Ohio Valley Conference

CO-PLAYER
Anthony Fisher, G ? Sr., 6-3, 185 ? Alpharetta, Ga. ? Tennessee Tech
Fisher was the leading scorer and a key player in Tennessee Tech’s 79-62 road victory at Pac-10 foe Oregon State on Sunday. Fisher scored 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting (66.7%) while also connecting on 8-of-10 (80%) free throws. Most importantly, he dished out four assists and had only two turnovers in 35 minutes of action while facing tremendous defensive pressure from the Beavers, who came into the contest ranked 24th nationally in scoring defense.

CO-PLAYER
Amadi McKenzie, F ? Sr., 6-7, 230 ? Atlanta, Ga. ? Tennessee Tech
McKenzie scored eight of his 18 points during a 12-2 Golden Eagle run to open the game on Sunday, as Tennessee Tech scored a 79-62 road victory at Pac-10 foe Oregon State. McKenzie finished the game 7-of-10 (70%) from the field and 4-of-6 at the free throw line in posting 18 points and eight rebounds against the nation’s 24th-ranked scoring defense.

Others Nominated: Josh Davis, Samford.

NEWCOMER
Charles Moore, F ? Jr., 6-7, 220 ? St. Louis, Mo. ? Tennessee Tech
Making his first career start in place of the injured Daniel Northern, Moore helped Tennessee Tech jump out to an 8-1 lead and eventually a 17-point road victory (79-62) at Pac-10 foe Oregon State on Sunday. In 17 minutes of action, Moore had six rebounds, scored four points and added two steals and an assist. He helped the Golden Eagles out-rebound the Beavers 39-36.

Others Nominated: none.

FRESHMAN
Josh Davis, G ? Fr., 6-4, 200 ? Lubbock, Texas ? Samford
Davis came off the bench to score a career-high 23 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field in Samford’s 89-61 win over Reinhardt College on Saturday. He entered the game midway through the field half and scored 13 of the Bulldogs next 15 points. For the game, in which he only logged 15 minutes of playing time, Davis was 3-of-5 (60%) and had career-highs in points, rebounds (3), assists (1), field goals made (6) and free throws made (8).

Others Nominated: David Minaya, Tennessee Tech.

NOTE: There will be no OVC Players of the Week on Dec. 24. The next set of winners will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 2 and will cover games played between Dec. 17 and Dec. 30.

Notes From Around the League

OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: Last week was a light week around the league, as only three teams saw action as most programs took time off for final exams...In the contests that were played, Tennessee Tech scored the biggest "name" victory of the season, winning by 17 points at Pac-10 foe Oregon State; other games included Samford topping Reinhardt at home and Austin Peay losing to Akron at home...This week will feature more action as teams are out of the classroom until the new semester begins in January...The week features nine OVC games as four schools (Austin Peay, Samford, Southeast Missouri and UT Martin) look to remain undefeated in Conference plays...Intermixed in the Conference games are non-conference games with opponents such as Belmont (Tennessee State and Austin Peay), Kentucky (Tennessee Tech), Tulsa (Southeast Missouri), UNLV (UT Martin) and Vanderbilt (Tennessee State)...UT Martin junior guard Lester Hudson continues to rank first nationally in steals/game (3.8), third in scoring (26.2 points/game) and 17th in 3-pointers made per game (3.7)...Jacksonville State junior guard DeAndre Bray is second nationally in assists (8.0/game) and third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.8).

OVCSports.TV: For the second consecutive year, fans can watch EVERY Conference matchup and all non-conference home contests this season at OVCSports.TV. The venture with JumpTV Sports (formerly XOS Technologies) allows fans to access live and on-demand streaming video and audio of all conference matchups on their home computer. The premium Web site was launched in July 2006 and streamed hundreds of events in its first season, including all Conference matchups in football and men’s and women’s basketball as well as select baseball, soccer, softball and volleyball games and OVC Championship events. Last season the OVC was one of just two Conferences nationally streaming every football and men’s and women’s basketball game on the Internet. Packages are available on a yearly, seasonally, monthly or per-event basis. (Please note: Due to internet problems in there new gym, Samford home games are currently unavailable). This week’s games include:
    Dec. 17 - UT Martin at Morehead State, 6:00 p.m.
    Dec. 17 - Eastern Illinois at Eastern Kentucky, 6:00 p.m.
    Dec. 18 - Murray State at Jacksonville State, 7:30 p.m.
    Dec. 18 - Southeast Missouri at Samford, 7:30 p.m.
    Dec. 19 - Eastern Illinois at Morehead State, 6:30 p.m.
    Dec. 19 - UT Martin at Eastern Kentucky, 6:30 p.m.
    Dec. 20 - Murray State at Samford, 7:30 p.m.
    Dec. 20 - Southeast Missouri at Jacksonville State, 7:30 p.m.
    Dec. 22 - Eastern Kentucky at Austin Peay, 7:00 p.m.

UT Martin’s Hudson Nets First Quadruple-Double in Division I Men’s Basketball History: UT Martin junior guard Lester Hudson made NCAA Division I men’s basketball history on Tuesday, Nov. 13 when he recorded a quadruple-double in the Skyhawks 116-74 victory over Central Baptist College. He is believed to be the first men’s player to accomplish the feat at the Division I level. Hudson filled up the box score with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in 31 minutes of play. He was 10-of-17 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range and also blocked a shot. The 10 steals are the most for a Division I player this season. The transfer from Southwest Tennessee Community College was named OVC Player of the Week on Nov. 12 after his first week with the Skyhawk program. In research conducted by ESPN and the NCAA, no other recorded instances of a quadruple-double occurring at the Division I men’s basketball level have ever been record. At the Division I women’s level, UCLA’s Ann Meyers had 20 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in a 1978 contest against Stephen F. Austin. The feat has only happened four times in the NBA since the 1973-74 season (when the NBA started to officially recognize blocks and steals). The NBA players to accomplish the feat include David Robinson (Feb. 17, 1994), Hakeem Olajuwon (March 29, 1990), Alvin Robertson (Feb. 18, 1986) and Nate Thurmond (Oct. 18, 1974). The feat has also occurred once in the ABA (Jamel Staten on Feb 2, 2007) and once in the ABL (Debbie Black on Dec. 8, 1996). Four instances of it happening at the women’s Division III level have also been documented.

Putting Up the Points: Tennessee Tech scored 117 points in a win over Bluefield College this season while UT Martin put up 116 in a win over Central Baptist College. The 117 points is currently the 17th-highest total nationally this season and the 116 points rank 21st nationally.

Jacksonville State Sets OVC Record for 3-Pointers Made in a Game: Jacksonville State set an OVC record for 3-pointers made in a game on Nov. 12 when they knocked down 19 triples in a 99-74 victory over Tennessee Temple. The 19 3-pointers surpassed the record of 18 previously held by Morehead State (1995-96 season) and Tennessee Tech (1999-00 season). In that game, JSU point guard Will Ginn set the school with eight 3-pointers, while Jeremy Bynum added seven trifectas.

OVC Reaches 60th Year: This year marks the 60th season of basketball in the Ohio Valley Conference, which was formed in 1948. The OVC is the eighth oldest Division I Conference.

Familiar Faces: When players take to the court this season, teams and fans will see a lot of familiar faces on the court. Less than 30 players finished their eligibility at the end of last season, meaning every team has several experienced players back this season. Two teams - Austin Peay and Eastern Illinois - return all five starters as well as double-digit letterwinners (EIU did not lose a single letterwinner from last season). Jacksonville State and Southeast Missouri each return four starters while Eastern Kentucky, Murray State, Samford and Tennessee State will have three starters apiece back.

All 11 Head Coaches Return: There was no turnover in the OVC coaching ranks at the completion of last season as all 11 OVC men’s basketball coaches return this season to guide their respective squads. It marks only the sixth time in the last 30 years (dating back to the 1978-79 season) that every Conference head coach has returned from the previous season. The other years in which every coach returned were 1978-79, 1993-94, 1994-95, 2001-02 and 2004-05.

Alexander and Steinbrecher Named to NCAA Men’s Basketball Academic Enhancement Group: This past June NCAA President Myles Brand announced the establishment of the Division I Men’s Basketball Academic Enhancement Group. The group, which includes Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner Jon A. Steinbrecher and Tennessee State University head men’s basketball coach Cy Alexander, is comprised of presidents and chancellors, head coaches, commissioners, directors of athletics and faculty athletics representatives and is charged with developing strategies to enhance academic performance and graduation rates in Division I men’s basketball. Specifically, the charge to the Division I Men’s Basketball Academic Enhancement Group is to: (1) Analyze available data, research and literature regarding the academic performance trends of Division I men’s basketball student-athletes, (2) Identify characteristics and factors in the sport that may be serving to impair the academic performance of Division I men’s basketball student-athletes, (3) Identify changes that would enhance academic performance and graduation rates in Division I men’s basketball, (4) Submit to the Division I Board of Directors, no later than the end of 2008, a set of recommendations and proposals that would enhance APR and graduation rates in Division I men’s basketball and (5) Maintain ongoing communication with, and seek reactions from, the NCAA governance structure, the NABC membership and conference offices during the course of the project.

Austin Peay Picked as Preseason Favorite: In a preseason vote of league head coaches and sports information directors, defending regular season champion Austin Peay has been picked to repeat as champions in 2007-08. The Governors were 16-4 last season in claiming their seventh OVC regular season championship and lost in the finals of OVC Tournament. They received 19 of a possible 22 first-place votes. Eastern Kentucky, last year’s Tournament Champion, was picked to finish second and received one first-place vote. Tennessee Tech, who received the other two first-place votes, was picked third, followed by Murray State, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State, Samford, Eastern Illinois, Jacksonville State, Morehead State and UT Martin.

All-Time Preseason Predicted Order of Finish: Does being picked the preseason favorite mean good things for a team? In the 28 years of preseason OVC polls that are available, the preseason poll predicted the eventual league champion 60.7 percent of the time (17 out of 28). That was a much better percentage than the preseason football polls, which predicted the OVC champion only 42.9 percent of the time. from 1994-95 through 1999-00, the preseason champion was picked correctly, but over the last eight years, the preseason poll has correctly predicted the champion only every other season (incorrectly picking Samford last season). If that trend continues, it would mean good things for Austin Peay this year.

Reed Tabbed as Preseason Player of the Year: Austin Peay junior forward Drake Reed was tabbed as the preseason OVC Player of the Year in a vote of league head coaches and sports information directors. Reed was named the 2006-07 OVC Player of the Year after helping Austin Peay to the regular season championship; he became the first sophomore to take home OVC Player of the Year honors since Murray State’s Ron "Popeye" Jones did in 1990. Reed was one of 10 players selected to the preseason All-OVC team. He was joined by Bruce Carter (Murray State), Anthony Fisher (Tennessee Tech), Brandon Foust (Southeast Missouri), Adam Leonard (Eastern Kentucky), Fernandez Lockett (Austin Peay), Romain Martin (Eastern Illinois), Amadi McKenzie (Tennessee Tech), Travis Peterson (Samford) and Mike Rose (Eastern Kentucky).

Multiple Postseason Berths: Last season the OVC had a team in each the NCAA Tournament and the National Invitational Tournament on both the men’s and women’s side. For the men, Eastern Kentucky played in the NCAA Tournament, while Austin Peay was the NIT representative. That marked the first time since the 2002 season (when Murray State made the NCAA’s and Tennessee Tech the NIT) that the OVC had put two men’s squads into the postseason. On the women’s side, Southeast Missouri (NCAA) and Murray State (NIT) accomplished the feat, marking the second year in a row two women’s squads had earned postseason bids. Only one other time in OVC history (1989) had four total teams played in the postseason; that year Murray State (NCAA) and Middle Tennessee (NIT) were in on the men’s side while Tennessee Tech (NCAA) and Murray State (NIT) advanced to postseason on the women’s side.

OVC Schools in O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters Series: For the second straight year, all 11 Ohio Valley Conference schools will participate in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters series. Five schools will host games this season while the other six will go on the road. Austin Peay has competed in the most BracketBusters games, competing in each of the past four years. Murray State (3-0) and Tennessee-Martin (2-0) are the only OVC schools with unblemished records in BracketBusters play. In its sixth year, O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters is an ESPN television property that was tremendously successful with its first five events in February of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. The event has allowed Division I conferences to participate in a cutting-edge format that involves "wild-card" pairings for the pool of participating teams, with half of the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters teams pre-designated as "home" and the remaining half as "road" teams. The 2008 O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters will take place over two days for the third straight year ? Friday-Saturday, February 22-23 ? with a total pool of 100 teams representing 16 conferences in a 50-game event. In an effort to provide a greater opportunity for NCAA Tournament-caliber teams, the event had expanded its pool of teams (18 in 2003, 46 in 2004, 64 in 2005, 100 in 2006 and 102 in 2007) each year to produce a better cross section of squads for the hoops bonanza. A minimum of 14 games will be televised, including six games on ESPN2, five games on ESPNU ? ESPN’s collegiate network that was launched on March 4, 2005 ? and two games on ESPN360 ? ESPN’s broadband network. In 2008, one game will air live on ESPN Classic for the first time. The remaining 36 contests will not be televised by the ESPN family of networks. The evaluation and pairings of teams for the ESPN television package will be made by the staff of ESPN, in consultation with the commissioners of participating conferences. Consideration will be given to avoiding match-ups of conference teams and match-ups of any teams that have already met during the current season. ESPN, in consultation with the conference commissioners, will make pairings decisions on Sunday, February 3, and those selections will be announced on Monday afternoon, February 4. The selection of ESPN networks and start times will not be announced until Monday, February 11. Pairing decisions for the remaining games that will not be televised will be announced by Wednesday, February 6, 2008, at 11 a.m. Eastern.

A Look Back at 2006-07: Austin Peay was dominant during the 2006-07 regular season, winning 16 games (the second most in a 20-game OVC schedule) as the Governors earned its seventh OVC regular season crown and the No. 1 seed for the OVC Tournament. But Austin Peay had challengers, as three teams (Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee Tech, Murray State) finished tied for second in the standings and were hungry to claim the League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Murray State was upset at home by Samford in the first round of the tournament while Austin Peay, EKU and Tech all won their first round games to advance to the semifinals and finals in Nashville. Austin Peay dispatched Samford and Eastern Kentucky outlasted Tennessee Tech in the other semifinal. The championship could be called an "instant classic" as the two teams took each others best shots. EKU led the entire first half (and by as many as 10 points) before Austin Peay claimed its first lead early in the second half before once again falling behind by double digits (this time 11 points) midway through the half. A furious comeback was capped by two Wes Channels free throws with 22 seconds left as the Govs led 62-61. The game, however, would be decided by Josh Taylor who scored on a driving lay-up with 2.9 seconds left to give EKU its fifth OVC Tournament Championship. Eastern would go on to earn a No. 16 seed and play North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. As the League’s regular season champion, Austin Peay received a bid to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) and traveled to Colorado to battle Air Force. It marked the first time since the 2004 season that two OVC teams were competing in the postseason during the same year. Austin Peay sophomore forward Drake Reed was named Player of the Year (becoming the first sophomore to win the award in 17 years) while Governors coach Dave Loos won his record fifth OVC Coach of the Year crown. Eastern Illinois’ Romain Martin and Eastern Kentucky’s Adam Leonard shared the OVC Freshman of the Year award.

Team Notes

Austin Peay: Austin Peay was one of just three OVC schools to play last week as most teams took last week off to take final exams...The Governors hosted Akron on Saturday night in a return game from last year’s BracketBusters event...Akron came out on top for the second year in a row, taking a 64-55 decision in Clarksville...It marked the first home loss of the season for the Govs and first since the court was renamed "Dave Loos Court" in honor of the team’s head coach last spring...Junior forward Drake Reed led the way for Austin Peay, scoring 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting...Fernandez Lockett added 10 points and seven rebounds...Senior guard Todd Babington was 0-of-2 from 3-point range and saw his streak of 26 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer come to an end...APSU had season-lows in 3-pointers made (2) and attempted (10)...Austin Peay scored only 26 points in the second half of the Akron contest, the fewest points scored by the Govs in a half at home this year...The team returns to action this week when it travels to Nashville to battle Belmont on Wednesday night...The game is the second of a home-and-home series between the teams this year; Austin Peay won the first game, 71-56, in Clarksville on Nov. 17.

Eastern Illinois: Eastern Illinois did not play last week due to final exams on campus...The team returns to the court on Monday night when they face defending OVC Tournament Champion Eastern Kentucky in Richmond...The week concludes with a game at Morehead State on Wednesday...The team will then have another 10 days off before playing at Bowling Green State on Dec. 29...EIU’s next home game is on Jan. 3...Two weeks ago Eastern Illinois dropped a pair of Conference games to fall to 1-8 overall on the season and 0-2 in the OVC...EIU has lost eight games in a row since topping Harris Stowe 85-63 in the season-opener back on Nov. 10...The losses two weeks ago included a 72-53 decision to Tennessee Tech on Thursday and a last-second 74-72 loss to Tennessee State on Saturday...Senior Bobby Catchings had a good week then, averaging 18.5 points, 8.5 rebounds per game and hitting 57.9% (11-of-19) from the field and 80 percent (12-of-15) from the free throw line...Catchings had his third career double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) against Tech and added a season-high 25 points against TSU...Sophomore Romain Martin averaged 22.0 points per game that week, hitting 7-of-18 3-pointerse (38.9%) and 9-of-11 free throw attempts (81.8%)...As a team EIU continues to shoot the ball well from the free throw line, leading the OVC with a 74 percent clips (108-of-146) through nine games...EIU announced on Monday that junior guard Mike Robinson had been dismissed from the team and that sophomore forward Bobby Jolliff was transferring.

Eastern Kentucky: Eastern Kentucky did not play last week as the team took final examinations...The Colonels return to action this week by hosting Eastern Illinois in a Conference matchup on Monday night...The week continues on Wednesday when UT Martin visits McBrayer Arena and concludes on Saturday night when EKU travels to Austin Peay (the team it defeating in the OVC Tournament Championship game last year)...That is the team’s last game of the 2007 calendar year; EKU returns to action on Jan. 2 at Southeast Missouri...Two weeks ago the team split a pair of games, winning a road contest and losing a home non-conference game...The week began with an OVC win at Murray State (59-58) thanks to a big 3-pointer from Mike Rose with 3.9 seconds left...That helped the Colonels get off to a 1-0 start in the OVC, the fifth time in the last six years they have won their Conference opener...The win marked the second year in a row that EKU had won in Murray; overall Eastern has won three in a row against the Racers, the first time that has occurred since 1985...The week ended with a 77-60 non-conference loss to in-state rival Western Kentucky...In that game sophomore guard Adam Leonard had a career-high six assists but did not register a point from the field, the first time in his career he had not scored in a college game.

Jacksonville State: Jacksonville State did not play last week as the team took the week off for final exams...JSU returns to action this week by hosting a pair of OVC contests at Pete Mathews Arena...The week begins when Murray State comes to town on Tuesday night and concludes on Thursday when Southeast Missouri State visits town...The team will have one other game in 2007 (Dec. 29 vs. Norfolk State)...Two weeks ago the team dropped a pair of games last week, falling 41-34 at in-state rival Samford in a nationally televised game and then 90-81 at UT Martin to close out the week...The low-scoring affair with Samford netted only 34 points for the Gamecocks, the fewest scored by a Jax State squad since the 1958-59 season...That night JSU shot only 38 percent from 3-point range and just 26 percent from the floor...The highlight of that week was a dazzling 13-assist effort from guard DeAndre Bray, who set Jax State’s Division I record for assists in a game; Bray had previously held the school’s Division I record with 12 helpers on Dec. 9, 2006 against UT Martin...Bray continues to rank second nationally in assists/game with 8.0 per contest (Jason Richards of Dayton is the national leader at 9.1/game).

Morehead State: Morehead State did not play last week due to final exams but returns to the court for a pair of games this week...The Eagles host UT Martin in Conference action on Monday night and follow that up with a date against Eastern Illinois on Wednesday...The team has one other game (Dec. 26 at Louisville) before the end of the 2007 calendar year...Last week the Eagles dropped a pair of OVC games as they opened their Conference season with a 67-63 loss at Austin Peay and a 63-44 loss at Murray State...Junior forward Leon Buchanan continued to impress, averaging 13.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while hitting 76.9 percent (10-of-13) from the field and 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from the free throw line...Buchanan currently ranks 12th in the OVC in scoring (14.3)...Freshman center Kenneth Faried contributed 7.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest two weeks ago; he grabbed 11 rebounds in the Murray State contest...Senior point guard Nikola Stojakovic had 16 assists and only six turnovers during that week; for the season he has 45 assists and 23 turnovers...Stojakovic ranks third in the OVC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.96).

Murray State: Murray State has not played since a Dec. 8 victory over Morehead State at home...The team returns to action this week with a pair of OVC road contests beginning Tuesday night at Jacksonville State; the Alabama swing concludes on Thursday at Samford...The Racers have two other games (at the Chattanooga Dr. Pepper Holiday Classic on Dec. 29-30) before the calendar flips to 2008...MSU plays host UTC on the 29th and either Belmont or Wright State the following night...Two weeks ago Murray State split a pair of OVC games, beginning the Conference season with a 1-1 overall record...That week began with a one-point (59-58) loss to Eastern Kentucky; in that game the Colonels hit a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left to seal the comeback...The week ended with a 63-44 win over Morehead State...Murray State is now 109-22 (.832) all-time in the Regional Special Events Center, in now their 10th season in playing in the building...Tony Easley continues to lead the OVC in field goal percentage (77.1%).

Samford: Samford was one of the three OVC teams to play a game last week, as they topped Reinhardt College 89-61 on Saturday at "The Pete"...Freshman guard Josh Davis had the best game of his brief career as he scored 23 points in only 15 minutes of action...Davis entered the game halfway through the first half and scored 13 of his team’s next 15 points; Davis hit 6-of-8 (75%) shots from the field and 3-of-5 (60%) from the 3-point on the afternoon and added three rebounds and an assist...Davis was named OVC Freshman of the Week for his effort...The 89 points scored by the Bulldogs in the game was a high for the season...In five home games this season Samford is allowing only 56 points per game...The team will get back into action this weekend with a pair of key OVC games...That begins with another undefeated OVC team on Tuesday when Southeast Missouri State comes to town...The week ends with a Thursday date with Murray State...Samford will close out the 2007 portion of its schedule on Dec. 29 at Clemson.

Southeast Missouri: Southeast Missouri State did not play last week due to final exams, but return to action this week with a pair of OVC contests and a non-conference battle...The team plays at Samford on Tuesday night and complete the Alabama swing with a game at Jacksonville State on Thursday...The week will also feature a game at Tulsa on Saturday night...The team plays one other time before the New Year (Dec. 30 vs. Central Methodist)...Southeast won both of its OVC games two weeks ago to start the Conference season 2-0, the first time the program has done that since the 1999-00 season, the year they won the OVC Tournament and battled LSU in the NCAA Tournament...The Redhawks won a shoot-out with Tennessee State, outlasting the Tigers 102-95 before winning a 10-point affair with Tennessee Tech (84-74)...The win over TTU snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Golden Eagles...Sophomore transfer Calvin Williams had a pair of double-doubles last week; he had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the TSU victory and came back two nights later to scored 15 points and grab 10 boards in the TTU contest...Southeast has won six of its last eight games overall and starting the season 0-2.

Tennessee State: After not playing for two weeks, the Tigers played three times two weeks ago and then did not play last week due to final exams...TSU has played only three games in a month when they take the floor on Monday night at Belmont...The week concludes with a game at Vanderbilt on Saturday night...The team does get a pair of games in the city of Nashville this week, but have not had a true home game since Nov. 11...Last week Tigers lost at No. 15 Indiana, lost a track meet at Southeast Missouri (102-95) and then snapped a four-game losing streak with a 74-72 road victory at Eastern Illinois...Redshirt junior Bruce Price was a difference-maker for Tennessee State, as he scored a game-high 34 points at Indiana and followed that up with a team-high 21 at EIU; at EIU his two biggest points came with four seconds left as he hit the game-winner in the 74-72 win...He ended the week with a game-high 32 points on the road at Southeast Missouri...After the pair of non-conference games in Nashville this week, Tennessee State will play at Illinois on Dec. 30 before getting back into OVC play on Jan. 3.

Tennessee Tech: Tennessee Tech was just one of three OVC schools to play last week and scored one of the top non-conference victories of the season for the Conference...Tech traveled to Corvallis, Ore. to battle Oregon State and came out on top 79-62...Seniors Anthony Fisher and Amadi McKenzie were named OVC Co-Players of the Week for their efforts in the victory over the Pac-10 Beavers...Fisher scored a game-high 21 points and had four assists and only one turnover in 35 minutes of action against the nation’s 24th-ranked scoring defense...McKenzie scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, including getting eight of those points in the opening minutes of the game where TTU used a 12-2 run to open up an early lead...Junior Charles Moore was named OVC Newcomer of the Week after getting his first start of the season; Moore had four points and six rebounds while also chipping in with two steals and an assist...Freshman David Minaya also played well, scoring 11 points and hitting all three of his 3-point attempts...After starting the season 1-5, the Golden Eagles have won three of their last five games, including two road contests...Daniel Northern, in only his second season with the program, moved into 11th place on the Tech career blocks list, as he blocked his 46th and 47th career shot on Sunday...Tech plays just once this week, when they travel to Rupp Arena to battle the University of Kentucky...TTU head coach Mike Sutton was previously an assistant at UK before taking over the Tech program six years ago.

UT Martin: UT Martin has had plenty of rest recently, playing only once two weeks ago and then taking last week off due to final exams...The Skyhawks play on their second game in 16 days when they play at Morehead State on Monday night...UTM also plays an OVC contest at Eastern Kentucky (Wednesday) and then travels to UNLV for a Saturday non-conference tilt...Last time out, UT Martin topped Jacksonville State 90-81 to improve to 5-4 overall; the team has won two in a row and three of four overall...Junior guard Lester Hudson continued to impress, scoring 31 points and adding five rebounds, six assists and six steals in the win over Jax State...Hudson ranks first nationally in steals/game (3.8), third nationally in scoring (26.4/game) and 15th in 3-pointers made per game (3.7).