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COOKEVILLE, Tenn.--Morehead State men’s basketball survived a late barrage of 3-pointers at Jacksonville State Thursday, only to find a hungry Tennessee Tech team waiting for the Eagles Saturday. MSU and TTU, tied for third in the OVC at 8-4, square off at the Eblen Center at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.
The Eagles got 25 points from Demonte Harper, who shot 9-of-15 from the field, and 21 points and 20 rebounds by Kenneth Faried to hold on after a couple of furious rallies by the Gamecocks. The same kind of effort will be needed Saturday against a Tech team that beat Eastern Kentucky Thursday to maintain the two-way tie for third place.
Faried and Harper still lead the Eagles, averaging a combined 33.3 points per game.
MSU won the first meeting with Tech this season, 76-64 in Morehead. Morehead State also leads its long-time OVC rival Golden Eagles 72-61. MSU is 16-8 overall and is 12-9 overall and along with Tech is half a game behind Murray State and one game behind Austin Peay. With Murray and Peay also squaring off Saturday, the TTU-MSU game will have second place on the line with five games to go.
Tennessee Tech has four players that average in double figures, led by Kevin Murphy’s 15.6 points per game. Zach Bailey tallies 10.7 points per game and Jud Dillard and Zac Swansey each average 10 points.Terrell Barnes leads the Golden Eagles on the glass with 6.0 boards per game.
TTU has won three straight and four of the last five, losing at Tennessee State, but earning victories over Eastern Illinois, SEMO Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay.
After Saturday, Morehead State will close out the 2010-11 home season with a pair of OVC games against Eastern Illinois (Thursday) and Southeast Missouri (Saturday). The SEMO game will mark senior night and the final home appearance by Sam Goodman, Harper and Faried.
