RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team enters the final week of the regular season with an OVC Tournament berth on the line. The Colonels kick off the week by traveling to Jacksonville State to take on the Gamecocks on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
WHAT TO KNOW Live Video I Live Stats I Live Audio I Game Notes I Live Tweets - With two games left in the regular season, EKU (14-15, 5-9 OVC) controls its own destiny in terms of qualifying for the OVC Tournament. Due to the tiebreaker over Austin Peay (12-17, 5-9 OVC), if the Colonels win their last two games, they would be the eighth and final seed at Music City Madness.
- If EKU defeats Jacksonville State on Thursday and SIUE defeats Austin Peay on Thursday, the Colonels would secure their 14th consecutive berth in the OVC Tournament.
- Senior
Jarelle Reischel enters Thursday's game nine points shy of 1,000 collegiate points (991).
- Thursday's game matches the best three-point shooting team in the OVC (EKU / 39.2%) against the best team in the OVC at guarding the three-point line (JSU / 32.2 %).
- EKU shot a season-best 91.7% (22-of-24) from the free throw line vs. Belmont on Feb. 18. Junior
JaVontae Hawkins went 9-of-9 from the stripe and has now made 31 of his last 34 foul shots.
- Hawkins recorded his first and only double-double of the season in the Colonels' 91-88 win over Jacksonville State on Jan. 21 at McBrayer Arena (21 points, 10 rebounds).
- Freshman
Nick Mayo ranks eighth in the league in scoring (16.8 ppg) and fourth in field goal percentage (63.0) during OVC play.
- Junior
Isaac McGlone notched a team-best five assists vs. Belmont on Thursday. McGlone has committed only two turnovers in EKU's last 15 games. He has played a team-high 499 minutes during that span (33.3 mpg). He has dished out 41 assists during that span.
- Junior
Jaylen Babb-Harrison leads the OVC in three-point field goal percentage (45.1). The last Colonel to finish the season as the OVC's leader in three-point field goal percentage was Mike Rose in 2008-09 (48.1). Rose also led the NCAA that year.
- EKU leads the OVC and ranks 9th in the country in field goal percentage at 49.2. The EKU single-season field goal percentage record is 49.1 (1986-87).
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT - This will be the 26th all-time meeting between EKU and Jacksonville State. The Colonels lead the series, 17-8, and have won 10 of their last 11 against the Gamecocks.
- Despite having lost six straight games, JSU (8-21, 4-10 OVC) is the third team, along with EKU and APSU, battling for the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament. The Gamecocks are led by Malcolm Drumwright, who is averaging 14.0 ppg.
UP NEXT Following Thursday night's showdown, EKU will close out the regular season at Tennessee Tech on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. ET.
