By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As Morehead State comes into the Hooper Eblen Center on Thursday night, it's a much-improved squad from a season ago. The visiting Eagles bring a 6-9 record, 2-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Last season, Morehead State finished 1-26 and 0-17 in the OVC in Cayla Petree's first year at the helm. After a nearly-complete revamp of the lineup, including nine international players and five Division I transfers, this year's squad has already shown vast improvement and could make things very interesting for the Golden Eagles (9-5, 3-1 OVC) on Thursday night.
Tip-off for Thursday's game is set for 5:30 p.m. Roger Ealey and Frank Harrell will have the game on 106.1 The Eagle, while Dylan Vazzano and Michael Cooper will broadcast the game on ESPN+ (subscription required). The game will also be televised locally on WCTE and heard on student radio station 88.5 FM.
The Eagles have seen a challenging schedule to open the season, dropping four contests to open the season with South Florida, Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky and East Tennessee State on the victor's side. Morehead State also dropped non-conference contests to Evansville, USC Upstate and Indiana.
In conference play, MSU went into the Gentry Center and put a 23-point victory on Tennessee State to open the OVC season with a statement, then saw a 63-48 defeat at UT Martin. The Eagles split their home action last week as they topped league newcomer Southern Indiana 64-61 before falling 79-62 to Eastern Illinois.
The offense has been led by Stony Brook transfer Veronica Charles, who is averaging 12.3 points per game and has led the team in scoring in 10 of Morehead's 15 games this season. Hartford transfer Sophie Benharouga has also had big scoring nights, entering Thursday's game with a 9.4-point average.
Charles also leads the team in rebounding with a 5.5-rebound rate, leads the team with 54 steals, second on the team in assists with 35.
As a team, Morehead State is averaging 58.7 points and allowing 64.9, shooting .375 from the field, .275 from 3-point range and .574 from the free-throw line. The Eagles are also averaging 33.8 rebounds, 10.9 steals and 19.3 turnovers per game.
Tech, meanwhile, avenged its loss to Eastern Illinois with a big win at UT Martin as freshman Reghan Grimes led the Golden Eagles with 12 points and six rebounds, while Maaliya Owens scored 11 and Reagan Hurst and Jordan Brock each scored 10. Tech outscored the Skyhawks 13-3 to close out the second quarter and was able to hold off UTM to preserve the victory.
The Golden Eagles have won three of their four OVC contests, topping SIUE 85-70, Lindenwood 72-35 and UT Martin 61-49 – all on the road. In the 67-62 loss to Eastern Illinois, Tech fought to the end but the Panthers sealed the deal with late free-throws to make it a two-possession game as time expired.
In conference play alone, Tech has three players averaging double-digit scoring, led by Hurst with a 13.0 average, followed by Guinn (11.8) and Owens (11.3), while Grimes and Anna Walker are averaging 9.0 points each. Peyton Carter (5.8 rpg), Grimes (5.5 rpg) and Guinn (5.0 rpg) lead the team on the glass.
In the four league games, Tech is averaging 70.0 points and allowing 55.3, while shooting .475 from the field, .328 from 3-point range and .727 at the free-throw line.
The numbers are pretty on-par for the season as a whole as Tech is averaging 67.3 points and allowing 63.0, shooting .427 from the floor, .323 from long-range and .737 at the stripe. Owens leads the season stats with a 12.1-point average, while Grimes has 5.9 rebounds per game and Guinn has 3.9 assists per game.
Tickets for Tennessee Tech basketball are on sale now – call (931) 372-3940, visit the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or visit TTUsports.com to order.
Photo | Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
