Smoky Mountain Today

Old conference rivals meet for the first time in a new league when the Austin Peay State University men's basketball team travels to Jacksonville State for a 4 p.m., ASUN Conference showdown, Saturday, at Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama.

Austin Peay (8-14, 2-7 ASUN) and Jacksonville State (9-13, 2-7 ASUN) enter the weekend in a three-way tie with Central Arkansas for 12th place in the ASUN Conference standings. The Governors are coming off an 84-57 loss at Kennesaw State, Thursday, while the Gamecocks picked up a 72-67 win over Lipscomb last time out.

The Govs are looking to pick up their second road win of the season and their third win away from the Winfield Dunn Center. Jacksonville State is 7-3 at home this season and has picked up all but two of its wins at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Saturday's game against Jacksonville State will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans also can tune into the Governors Sports Network on ESPN Clarksville (104.1 FM/540 AM) to hear Brian Rives and Ethan Schmidt call all the action.

Scouting the Gamecocks

• The 2022 ASUN Conference Regular-Season Champions and the conference's representative in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, Jacksonville State was picked to finish third in the Preseason Coaches and Media Polls, however, the Gamecocks are 9-13 overall and just 2-7 in ASUN play.
• JSU ranks 37th in the NCAA and sixth in the ASUN in three-pointers made per game (8.9), the Gamecocks also rank 50th nationally and fourth in the conference in three-point percentage (.368).
• Demaree King and Morehead State transfer Skyelar Potter are averaging 14.5 and 13.8 points per game this season, respectively, the duo ranks eighth and 10th in the ASUN in scoring.
• King is averaging 3.0 made three-pointers per game, which ranks third in the ASUN and 26th in the NCAA, while shooting 41.3 percent from three-point range, which ranks fourth in the conference and 32nd in the country.
• Potter ranks sixth in the ASUN and 80th in the NCAA in three-pointers made per game (2.6), he also ranks sixth in the conference and 60th nationally in three-point percentage (.390).
• Juwan Perdue averages 6.9 rebounds per game, which ranks fourth in the ASUN.

Series History and Lasting Meeting

The 31st meeting in a series that dates back to 2000, Austin Peay leads the all-time series, 22-8, and is 10-5 all-time in Pete Mathews Coliseum, despite Jacksonville State winning the last two meetings during the 2020-21 season. The Govs have won five of their last eight meeting with the Gamecocks and have won three of the last four in Jacksonville, Alabama.

Saturday's contest is the first meeting between the Govs and Gamecocks since the two teams left the Ohio Valley Conference and joined the ASUN. Austin Peay and Jacksonville State have only played once while not in the OVC and the Governors won that meeting, 78-73, on Dec. 29, 2000, at the Dr. Pepper Classic in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In the last meeting, Carlos Paez scored a career-high 20 points and Terry Taylor added 17 points but the Gamecocks beat the Governors, 75-67, in the regular-season finale on Feb. 27, 2021, in Jacksonville, Alabama.

Notably…

• Austin Peay is shooting 74.5 percent from the free-throw line this season, that mark leads the ASUN Conference and ranks 56th in the NCAA.
• The Governors also rank second in the ASUN in free throws made per game (12.6) and fourth in free throws attempted per game (16.9).
• Austin Peay's defense ranks third in the ASUN Conference in steals per game (7.1) and three-point defense (.319), it also ranks seventh in scoring defense (71.1 ppg).
• The Governors rank fourth in the ASUN and 66th in the NCAA in turnover margin (+2.1), they also rank third in the ASUN and 78th in the NCAA in turnovers forced per game (14.5).
• Austin Peay only turns the ball over 12.4 times per contest, which ranks fifth in the ASUN Conference and 139th in the country.
• The Govs are averaging 10.2 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks sixth in the conference.
• Senior Carlos Paez went 7-for-11 from the floor, 3-for-4 from three-point range, and 3-for-3 at the free-throw line en route to a career-high 20 points the last time the Govs played at Pete Mathews Coliseum. Paez also recorded two rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the contest.
• Redshirt junior forward Nathan Moore is the only Gov that hails from the State of Alabama. Moore is from Huntsville and prepped at Huntsville High School before attending Alabama-Huntsville and Wallace State Community College before APSU.

Tickets, Please

Season and single-game tickets are on sale for the 2022-23 men's basketball season! Fans can purchase their tickets for the final season in the Winfield Dun Center online at LetsGoPeay.com/BuyTickets or by calling the Austin Peay Ticket Office at 931-221-PEAY (7329).

Original source can be found here