CLARKSVILLE—Austin Peay State University men's basketball team knew it was in for a battle against a tough, tested Jacksonville State side and ultimately suffered through a cold spell at the worst possible time in a 76-70 loss, Saturday, in the Dunn Center.
The loss drops the Govs to 8-5 on the season and 4-3 in league play; Jacksonville State improves to 10-5 and 6-3 in the league.
That 27-5 start the Govs got out to against Tennessee Tech? It was always unlikely a repeat occurrence would take place against a Jacksonville State side that routinely is one of the toughest defenses in the Ohio Valley Conference. Surprise came in the form of Jacksonville State's efficiency in the early going; the Gamecocks, whose success in the Ray Harper era has come on the strength of a stifling defense, hit eight of their first 11 attempts from the floor. Dumping the ball in to Brandon Huffman and Amanze Ngumezi collapsed the Austin Peay defense, and the duo either used their size to muscle up strong on the interior or kicked to the open man when a defender collapsed.
Austin Peay hung tough over the first 12 minutes thanks to timely shooting from Jordyn Adams and Terry Taylor, who combined for 14 of Austin Peay's first 20 points. Then the 80-point pace Jacksonville State was enjoying went dormant, the Govs embarked on a 10-0 run made mostly out of Mike Peake dunks and, for variety, Mike Peake layups and a displeased Harper was forced to call timeout at the 3:55 mark with Austin Peay leading 28-20 and the Gamecocks mired in a seven-minute scoreless streak.
The Gamecock offense got in gear after the timeout, but the fast pace and freewheeling contest of the first eight minutes was replaced by halfcourt sets, perimeter cat-and-mouse and meticulously run offense against fully-engaged defense. If you are a fan of basketball nuance, it was a lot of fun. A Peake slam spelled the end of the half for Austin Peay offensively and the Govs held Jacksonville State to eight points over the final 11 minutes of the half to take a 32-28 lead into the break.
Jacksonville State took a lead early in the second half and the squads spent considerable time trading stops and buckets, with neither putting the game out of reach. It didn't help either team that the other refused to miss from the floor; the teams combined to hit 24 of their first 32 shots in the second half, including 7-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Taylor, Carlos Paez and DJ Peavy all hit threes during a four-minute stretch that nudged the Govs slightly in front, and regained a multi-possession lead just after the eight-minute media timeout on a Peake layup. And when it looked like the Gamecocks might cut that deficit down, a technical foul on Jacksonville State turned into two Paez free-throws to keep it a multi-possession affair a while longer.
By the final media timeout at the 3:43 mark, the Govs held a 67-65 lead. But after Peake drained a three with 5:12 to play, all Austin Peay was able to muster offensively down the stretch were free throws, five in all, while missing five shots from the floor and committing two turnovers. Jacksonville State tied the game at 70 on a Darian Adams three with 2:22 to play and sank the go-ahead bucket with 54 seconds left on a Ngumezi layup.
The Difference
Jacksonville State's 63.3 percent shooting night didn't happen by accident; the Gamecocks dominated in the paint, outscoring the Govs 48-32 inside and hit 79.3 percent (23-for-29) on shot attempts in the paint.
Notably
- The Govs hit a tidy 52.9 percent (27-for-51) from the floor in their own right, the first time Austin Peay has broken 50 percent from the field in a loss since March 2, 2019 at Murray State.
- The loss snaps a four-game winning streak for the Govs against Jacksonville State.
- This is just the second home loss for the Govs against Jacksonville State in series history, joining a 2014 defeat.
- Jacksonville State garnered 16 assists, most by an Austin Peay opponent this season.
- The Govs handed out 10 or more assists for the fourth straight game, finishing with 16 as a team highlighted by Paez (six) and Alec Woodard (career-high five).
- The Govs posted season-lows in shot attempts (51) and rebounds (20) against the Gamecocks.
- Peake is a red-hot 68.8 percent (22-for-32) from the floor in his last five games, averaging 10.0 points and 4.2 rebounds over that span.
- Paez boosted his averages over the last four games to 9.0 points and 5.5 assists.
- Woodard made his 10th career start as a Gov.
- This was Austin Peay's first loss this season when leading at halftime.
- Milestone Watch—Career: Taylor became the 14th player in program history with 400 career three-pointers attempted.
- Milestone Watch—OVC: Taylor passed Earl Wise for 10th all-time in league history and now sits with 2,199 career points.
They Said It
Coaching Quotables with head coach Matt Figger
On finishing games
"We didn't make plays when we needed to. We had a three-point lead and the ball with 2:40 left, we can't manufacture points and they time the game up. Our turnovers in the second half absolutely killed us, our inability to get stops killed us and our inability to make wide-open shots just killed us."
On defense
"We need pride and we need to take the initiative to want to get stops. Defense comes down to how much pride you have and have much determination you have to get a stop."
On Taylor's second half
"They wouldn't let him catch the ball and when he did, they swarmed him and he had to throw it out. That makes him have to do more on the perimeter and inhibits his abilities to score. That opens up shots for other guys and they have to make them so he can get more 1-on-1 opportunities. When you're 7-of-23 from three, teams are going to continue to play us like that and guys have to make shots."
Up Next for the Govs
It gets no easier from here, as Austin Peay welcomes in league-leading Belmont in a nationally televised Thursday night outing against the Bruins. Action is scheduled to tip on ESPNU at 7:30 p.m.
