By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech men's basketball team keeps its four-game road stretch through Ohio Valley Conference play rolling into Morehead, Ky. for a 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday-night tilt with long-time league rival Morehead State at Johnson Arena.
The action can be followed live via radio with Roger Ealey on the call on 106.1 The Eagle while video coverage of the contest will be provided on ESPN+.
Thursday's match-up marks the 165th in program history between Tech and Morehead State, the second-most tilts with an opponent in program history to just Murray State. The Eagles own a 95-69 advantage in the series, including a 53-16 lead when competing in Morehead.
The Golden Eagles will look for their first win in Johnson Arena since Mar. 1, 2014 when the purple and gold outlasted the Eagles in a barn-burner, 91-84. Tech will also look for back-to-back wins over its long-time rival for the first time since picking up a 65-52 victory in Cookeville on Jan. 29, 2007 and a 73-55 triumph in the Hoop on Jan. 7, 2008.
In this season's first meeting between the two foes, Tech picked up a historic win in the all-time series, topping Morehead 74-55 in the Eblen Center on Jan. 4. The 19-point victory marked the purple and gold's largest over their rival since a 63-40 blowout in Cookeville back on Jan. 13, 2005.
The Cookeville crew limited the visiting Eagles to just 55 points, their lowest point total since Tech topped Morehead 66-55 back on Jan. 7, 2012 in the Hoop. The Golden Eagles also held their rivals to just 36.5 percent shooting on the night, including a 3-for-15 performance from distance.
On the offensive side of the ball, the purple and gold were efficient and moved the ball around well, racking up 21 assists and eight triples. Eight of the nine Golden Eagles who saw the floor scored at least five points and hauled in a rebound.
Sells dropped a new season-high of 17 points against Morehead State, sinking 5-of-6 shots from the floor and 4-of-5 tries from downtown while playing 33 minutes. Sophomore forward JaJuan Nicholls also posted a season-high in the scoring column, securing 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting. He mixed in three assists and two blocks for good measure.
Flirting with a triple-double and filling the stat sheets, Jaylon Johnson delivered 12 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and five steals to the Tech effort. Sophomore guard Kyle Layton produced 10 points on 3-for-4 shooting with five rebounds.
Sparta native Grant Slatten finished 2-for-3 in 18 minutes off the bench, dropping eight points with four rebounds. Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe chipped in six points, a team-high 10 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks as well.
Morehead State enters Thursday's contest following a thrilling, one-point win over Southern Indiana in Johnson Arena on Tuesday evening. The Eagles struggled to ice the game at the charity stripe, providing the Screaming Eagles with three separate chances at winning the contest.
USI missed a layup, lost a turnover, and saw a desperation heave miss its mark all in the final 30 seconds of action, with the final score of 66-65 holding up down the stretch for Morehead.
Tech squares off with the Eagles after dropping after snapping a four-game squid with a huge, 89-85 decision in overtime at UT Martin on Saturday. Behind a trio of spectacular scoring displays, the purple and gold produced huge offensive production in the second half and overtime to collect a much-needed win.
Leading the Golden Eagle effort with a career-high 23 points, Nicholls also hauled in seven boards while finishing with 10 field goals on 16 attempts. The youngster corralled four huge offensive rebounds and threw down five dunks as well while sparking Tech's second-half rally.
Ending the evening a perfect 12-for-12 at the charity stripe, Johnson tallied 21 points with a trio of makes from deep and a team-high four assists. Junior guard Ray Glasgow joined the group of scorers with a season-high 21 points of his own, sinking 7-of-11 tries from the floor and 5-of-6 attempts at the charity stripe. He also tied for the team lead with eight rebounds.
Nicholls, Johnson, and Glasgow became the first Tech trio to each score at least 20 points in a contest since Jayvis Harvey (22), Rodney Johnson Jr. (21), and David Early (20) accomplished the feat in the team's overtime victory at Presbyterian on Nov. 22, 2023. For the night, the purple and gold finished 24-for-29 from the line while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 32.1 percent from downtown.
Junior forward Daniel Egbuniwe flirted with a double-double behind 12 points and eight boards, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. Layton chipped in six huge points, with four in the overtime period alone. Junior forward Ola Ajiboye ended the evening with three swats and three boards.
Photo by Thomas Corhern
