By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team will return to the comfort of the Hooper Eblen Center Thursday, playing host to Ohio Valley Conference and in-state rival Belmont in a contest now slated for a 6:00 p.m. CT tip.
The contest was originally scheduled for 8:00 p.m., but the contest was moved up to 6:00 p.m. after the postponement of the women's contest against the Bruins due to Belmont COVID-19 protocols. This marks Tech's first home game since Dec. 30, 2020 and just the fourth all season for the Golden Eagles.
Tennessee Tech (1-12, 1-5) vs. Belmont (12-1, 6-0)
Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021
6:00 p.m. CT
Eblen Center – Cookeville, Tenn.
The Broadcasts
TV: None
Radio: 106.1 The Eagle (Roger Ealey)
Webcast: ESPN+ (Dylan Vazzano & Michael Cooper)
SERIES/OPPONENT NOTES
Thursday marks the 28th meeting all-time between Tech and Belmont, with the Golden Eagles owning a 14-13 lead in the series.
In Cookeville, the purple and gold holds a 12-5 advantage, but the Bruins have won each of the past three games hosted in the Eblen Center.
Tech won the first 11 match-ups with the Bruins in the all-time series, which began during the 1956-57 campaign.
The Golden Eagles currently rank tied for second among OVC teams in terms of regular-season victories against Belmont since the team joined the league in the 2012-13 season.
Jacksonville State has won five while Tech, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State and Tennessee State has all won three regular-season tilts against the Bruins.
In last year's match-up in Cookeville, the Golden Eagles fought a 46-25 halftime deficit. Tech dropped a whopping 59 points in the second half, but it was too little too late as Belmont won, 92-84.
Hunter Vick led Tech with 21 points off the bench on 5-for-5 shooting from deep. Jr. Clay scored 19 points, hauled in five rebounds and dished out eight assists. Darius Allen had 18 points with eight rebounds while Keishawn Davidson (below) contributed eight points and seven dimes.
In the rematch in Nashville, Tech got as close to beating Belmont in the Curb Event Center as it has since they joined the league, falling in a heartbreaker, 65-62.
Davidson paced the effort with 17 points and five rebounds while Jr. Clay kicked in 12 points. Amadou Sylla scored 10 points and snagged five boards as well.
QUICK HITTERS
Tech turned in one of its most impressive offensive showings of the season at EKU, but couldn't match the output of the league's top offense in the 90-80 loss.
The Golden Eagles drilled 15 3-pointers in the contest, tied for the fourth-most in a single game in program history.
Keishawn Davidson led Tech with a career-high tying 18 points while dishing out five assists.
Jr. Clay posted his second double-double of the year with 15 points and 10 dimes, becoming the first Golden Eagle with two double-doubles involving assists in the same season since Jeremiah Samarrippas during the 2013-14 campaign.
He also now sits just eight points away from becoming the 37th member of Tech's 1,000-point club.
Damaria Franklin added 14 points while Shandon Goldman produced 12 points, each making four triples. Dane Quest posted a career-high nine points.
Tennessee Tech earned its first win of the 2020-21 campaign by defeating SEMO 72-63 on Dec. 30, 2020, holding off a second-half surge by the Redhawks.
The win snapped an 11-game skid for the Golden Eagles, the longest in program history, after going through arguably the toughest non-conference slate in the history of the team.
A year after facing nine opponents who had won 20 games the previous season, Tech loaded up on a tough gauntlet yet again for the 2020-21 campaign.
Six of Tech's seven non-conference opponents won at least 19 games a season ago, with No. 10-ranked Tennessee as the only team with less (17).
Six of Tech's seven non-conference games came on the road, with the match-up against in-state rival Chattanooga the lone tilt in the Eblen Center.
At the conclusion of its final non-conference tilt at Western Kentucky, Tech's seven foes not in the OVC had combined for a 44-10 mark in 2020-21.
OVC opponents Austin Peay, Belmont and Murray State each compiled 21 or more wins a season ago and will square off with Tech twice this season, just adding to the incredibly challenging slate in 2020-21.
Through six games, Tech already has more double-doubles (three) as it did all of last season (two).
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 NKU Athletics
