NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In its quest to secure the No. 1 seed in next week's Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, the Eastern Kentucky University men's basketball team will conclude the regular season at Lipscomb on Friday.
 
The Colonels need a win over the high-scoring Bisons, or a loss by Stetson, to clinch the top seed in the league tournament.  Stetson plays at North Florida on Friday.  EKU has already secured at least a share of the 2023-24 ASUN Regular Season Championship.
 
Tip-off in Nashville is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and will 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 (17-12, 12-3 ASUN) suffered a 4-point loss at Austin Peay on Wednesday.  The Colonels led by six early in the second half but couldn't hold off the Governors.
 
-  With 11 blocks against Austin Peay, this year's team broke the program record set last year of 176 blocks in a season.  This year's squad has 178.  Before 2022-23, the team record for blocks in a season was 122 in 2004-05.
 
-  For the second straight game, Tayshawn Comer set a new career-high for scoring, finishing with 23 points against the Governors.  In the last two games, the sophomore guard is averaging 22.5 points and shooting 64 percent from the field.
 
-  Devontae Blanton contributed a double-double against APSU, finishing with 23 points and season-high 13 rebounds.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
-  Lipscomb, winners of three in a row and six of its last seven, is 19-11 overall and 10-5 in ASUN games.  The Bisons are third in the league standings, one game behind second-place Stetson and one game in front of fourth-place Austin Peay.   
 
- Lipscomb has scored 84 or more points in six of its last seven games, including 90 or more four times.
 
-  Derrin Boyd (17.6 ppg) leads the team in scoring but hasn't played since Feb. 10.  Will Pruitt (14.7 ppg) is the team's second leading score and top rebounder (5.8 rpg).  The 6-foot-3 junior guard is shooting 52 percent from the field for the season.  In the last two games, Pruitt is averaging 28.5 points while knocking down 72 percent of his shots from the field and 82 percent of his 3-point attempts (9-for-11).
 
-  Lipscomb is first in the ASUN and eighth in the nation in field goal percentage at 49.6 percent.  The Bisons are 17th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage (37.9 percent) and 28th in free throw percentage (76.4 percent).
 
INSIDE THE MATCH-UP
-  Lipscomb (22nd) and EKU (23rd) rank among the top-25 teams in the nation in scoring.  The Bisons average 82.3 points per game while the Colonels are scoring 81.8 per game.
 
-  Lipscomb is second in the nation in fewest fouls committed per game at 12.8.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
-  The series between these two teams is tied 2-2.  All four meetings have come since EKU joined the ASUN prior to the start of the 2021-22 season.  The Colonels are 0-2 against the Bisons in Nashville.
 
-  EKU shot 52 percent from the field for the game and hit 11 three-pointers on its way to an 80-72 victory over Lipscomb on Jan. 4 in Richmond.  The Colonels started the game on fire from behind the 3-point line.  EKU made 6-of-7 from deep to begin the contest and built a 12-point early lead.  Leland Walker finished with a team-high 17 points.  He also had seven rebounds and five assists.  Isaiah Cozart had 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.  The Colonels knocked down 11-of-24 attempts from behind the arc (46 percent).  Pruitt led all players with 22 points for Lipscomb.