By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team returns to Cookeville for the first time in over a week, playing host to ULM Friday evening in a 6:00 p.m. match-up in the Eblen Center.
Tennessee Tech (0-5) vs. ULM (2-2)
Friday, Nov. 23, 2018
6:00 p.m. CT
Eblen Center (7,500) – Cookeville, Tenn.
The Broadcasts
TV: None
Radio: 106.1 The Eagle (Rob Schabert & Frank Harrell)
Webcast: ESPN+ (Rob Schabert & Frank Harrell)
SERIES NOTES
This will mark the fourth meeting between the two programs all-time, with ULM owning a 2-1 advantage. The Golden Eagles and Warhawks are 1-1 all-time while competing in the Eblen Center.
Tech's most recent match-up with ULM came in Cookeville back on Nov. 29, 2008. The Golden Eagles cruised to a 108-70 victory, avenging a loss from earlier in the season at Monroe.
A whopping seven Golden Eagles finished in double figures in the contest, led by Frank Davis with 22 points on 6-for-7 shooting from downtown. Also scoring 10+ points were Will Barnes, DJ Lindsay, Alfred Jones, Zach Bailey, Ra'shun Bryant and Alex Davis.
Tech knocked down 22-of-25 attempts from the charity stripe and 12-of-20 shots from deep. The team also compiled 22 assists and hauled in 48 rebounds.
TECH VERSUS THE SUN BELT
The Golden Eagles are 25-24 all-time against the current membership of the Sun Belt Conference. TTU is 18-7 all-time at home against the Sun Belt.
Tech has taken on all but three of the conference's 12 teams. The Golden Eagles have never faced Little Rock, Texas State or Troy.
Tech's top win totals against the Sun Belt have come against Arkansas State and Georgia Southern. The purple and gold own six each against the two teams, including a 6-3 mark against ASU and a 6-4 record against GSU.
TECH VERSUS LOUISIANA
The Golden Eagles are 9-15 all-time against current Division I competition from the state of Louisiana, including an 8-2 mark at home.
Tech has taken on all but three of the 12 current Division I programs from the state of Louisiana. The Golden Eagles have never faced Grambling State, LSU or McNeese State.
Tech's best record against a Louisiana institution is a 2-1 mark against Northwestern State. The Golden Eagles own three victories against Louisiana (formerly UL-Lafayette), totaling a 3-6 record overall.
TRENDING
The 2018-19 schedule proves as one of the most daunting for the Golden Eagles in program history. Current preseason rankings would have it be the first season in team history where the Golden Eagles face three preseason top-10 teams. (No. 6 Tennessee, No. 8 North Carolina and No. 10 Michigan State).
Tech has faced three different top-15 teams just once in school history, back in 1993-94. Then head coach Frank Harrell's squad took on No. 1 Kentucky, No. 12 Indiana and No. 14 UConn throughout the season.
Tech was predicted to finish fifth overall in the 2019 OVC race in voting by the league's head coaches and SIDs.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 2018-19 Tech roster features 17 players (13 scholarship student-athletes) representing five states.
Ten Golden Eagle players hail from the state Tennessee, while Georgia boasts a total of three Tech players. Florida represents home to two Golden Eagles while both Alabama and Illinois are represented by one Tech player each.
Tech has two graduate students, two seniors, four juniors, one sophomore, one redshirt freshman and seven true freshmen.
Ten Golden Eagles stand 6-foot-5 or taller while the other seven measure in at 6-foot-4 or shorter.
A whopping 11 members are new to the Tech squad for 2018-19, including Spencer Chandler, Jr. Clay, Garrett Golday, Malik Martin, Chris McNeal, Caden Mills, Chase Ridenour, Jared Sherfield, Tyler Thompson, Johnnie Vassar and Reece Wilkinson.
WINDS OF CHANGE
Last year, the Golden Eagles returned 71.0 percent of their scoring. This season, things look a little different for the purple and gold. Just 19.4 percent of Tech's points will return in 2018-19.
In 2017-18, seven of TTU's top eight scorers returned to help lead the team to 19 wins. This season, the Golden Eagles have lost their top five scorers from last year, all of which averaged double figures.
Senior Courtney Alexander II represents the top returner at 6.8 points per game.
Tech represents the only OVC team in the league not returning at least one of its top five scorers from a season ago.
Alexander also marks the only returning starter from 2017-18, making 32 starts in 33 games. He led the team in both rebounds and blocks last season.
Tennessee State is the only other team in the OVC returning just one starter from last season. The team also hired a new head coach in the offseason.
Tech's five returning players who saw action in 2017-18 ranks the Golden Eagles as the second-lowest in the league behind Southeast Missouri's four. Belmont also returns just five players from last year.
Overall, the Golden Eagles return just 27.1 percent of their total minutes played from 2017-18, the 12th lowest percentage in the nation. Of Tech's opponents in 2018-19, only Chattanooga returns less (15.2 percent).
Photo by Robert Crawford
