Tennessee State will seek to continue its ascent up the OVC standings on Thursday when the Tigers face Morehead State, who currently sits atop the Ohio Valley Conference, in a game that will garner national attention as the OVC’s ESPNU Game of the Week.
TSU enters this matchup winner of five straight games, which has propelled the Tigers into a five-way log jam for second place in the Ohio Valley Conference at 8-6. The Tigers’ last game against Tennessee Tech ended with 3:04 left in the second half due to the unfortunate injury to TTU player Diante Wood. Tennessee State was up 67-53 when the game was suspended and ultimately called.
Graduate transfer and reigning Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week Jr. Clay leads Tennessee State, averaging 18.7 points per contest, and hasn’t scored in double figures only twice this season. In the previous contest against Morehead, an 83-75 loss to the Eagles, Clay led the Tigers in scoring with 18 points but shot just 6-16 from the floor.
The Tigers have not defeated Morehead State in the regular season since a 64-48 home victory on Jan. 16, 2020.
Morehead State has been the class of the OVC with an 11-4 conference record. The Eagles defeated the Tigers 83-75 in the last meeting on December 29. Morehead State has won the last five matchups between the two schools and looks to sweep the Tigers for the third consecutive season.
OVC fourth-ranked scorer Mark Freeman will look to once again light up TSU. The former Tiger torched Tennessee State for a career-high 30 points in the last meeting.
The game will take place at Johnson Arena, where Morehead State holds an all-time 28-11 record against Tennessee State and holds a 45-38 series record over TSU. The Eagles’ magic number to clinch at least a share of the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship is two, with four conference games left to play.
