By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team welcomes its longest-standing Ohio Valley Conference rival to the Hooper Eblen Center Thursday evening, clashing with Morehead State in a 7:30 p.m. CT bout.
Fans will have plenty of options to follow the action, with Roger Ealey and Frank Harrell providing radio coverage on 106.1 The Eagle and Dylan Vazzano and Michael Cooper sharing the call on ESPN+. The game will also be televised locally on WCTE and can be heard on the WTTU student radio station 88.5 FM.
Morehead State comes into the contest tied with SIUE atop the league standings at 3-1 and fresh off a 2-0 weekend in conference play. Last Thursday, the Eagles picked up an 84-80 victory over new OVC foe Southern Indiana in Morehead. They followed it up with a second home win, this one a 69-59 decision over Eastern Illinois.
In the all-time series between the two OVC rivals, Morehead State leads with a 92-67 advantage. The Golden Eagles hold a 43-25 lead in the series when competing in Cookeville. The visiting Eagles have put together an impressive run in the series in recent years, winning nine of the past 10 match-ups and each of the past five.
Last season, Morehead State claimed all three meetings, including a 73-56 decision in the quarterfinals of the OVC Tournament in Evansville. Tech fell to the Eagles in the Eblen Center, 70-56, in January and then dropped the rematch in Morehead just four days later, 75-68.
The Golden Eagles enter Thursday's action after picking up their second straight OVC win and first road victory of the 2022-23 campaign, outlasting in-state rival UT Martin in overtime, 84-80. Both sides shot better than 50 percent in the opening half and struggled to find the same consistency in the second stanza, but the purple and gold triumphed in the extra session behind a 4-for-5 showing from the floor.
Junior guard Jayvis Harvey led all scorers behind career-highs of 23 points and five makes from distance, and added five boards to the mix. Forward Jaylen Sebree, a graduate transfer from Morehead State, posted 14 points and seven rebounds while fellow grad transfer Ty Perry delivered 13 points and a pair of dimes.
Jumping in on the double-digit scoring action were junior guards Brett Thompson and Diante Wood, each contributing 10 points on the night. Wood just missed a double-double, settling for nine boards and team-highs of five assists and two blocks. Thompson snagged four boards and dished out a trio of dimes.
Local Sparta product Grant Slatten did the dirty work on the glass all evening, corralling a game-high 10 boards in just over 20 minutes of action off the bench. He provided five points to the effort as well.
Following Thursday's match-up, Tech will play host to in-state foe Tennessee State in a 3:00 p.m. CT tilt in the Eblen Center. The contest will follow the Golden Eagle women's contest with the Lady Tigers, set for a 1:00 p.m. tip.
Photo by Alex Boggis, UT Martin Media Relations