By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 2 seeded Tennessee Tech men's basketball team will compete in its first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinal since 2012 Friday evening, squaring off with the winner of Thursday night's quarterfinal match-up between No. 3 UT Martin and No. 6 SIUE in a 9:30 p.m. CT affair in the Ford Center in Evansville.
Fans will have plenty of options to follow the action should they be unable to attend in person, with Dylan Vazzano and Frank Harrell providing radio coverage on 106.1 The Eagle and Robert Ford and Richie Scheuler sharing the call on both ESPNU and ESPN+.
The Golden Eagles enter the OVC Tournament with its highest seeding since claiming the No. 1 position after winning the league's regular-season crown in 2004-05. Friday's contest will mark Tech's 20th in the semifinals of the OVC's postseason event, with the Golden Eagles advancing to the title game three times; 2002, 2003, and 2011.
The purple and gold fell in all three championship contests and enter this year's tournament looking for its first OVC Postseason Tournament title. Should the Golden Eagles capture the crown this season, it would also snap a 60-year NCAA drought for the Cookeville crew, the second-longest span in the country. While Tech's last visit to the Big Dance came in 1963, Dartmouth's most recent appearance was back in 1959.
Tech enter the tournament with valued momentum, winning five of its final seven games of the year, including back-to-back road tilts at Southern Indiana and Eastern Illinois to put a cap on the season and clinch the No. 2 seed.
UT Martin enters this year's tournament as the No. 3 seed, with the Golden Eagles leapfrogging the Skyhawks for the No. 2 seed on the season's final day of action. UTM fell at Morehead State while Tech bested Eastern Illinois on the road.
Scoring was certainly on hand when Tech and UT Martin squared off this season, with each side picking up a road win during the series. The Golden Eagles bested the Skyhawks, 84-80, in overtime in Martin back on Jan. 7. UT Martin returned the favor in Cookeville on Feb. 18, winning a 100-91 barn burner over Tech.
In the all-time series between the Golden Eagles and Skyhawks, Tech leads with a decisive, 41-17 advantage. The purple and gold are 3-1 against UT Martin when the two meet in the OVC Tournament and 1-0 when playing at a neutral site. Tech won the most recent match-up between the two in the league's postseason event, an 83-59 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2011 OVC Tourney.
Seeded No. 6 in this year's event, SIUE earned a 68-54 victory over Southern Indiana in the first round Wednesday evening.
The Golden Eagles and Cougars split its season series, with SIUE besting Tech in the OVC opener back on Dec. 29 in Edwardsville, 64-51. The purple and gold exacted some revenge in Cookeville, rolling to an 80-68 victory on Jan. 26.
In the all-time series between the Golden Eagles and Cougars, Tech leads with a 13-7 advantage. The purple and gold are 2-0 against SIUE when the two meet in the OVC Tournament, with both tilts occurring at a neutral location. Tech won the most recent match-up between the two squads in the league's postseason event, a 60-51 victory in the first round of the 2018 OVC Tourney.
Should the Golden Eagles defeat either UT Martin or SIUE, the purple and gold will square off between either No. 1 seeded Morehead State, No. 4 Tennessee State, or No. 5 Southeast Missouri. The championship game of the OVC Tournament is slated for a 7:00 p.m. tip Saturday evening with radio coverage remaining the same and TV coverage shifting to ESPN2 and ESPN+.
Photo by Jim Dillon
