CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.- Austin Peay State
University men's basketball team will face Fairfield in a noon, Saturday, Feb.
19, ESPNU BracketBusters contest, in Bridgeport, Ct., which will be televised
on ESPNU. The Govs are one of 11 nationally televised games, selected from a
pool of 114 teams, the largest pool in the event's history.
It will be the eighth time - the most of any
Ohio Valley Conference school - Austin Peay (14-9) has played in the
BracketBusters series as well as the third time APSU has been selected as one
of the televised games.
Fairfield (16-4) leads the Metro-Atlantic
Athletic Conference with a 9-1 league record and a Realtime RPI of 111. The
Stags have won 15 of their last 16 games, with the only loss coming in MAAC
action at Loyola (Md.) by one point, 66-65. They also are 7-1 at home with the
only loss coming in November to St. Joseph's 60-51.
The Stags are defensive-oriented team,
holding opponents to 60 points or less 16 times this season. Sophomore Derek
Needham is one of three Stags with more than 27 steals, while sophomore Ryan
Olander, a 6-11 center, averages 2.0 blocks per game. Needham (14.0 points per
game) and Olander (10.0 ppg) also are Fairfield's scoring leaders - the only
players averaging in double figures.
Last season, the Governors played host to
Oral Roberts, losing 89-80. As part of the BracketBuster agreement, those two
teams will play in Tulsa in the 2011-12 season.
Right away, Austin Peay is preparing for a
pair of home OVC games, beginning with a 7:30 p.m., Thursday contest against UT
Martin. The Govs then host rival Murray State at 7:30 p.m., Saturday.
About
BracketBusters:
For the sixth straight year, ESPNU, the
24-hour college sports network, will televise five BracketBusters games while
ESPN or ESPN2 will televise up to six contests. The 11 televised BracketBusters
matchups were announced Jan. 31. OVC schools have been selected for TV matchups
five times overall, with the Govs appearing three times-Wichita State (2004) and
Akron (2007) being the previous two appearances.
BracketBusters is part of ESPN's college
basketball franchise programming, along with Rivalry Week Presented by Cisco,
Feast Week presented by Lowe's, Holiday Hoops Presented by Kay Jewelers,
Judgment Week and Championship Week Presented by Dick's Sporting Goods.
For the fifth straight year every OVC team
eligible for postseason play will be a member of the pool of teams
participating in the event. The 2011 non-television matchups include: Eastern Illinois
(8-13) at Toledo (4-17), Eastern
Kentucky (12-10) at Western Carolina (9-13), Jacksonville State
(4-18) at Eastern Michigan (5-15), Morehead
State (15-8) at Indiana State (12-10), Evansville (12-9) at Murray State (15-6),
Sacramento State (5-16) at Southeast
Missouri (5-17), Delaware State (8-11) at Tennessee State
(10-11), Gardner-Webb (7-16) at Tennessee
Tech (11-9) and Bradley (6-16) at UT Martin (8-15).
-AP-
