference portion of the purple and gold's slate provides a slew of teams with postseason success in 2021-22. Eight of the team's 10 Division I opponents in the first half of the season won at least one contest in their respective conference tournaments, with four advancing to the championship game.
A new wrinkle to the 2022-23 schedule are new start times for Saturday and Sunday tilts in the Eblen Center. Doubleheaders with the Tech women's team will feature tips of 1:00 p.m. CT and 3:00 p.m., with the men's squad securing 3:00 p.m. slot. Any men's contest in the Hoop on a Sunday will also begin at 3:00 p.m. Weekday doubleheaders will continue to boast traditional start times of 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. while single games will commence at 6:00 p.m.
The 101st season of Golden Eagle men's basketball will officially commence Monday, Nov. 7 with a stiff test against the reigning Southeastern Conference Tournament champions Tennessee. Tech will make the trek down I-40 to Knoxville and officially tip off the 2022-23 campaign at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tech returns to Cookeville on Nov. 10 for the team's home opener, playing host to Tennessee Wesleyan. Next up on the schedule is a trip to Huntington, W.Va. and a meeting with Marshall on Nov. 14. The contests kicks off a multi-team event for the purple and gold, which also features a home tilt against Coppin State on Nov. 17, a team that advanced to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament final last season.
The affair represents the first of a three-game homestand for the Golden Eagles, welcoming in-state rival ETSU to the Eblen Center for the first time since 2015 on Nov. 20. Two days later, Tech hosts Truett McConnell in a Nov. 22 tilt.
The non-conference slate continues after Thanksgiving with a quick trip to Highland Heights, Ky. and a Nov. 27 match-up with last season's Horizon League Tournament runner-up, Northern Kentucky. Tech heads back to Cookeville on Nov. 30, hosting in-state rival and the defending Southern Conference regular season and tournament champion Chattanooga Mocs.
Three straight road games kick off the month of December for the purple and gold, featuring a trip to Indianapolis and Dec. 3 meeting with Butler. One week later, the road swing continues at Troy with a Dec. 10 tilt. On last in-state battle wraps up the stretch away from Cookeville, a Dec. 14 affair at Lipscomb.
The Golden Eagles host two more contests to conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule, a Dec. 17 date with Western Carolina and Dec. 20 meeting with Kentucky Christian.
OVC play begins with a road swing to the west, starting with a Dec. 29 trek to SIUE. The trip also features a first-time look at newly minted league foe Lindenwood on Dec. 31 in St. Charles, Mo. Tech's league road slate also includes trips to UT Martin (Jan. 7), new OVC member Little Rock (Jan. 19), Southeast Missouri (Jan. 21), Morehead State (Feb. 2), Tennessee State (Feb. 11), new conference rival Southern Indiana (Feb. 23), and Eastern Illinois (Feb. 25).
The purple and gold welcome Eastern Illinois to the Eblen Center for its first OVC home tilt of the year on Jan. 5. Remaining on the home schedule are dates against Morehead State (Jan. 12), Tennessee State (Jan. 14), SIUE (Jan. 26), Little Rock (Jan. 28), Southeast Missouri (Feb. 4), Southern Indiana (Feb. 9), Lindenwood (Feb. 16), and UT Martin (Feb. 18).
The OVC Basketball Championships will once again take place at Evansville's Ford Center, scheduled for Mar. 1-4.
Season tickets for Tennessee Tech men's basketball are now on sale. To order, call 931-372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office, or visit TTUSports.com.
Photo by Thomas Corhern