JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Eastern Kentucky University's men's basketball team will begin its quest for the 2026 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Championship on Wednesday against Stetson  at UNF Arena on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
 
The Colonels are the No. 7 seed while the Hatters are the No. 10 seed.  The game will begin at 5 p.m. ET and air live on ESPN+.  The live audio broadcast of the game is available worldwide on EKUSports.com and the EKUSports app.
 
The winner will face No. 2 seed Austin Peay in the quarterfinals on Friday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville.  That game will begin at 5 p.m. ET.
 
THE COLONELS
-  EKU (11-20, 7-11 ASUN) ended the regular season with back-to-back losses against Queens and Lipscomb.
 
-  Jalen Cooper had a double-double against Lipscomb, his second over the final five games of the regular season.  Cooper finished with 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.  It is the most rebounds by a Colonel in over two years.  In his last seven games, Cooper is averaging 11.4 points and 8.0 rebounds while shooting 57% from the field.
 
-  In his last four games, MJ Williams has averaged 12.8 points, 7.5 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.  He has shot 44% from 3-point range during that span (12-for-27).  The freshman finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists against Lipscomb.
 
-  The Colonels are fifth in the league in scoring (80.39/game) and lead the ASUN with 11.23 three-pointers per game.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
-  Stetson finished the regular season 11-20 overall and 7-11 in ASUN games.  The Hatters won two of their final three, with wins over North Florida (76-71) and Florida Gulf Coast (78-63) sandwiched around a loss at Jacksonville (85-69).  
 
- Jamie Phillips Jr. leads the team in scoring at 16 points per contest, but hasn't played since Jan. 15.
 
-  Ethan Copeland has scored in double figures 11 times in 13 games since Phillips went down with an injury.  He is averaging 14.5 points on the season while shooting 44% from the field and 42% (98-for-232) from 3-point range.
 
-  As a team, Stetson is 10th in the conference in scoring (73.52/game) and eighth in points allowed (80.19/game).  The Hatters are 10th in rebound margin (-2.10) and 11th in turnover margin (-2.58).
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
-  Stetson leads the series 4-3, but the Colonels have won two straight over the Hatters.  Stetson has a 1-0 edge at neutral sites.  EKU won the most recent meeting, 100-88 on Feb. 7 in Richmond.
 
-  In the regular season meeting, Juan Cranford Jr. finished with a career-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field.  Williams also had a career-high, finishing with 22 points, seven assists, three steals and two rebounds.  Montavious Myrick tied his career-high with 19 points to go along with six rebounds, two assists and two blocks.  Copeland had a team-best 23 points for Stetson.