Tennessee Tech (11-17) At Jacksonville State (11-16)
GAME NOTES: The all-time series between Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State is knotted at 6-6, and the Gamecocks won the most recent meeting last season. Today, those two teams will do battle in Jacksonville and break the tie in what is the regular-season finale for both squads. Tennessee Tech limps into the clash with a seven-game losing streak that has dropped the club to 11-17 overall and 5-13 in conference. The Golden Eagles were most recently in action last Saturday when they fell to Ball State in a 59-55 final as part of the annual BracketBuster game. As for Jacksonville State, it has suffered five consecutive defeats to fall to 11-16 overall and 5-12 in OVC play. The Gamecocks dropped a 66-63 decision at Georgia Southern last weekend, and they now return home where they are 6-5 this season.
There are three double-digit scorers in the Tennessee Tech lineup, and all three will have to perform well this evening to give the team a chance of winning on the road. Daniel Northern leads the Golden Eagles with 12.0 ppg, and he is pulling down 8.7 rpg to go along with 69 blocked shots. Frank Davis checks in with 10.3 ppg, and Will Barnes provides 10.0 ppg. In the four-point loss to Ball State last time out, Northern posted 11 points and 13 rebounds in 34 minutes of action. Unfortunately, his team turned the ball over 19 times and connected on only 38.3 percent of its field goal attempts. The negatives overshadowed a brilliant defensive effort that saw the Golden Eagles limit the Cardinals to 28.8 percent field goal efficiency.
Jacksonville State is scoring 69.9 ppg this season, almost identical to the 70.0 ppg that the team yields on average. Jeremy Bynum is generating 12.8 ppg for the Gamecocks, but he is shooting a lackluster 39.4 percent from the floor. Jonathan Toles provides 11.4 ppg, and Brandon Crawford checks in with 10.0 ppg. In the loss to Georgia Southern last time out, JSU only connected on 34.8 percent of its field goal attempts and turned the ball over 16 times. The Gamecocks also allowed their opponent to score 25 points from the foul line. Bynum led the charge with 28 points in defeat, as he nailed 5-of-10 shots from three-point range. Nick Murphy added 10 points in the loss.
Go with the visitors in this game, as the Golden Eagles will generate just enough offense to knock off the Gamecocks.
Predicted OutcomeTennessee Tech 80, Jacksonville State 73Copyright 2009 Courtesy of The Sports Network.
