By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team will officially kick off Ohio Valley Conference play Sunday, Dec. 13, playing host to Jacksonville State in the second game of a doubleheader with the Golden Eagle women's team.
This marks the earliest OVC contest for the purple and gold since the 2010-11 campaign. Tech made a visit to Jacksonville State on Dec. 4, 2010, earning a 64-62 victory in the tilt.
Tennessee Tech (0-5, 0-0) vs. Jacksonville State (3-2, 0-0)
Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020
4:00 p.m. CT
Eblen Center – Cookeville, Tenn.
The Broadcasts
TV: None
Radio: 106.1 The Eagle (Roger Ealey)
Webcast: ESPN+ (Dylan Vazzano & Michael Cooper)
Game Notes
Tennessee Tech
Jacksonville State
SERIES/OPPONENT NOTES
Sunday marks the 41st meeting all-time between Tech and Jacksonville State, with the Golden Eagles owning a 22-18 lead in the series.
In Cookeville, the purple and gold hold a healthy, 13-7 advantage, including a win in last year's tilt in the Eblen Center.
Tech won an instant classic over the Gamecocks in the Feb. 13, 2020 match-up, with former walk-on and local Sparta native Cade Crosland connecting on a triple with 7.7 seconds on the clock for the 75-74 victory.
The Golden Eagles then held the Gamecocks defensively on the final possession, as Jr. Clay got a fingertip on a last-second effort to secure the team's second win in-a-row.
Crosland dropped a career-high and team-leading 21 points with seven 3-pointers in the game while Jr. Clay (13 pts, 7 ast, 3 stl) and Keishawn Davidson (12 pts, 8 ast, 5 stl) turned in strong showings as well.
The victory snapped a five-game skid for the Golden Eagles against Jacksonville State.
In the rematch in the season finale in Jacksonville, the Gamecocks edged the Golden Eagles, 75-71.
Clay posted 12 points with five assists while Davidson added nine helpers, but Jax State hit four free throws down the stretch to claim the win.
QUICK HITTERS
At Western Carolina, Jr. Clay made his first start of the season and turned in a gem, recording a team-high 20 points with four assists, four steals and a block. It marked the 11th 20-point performance of his career, easily the most on the Golden Eagle squad.
Keishawn Davidson chipped in with 18 points, tying his career-high showing at Western Kentucky last season.
Both Tujautae Williams and CJ Gettelfinger made their first appearances of the 2020-21 campaign at WCU. Williams was inactive for the first four games of the year due to COVID protocols while Gettelfinger, a transfer from Oakland University, received immediate eligibility from the NCAA on Dec. 3 after the Golden Eagles had already been on the road.
Through five games, Tech already has as many double-doubles (two) as it did all of last season.
In Tech's home opener against Chattanooga, sophomore point guard Keishawn Davidson claimed his first double-double of the season with a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds.
It marked the second double-double of Davidson's young career (11 pts/10 ast vs. Martin Methodist, 11/10/19), and made him the first Golden Eagle to record two career double-doubles involving different statistical categories since Cameron Crisp (19 pts/11 reb at UT Martin, 2/9/02 & 26 pts/11 ast vs. Eastern Illinois, 3/1/03).
He is also just the fifth known Tech hooper to accomplish the feat (specific double-double records go back to 1984-85), joining Crisp, Alex Franco, Lorenzo Coleman (all-time blocks leader) and Van Usher (all-time assists and steals leader).
At Indiana, Kenny White Jr. (13) and Austin Harvell (10) teamed up to become the first pair of Tech freshmen to score in double figures in a season opener since Nov. 29, 1975 when Jimmy Howell (18) and John C. Adams (15) accomplished the feat against Baptist College (now Baptist Health Sciences University).
They also became the first pair of Golden Eagle freshmen to score in double digits against a Power 5 Conference opponent since Marc Glanton (11) and Kenneth Smith (13) managed it at Georgia (12/29/94).
With his team-leading 17 points at Indiana, and his 18 points at Western Kentucky last season, Keishawn Davidson became the first Golden Eagle to score in double figures in back-to-back season openers since Josiah Moore posted 15 at USF (11/9/13) and 11 against Carolina (formerly Piedmont International - 11/14/14).
Davidson was also the first to score at least 17 points in the first game of the year in back-to-back seasons since Larrie Smith dropped 19 at Georgia Southern (11/20/99) and 17 at South Carolina (11/17/00).
Tech was predicted to finish 9th overall in the 2020-21 OVC race in voting by the league's head coaches and SIDs. The Golden Eagles were selected to finish 8th in the OVC media poll.
Last season, Jr. Clay and Keishawn Davidson became the first pair of Tech teammates to each total at least 100 assists in the same season since 2001-02. That year, Cameron Crisp dished out 122 dimes while DeAntoine Beasley doled out 104 assists.
With an 83-70 win over Martin Methodist on November 9, 2019, Tech head coach John Pelphrey earned his first victory as the leader of the Golden Eagle program.
Pelphrey, who was named the 13th head coach in Golden Eagle history in April, also earned career win No. 150 on the night, the same day the Tech football team earned its 150th victory in Tucker Stadium on the day they celebrated the 150th anniversary of college football.
Both Davidson and Sylla were honored by the OVC on Nov. 11, picking up two of the league's first three weekly honors of the 2019-20 campaign. Davidson was named OVC Freshman of the Week while Sylla was recognized as the OVC Newcomer of the Week.
It marked the first time since 2015-16 that Tech claimed two of the OVC's three weekly accolades. The last time it occurred was Feb. 1, 2016 when Torrance Rowe won OVC Player of the Week and both Ryan Martin and Hakeem Rogers shared OVC Newcomer of the Week honors.
TOP IN THEIR STATES
Three of Tech's players for the 2020-21 season boast a particularly impressive feat as part of their respective resumes, all finishing as finalists for the Mr. Basketball Award for their state during their high school careers.
Junior guard Jr. Clay was a two-time finalist at the TSSAA Division II Class AA level while at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, earning the honor in 2017 and again in 2018.
Transfer sophomore guard CJ Gettelfinger was one of three finalists at the TSSAA Division II Class A level in 2018 while competing for Grace Christian Academy in Knoxville.
Freshman forward Kenny White Jr. was named a finalist for Kentucky's Mr. Basketball Award in 2020 while starring for Madisonville-North Hopkins High School in Madisonville, Ky.
Head coach John Pelphrey, a University of Kentucky Hall of Famer, was a Mr. Basketball Award winner during his high school days, claiming the honor for Paintsville High School in 1987.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 2020-21 Tech roster features 15 players (13 scholarship student-athletes) representing six states and three countries.
Six Golden Eagle players hail from the state Tennessee, while Arkansas and Illinois each boast two Tech players. Alabama, California and Kentucky are represented by one Tech player each.
Two international players round out the roster, including one Golden Eagle from Canada and another from Mali.
Tech has one graduate student, one senior, five juniors, four sophomores and four true freshmen.
Nine Golden Eagles stand 6-foot-5 or taller while the other six measure in at 6-foot-4 or shorter.
Nine members are new to the Tech squad for 2020-21, including Damaria Franklin, CJ Gettelfinger, Shandon Goldman, Austin Harvell, Marcus Hopkins, Taelon Peter, Jalen Stayton, Jamaal Thompson and Kenny White Jr.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
