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JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Eastern Kentucky will look to rebound from its first Ohio Valley Conference loss of the season when the Colonels face Jacksonville State on Saturday.  The game will air live on FOX Sports South.

Tip-off in Jacksonville, Ala., is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. ET.  The live radio broadcast of the game is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, and can be heard worldwide on EKUSports.com.  A FREE live video broadcast of the contest is available on OVCDigitalNetwork.com.

The Colonels (14-4) won their first four conference games before falling at Belmont on Thursday.  Their 4-0 start in OVC play was the team’s best since starting 5-0 in 1978-79.

Sophomore Timmy Knipp came off the bench on Thursday at Belmont to score a career-best 13 points to go along with three rebounds, two assists and a block.  His previous high was 12 points at Mississippi State.  Senior Mike DiNunno scored a season-high 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field.  The Chicago native had scored 22 points twice this season.

Eastern’s loss at Belmont on Thursday marked the first time the Colonels have lost this season when scoring 70 or more points.  EKU had been 9-0. 

Belmont entered the game on Thursday second in the OVC with a turnover margin of -3.47.  However, EKU had a season-high 13 steals and the Bruins turned it over 21 times, five more than the Colonels.  Eastern’s last four opponents have averaged 19.3 turnovers per game.

The Gamecocks are 12-6 overall and 4-3 in OVC play.  JSU had a two-game winning streak snapped at Tennessee State on Thursday.

Jacksonville State is led in scoring by Darion Rackley (14 ppg), a sophomore guard that has missed the last two games with an injury.  Tarvin Gaines, a 6-6 senior forward, contributes 13.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest.  Ronnie Boggs, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, is the team’s top rebounder (5.7 rpg) and averages 11 points per contest.

As a team, the Gamecocks are 10th in the conference in scoring (64.3 ppg) but first in scoring defense (60.7 ppg).  JSU shoots 43 percent from the field, 33 percent from three-point range and 67 percent from the stripe.  The Gamecocks have been out-rebounded by four boards per game.  In conference games only that rebounding deficit jumps to seven per game.

In a 66-60 loss at TSU, Boggs led Jacksonville State with 17 points.  Gaines added 14.  JSU shot 51 percent and turned the ball over only nine times, but were out-rebounded by eight and allowed the Tigers to shoot 57 percent (8-for-14) from three-point range.

EKU leads the all-time series 11-7, but the Gamecocks have a 7-3 edge in games played in Jacksonville.  The Colonels have won four straight in the series, including two in a row at JSU.