By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team returns to the comfort of the Hooper Eblen Center for its longest home stretch of the 2020-21 campaign, beginning with a Thursday affair against SIUE.
Tip is slated for 8:00 p.m. CT, following the Golden Eagle women's tilt with the Cougars at 5:00 p.m. The Golden Eagles will then host Eastern Illinois in doubleheader action Saturday, with the men scheduled to tip at 4:00 p.m.
Tech wraps up the homestand with an 8:00 p.m. match-up against Eastern Kentucky on Monday, Feb. 15 following the Golden Eagle volleyball match with Eastern Illinois at 4:00 p.m.
Tennessee Tech (2-18, 2-12) vs. SIUE (7-10, 5-6)
Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021
8:00 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 16th meeting all-time between Tech and SIUE, with the Golden Eagles owning an 11-4 lead in the series.
In Cookeville, Tech holds an undefeated, 5-0 advantage, including a 78-69 victory in overtime in the last tilt in the Eblen Center back on Jan. 10, 2019.
The Golden Eagles have won six of the past seven match-ups with the Cougars, with SIUE's lone victory coming on Feb. 28, 2019 in Edwardsville, a 76-68 decision.
Despite the infancy of the all-time series – the first contest between the two programs didn't come until Dec. 1, 2010 – Tech and SIUE have met twice in the OVC Tournament. The Golden Eagles took the W in both contests, including 74-67 in 2014 and 60-51 in 2018, Tech's last trip to the league's postseason event.
Last season, the purple and gold claimed a 72-69 victory when the two sides squared off in Edwardsville.
Trailing by as many as 11 early in the second half, Tech quickly rallied to make it a tight ball game the remainder of the night. SIUE got two looks at a potential tying 3-pointer, but neither went down as Tech held on for the win.
Former Golden Eagle Darius Allen led the way, posting team-highs of 15 points and nine rebounds, narrowly missing his first career double-double.
Jr. Clay added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while Keishawn Davidson supplied six dimes.
Amadou Sylla turned in 13 points and six boards off the bench. Tujautae Williams corralled seven boards to go along with six points and three helpers.
QUICK HITTERS
In Tech's heart-breaking loss at UT Martin, Jr. Clay got a look at a potential game-winning triple, but the shot banged off the rim to and the Skyhawks prevailed with a 66-64 win in Martin.
Keishawn Davidson led the Tech effort with 15 points and six assists while Clay turned in 14 points and five dimes.
Freshman Austin Harvell turned in one of his best games in the purple and gold, setting career-highs of four 3-pointers made and 14 points while also hauling in a team-high eight rebounds. He gathered two steals and two blocks as well.
At EKU, the Golden Eagles drilled 15 3-pointers in the contest, tied for the fourth-most in a single game in program history.
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 UT Martin University Relations
