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Eastern Kentucky University Athletics

Colonels
Anthony Barham

Men's Basketball

Colonels Look To Get Back On Track At Jax State

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JACKSONVILLE, Ala. –
Eastern Kentucky will look to put the brakes on a two-game losing skid on Saturday at Jacksonville State.

Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET. The live radio broadcast is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, and can be heard worldwide on EKUSports.com. A live video broadcast is available on OVCDigitalNetwork.com.

The game features the top two teams in the OVC in scoring defense. EKU (17-9, 7-5 OVC) is second at 70.2 points and JSU (10-17, 4-8 OVC) is first at 68.8 points per game. However, Eastern Kentucky has allowed 70 or more points in five of its last six conference games. The Colonels are 13-0 this season when holding opponents under 70 points.

Eastern turned the ball over a season-high 17 times and allowed Tennessee Tech to shoot 56 percent from the field in a 72-66 road loss on Thursday. The Golden Eagles led by as many as 16 in the first half. The Colonels got within two with 14:59 left in the game and trailed by three with 2:03 left, but could never get over the hump.

Corey Walden led EKU with 17 points, five assists and four rebounds. Marcus Lewis finished with 14 points.

The Gamecocks lost, 69-67, to Morehead State at home on Thursday. Jacksonville State had a chance to tie the game with 2.2 seconds left but missed on two free throw attempts. Undra Mitchem led JSU with 13 points. Jax State committed eight fewer turnovers than MSU and out-scored the Eagles, 24-5, off turnovers.

Darion Rackley, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, leads Jacksonville State with an average of 12.7 points per game.

JSU has the second worst field goal percentage (42.5 percent) in the OVC. However, Eastern's last eight opponents have combined to shoot 53.9 percent from the field.

When these two teams met on Jan. 18 in Richmond, junior Eric Stutz poured in a season-high 20 points to lead Eastern Kentucky to a 60-56 win. The game was close throughout as the largest lead by either team was six points.

The Colonels won the game at the free throw line where the home team made 18-of-20 (90 percent) at the charity stripe in the second half. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks missed eight free throws in the final 20 minutes (11-of-19). EKU won despite having one of its worst shooting nights of the season. The Colonels netted just 36.8 percent (14-of-38) of their shots from the field.

Stutz led all players with his 20 points and nine rebounds. Glenn Cosey added 17 points. For JSU, Brian Williams posted 16 points and six assists. Darion Rackley came off the bench to chip in with 12 points.

Eastern Kentucky has only out-rebounded four Division I opponents this season. One of those was JSU. EKU held a 24-17 edge and did not allow the Gamecocks to grab an offensive rebound.
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