RICHMOND, Ky. – The Atlantic Sun Conference season begins for the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team on Thursday at home against Lipscomb.
 
It will be "859 Night" at Baptist Health Arena.  Residents of Madison County can get discounted tickets for $8.59.  Click here to purchase your "859 Night" tickets.
 
The game will begin at 7 p.m. ET and air live on ESPN+.  The live radio broadcast of the game is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, or worldwide on EKUSports.com.
 
THE COLONELS
-  EKU fell to 4-9 this season after suffering an 80-53 loss at No. 1 Purdue on Friday.
 
-  Devontae Blanton connected on 7-of-14 from the field and led the Colonels with 14 points against the top-ranked Boilermakers.
 
-  Isaiah Cozart had eight points, five rebounds and three blocks.  Defensively, he held Zach Edey, the defending national player of the year, to three points in the first half and 13 points for the game – 11 points below his season average.
 
-  Cozart leads the ASUN in rebounding (9.50), offensive rebounding (4.58), field goal percentage (66.4 percent) and blocks (4.75).
 
-  John Ukomadu blocked a career-high three shots against No. 1 Purdue.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-  Lipscomb stands at 9-6 after a 78-75 win at Florida State on Saturday.  One week before scoring that win over an ACC team, the Bisons lost by just three at Arkansas, 69-66.   
 
- Will Pruitt led the Bisons with 24 points and seven rebounds in the win at FSU.  He made 8-of-17 from the field, including 3-for-6 from behind the arc.
 
-  Lipscomb shot 48 percent from the field and 48 percent from 3-point range (11-for-23) against the Seminoles.  The Bisons out-scored Florida State 34-20 in the paint.
 
-  Derrin Boyd, a 6-foot-3 guard, leads the team in scoring (17.3 ppg), but hasn't played in the last four games.  Pruitt, a 6-foot-3 junior guard, is second on the team in scoring (12.9 ppg) and leads the squad in rebounding (5.6 rpg).
 
-  As a team, Lipscomb averages 80.6 points per game and has held its opponents to 73.2 points per contest.  The Bisons are shooting 48 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range.  Lipscomb has been out-rebounded by an average of 1.1 boards per game.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
-  Lipscomb leads the all-time series 2-1.  The first meeting between the two programs was on Jan. 18, 2022 when the Colonels beat the Bisons, 86-72, in Richmond.  Lipscomb has won each of the past two meetings, both played in Nashville.
 
-  In the most recent meeting, EKU made just two 3-pointers in the first 37 minutes of the game and lost 75-62 on Jan. 19, 2023 in Nashville.  The Bisons hit 10 three-pointers, out-scoring the Colonels by 18 from behind the arc.  EKU finished 4-for-28 from deep for just 14 percent.  Leland Walker led the Colonels with 17 points.  Jacob Ognacevic contributed 19 points for Lipscomb.