CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University opens its season at 7 p.m. CT, Monday, at North Carolina State.
The game is televised on ACC Network Extra and can be heard via the Governors Sports Network, starting with Governors Gameday beginning at 6:30 p.m. Updates are also available on the official Austin Peay men's basketball Twitter account (@GovsMBB).
Game 1/Austin Peay (0-0) at North Carolina State (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 7 - 7 p.m. CT
Raleigh, N.C. - PNC Arena
TV: ACC Network Extra
TV Talent: Andrew Sanders (play-by-play), Chris Corchiani (analyst)
Radio: Governors Sports Network, ESPN Clarksville 104.1 FM/540 AM
Radio Talent: Brian Rives (play-by-play), Ethan Schmidt (analyst)
Live Stats: letsgopeay.com
Twitter Updates: @GovsMBB
Series Information
Series Record: 0-1.
Last Meeting: North Carolina State 66, Austin Peay 59 (Nov. 21, 2009; Daytona Beach, Fla.)
Record at Austin Peay: 0-0.
Record at North Carolina State: 0-0.
Record at Neutral Site: 0-1.
Coach James vs. North Carolina State: 0-0.
FACING THE WOLFPACK
This is only the second time Austin Peay has faced North Carolina State. The Wolfpack defeated the Governors, 66-59, in the only previous meeting Nov. 26, 2009, in the Glenn Wilkes Classic played in the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.
AUSTIN PEAY ROUTS FISK IN EXHIBITION
Sean Durugordon scored a game-high 24 points, powering Austin Peay to an 89-64 exhibition win over Fisk, Nov. 2, inside the Winfield Dunn Center.
The Governors shot 62.2 percent (23-of-37) inside the arc, totaling 44 points in the paint, and 54.4 percent (31-of-57) overall. Austin Peay turned 22 Bulldogs' turnovers into 30 points. Nate James' squad recorded seven steals, led by Durugordon's four.
Durugordon, one of four Governors in double figures, finished 10-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free throw line to go along with six rebounds. Elijah Hutchins-Everett and Guy Fauntleroy chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench. Hutchins-Everett was a perfect 5-of-5 shooting, while Fauntleroy was 3-of-5 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the stripe. Shon Robinson chipped in 10 points to go along with six rebounds.
Fifteen Austin Peay players saw action Wednesday, and 10 found the scoring column. Cameron Copeland finished with nine points. Carlos Paez was 4-of-4 from the line, as the Governors shot 19-of-24.
Hutchins-Everett and Nathan Moore each pulled down four boards. Fauntleroy, Robinson, and Elijah Perkins each dished out three assists.
The Governors shot 53.9 percent (14-of-26) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, leading to a 41-31 edge at intermission. A 9-0 Austin Peay run gave the Governors a 26-14 lead with 8:50 left in the first half. The advantage would swell to as many as 15 after Hutchins-Everett canned a triple to make the score 41-26.
Fisk cut its second-half deficit to eight, 57-49, with 12:11 to go in the game, but Austin Peay countered with an 11-0 spurt. A pair of Paez free throws gave his team a 68-49 upper hand midway through the second half. A Drew Calderon bucket from deep gave the Governors their largest lead of the evening, 87-61, with 3:09 to play.
James' unit shot 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the field in the final 20 minutes.
The Governors were 4-of-10 from distance in each half.
NORTH CAROLINA CONNECTIONS
Monday is a return to The Tar Heel State for two Austin Peay players - Caleb Stone-Carrawell (Concord, North Carolina) and Jalen Ware (Winston-Salem, North Carolina).
Governors' head coach Nate James starred at Duke as a player (1996-2001) and as an associate head coach (2008-21). He won the 2001 national championship as a player and 2010 and 2015 national titles as a coach.
Austin Peay associate head coach Brett Carey grew up in Lincolnton, North Carolina, before spending time at UNC Asheville as a player (1998-2001) and assistant coach (2008-17) for Eddie Biedenbach. Biedenbach played at North Carolina State (1965-68) and was a two-time First Team All-ACC selection (1965, 1968) before serving two stints as an assistant coach for the Wolfpack (1970-78; 1993-96), helping his alma mater win the 1974 national championship. Carey and Biedenbach won the 2012 Big South regular-season championship and 2011 and 2012 conference tournament titles. Biedenbach's son-in-law, Rod Brind'Amour, is the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, who play in PNC Arena.
Governors' assistant coaches Jason Harris (2018-21) and Carl Little (2019-21) served as assistant coaches at North Carolina Central.
JAMES' SUCCESS AGAINST NORTH CAROLINA STATE
Monday is James' first game against North Carolina State as a head coach, but he had a lot of success against the Wolfpack as a player and associate head coach at Duke. As a player, James was 14-1 in the series. As an associate head coach, he was 16-5 against North Carolina State.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE
Austin Peay has not played a team from the state of North Carolina since an 88-75 win over Campbell on Dec. 21, 2018, in the Saint Petersburg Shootout in Saint Petersburg, Fla.
The Governors have not played in The Tar Heel State since a 71-57 loss at Western Carolina on Nov. 25, 1997.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Austin Peay and Queens are the two newcomers to the ASUN in 2022-23, increasing the number of teams in the league to 14.
RETURNING SCORING LEADERS
Austin Peay returns its top two scorers - Hutchins-Everett (12.3 ppg) and Stone-Carrawell (11.4 ppg) - from a season ago. Hutchins-Everett was the only Governor to start all 29 games.
TRANSFERS
Four Governors - Durugordon (Missouri), Robinson (San Jose State), Moore (Wallace State Community College), and Kamarie Coffey (Columbia State Community College) - are new to the program this season.
Coffey, a Clarksville native, attended West Creek High School.
INCOMING FRESHMEN
Three Austin Peay players - Perkins, Fauntleroy, and Kelechi Okworogwo - are true freshmen.
WORLDWIDE PRESENCE
The Governors are represented by nine states - Tennessee (Coffey, Codey Bates, Jacob Roberts), North Carolina (Stone-Carrawell, Ware), New York (Durugordon, Okworogwo), Texas (Caldaron), Maryland (Fauntleroy), Illinois (Robinson), Alabama (Moore), Georgia (Copeland), and New Jersey (Perkins).
Carlos Paez, from Venezuela, is the team's lone international player. Austin Peay has had a player from outside of the United States on its roster for every season dating back to the 2013-14 campaign.
NUMBER CHANGES
Ware and Copeland switched jersey numbers from a year ago. Ware, who wore 10 last season, now dons 24. Copeland, who wore 24 a season ago, now wears 41.
STAFF CHANGES
Little enters his first season as an Austin Peay assistant coach after spending the 2021-22 campaign as the program's director of operations, a role now filled by Stephen Peoples.
Robert Harris is in his first season as the team's director of sports performance. He spent the prior eight seasons at Kentucky on John Calipari's staff.
Luke Trondson enters his first season on staff after serving as a student assistant at Ohio State.
GOVS RETURN OVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Last season, Hutchins-Everett was named OVC Freshman of the Year, while also being named Second Team All-OVC and earning a spot on the OVC All-Newcomer Team. Hutchins-Everett is the seventh player in school history to win the award and it's the third time in the last five seasons an Austin Peay player has been named OVC Freshman of the Year.
SWEET 16
Last season, Austin Peay was one of 16 teams in the NCAA to have clinched at least 10 wins while having nine or more newcomers on the roster.
CSC ENDS REGULAR SEASON STRONG
Stone-Carrawell scored in double figures in his last four regular-season games. During that stretch, he averaged 14.5 points per game.
In his last four regular-season contests, Stone-Carrawell shot 50 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from distance and 92.9 percent from the charity stripe.
BIG MAN CAN DO IT ALL
Last season, Hutchins-Everett led the Governors in both scoring (12.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg). He shot 51.6 percent from the floor.
RE-WRITING THE RECORD BOOK
The 726 three-point field goal attempts last season broke Austin Peay's single-season record set during the 2007-08 campaign (715).
20/20 VISION
The Governors were 6-2 last season when an Austin Peay player scored more than 20 points.
ONE OF THE BEST
Paez is one of nine players in Austin Peay history to have over 300 career assists and 600 career points.
HOLD 'EM TO 60
When holding opponents to under 60 points last season, the Govs were 6-0.
KEEPING THINGS 100
Austin Peay had seven players that scored over 100 points last season. It is the fifth straight season APSU had at least seven score over 100.
A LOCK WITH THE HALFTIME LEAD
Over the past five seasons, Austin Peay is 70-18 when holding a halftime lead. During the 2021-22 campaign, APSU is 9-3 when heading to the locker room with a lead.
PAEZ ENTERING THE RECORD BOOKS
Paez ranks eighth in Austin Peay history for career assists with 321. He needs 16 to pass Nick Stapleton (1998-2002) for seventh.
70 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Since the 2010-11 season, the Governors have compiled a record of 150-81 when scoring 70 or more points.
637 AND COUNTING
Austin Peay has made at least one 3-pointer in 637 straight games. The last time the Governors did not make a three-pointer was on Feb. 18, 2002 against Morehead State.
ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA STATE
Last season, the Wolfpack were 11-21 overall and 4-16 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. North Carolina State ended the year with a five-game losing streak.
The Wolfpack completed their preseason, Nov. 2, with a 107-59 win at home over Lees-McRae. Terquavion Smith had game-highs in points (18), assists (7) and steals (4) in 25 minutes of action. Six North Carolina State players scored in double figures, and 14 of 15 members of the team scored in the game.
The Wolfpack were picked to finish 10th out of 15 teams in the ACC Preseason Poll.
North Carolina State returns three starters from last season in Smith, Casey Morsell, and Ebenezer Dowuona.
Smith is one of the top returnees in college basketball after averaging 16.3 points per game last season. He became the first freshman to lead the ACC in 3-pointers made (96) since Duke's J.J. Redick in 2002-03. Smith was voted First Team Preseason All-ACC and tied for seventh in the conference's Preseason Player of the Year voting.
As many as eight players could see their first career action in a North Carolina State uniform on Monday. The Wolfpack brought in four graduate transfers (D.J. Burns, Jack Clark, Jarkel Joiner, and Dusan Mahorcic), added three freshmen to the roster (KJ Keatts, Jordan Snell, and LJ Thomas), and while not new to the roster, Greg Gantt sat out all of last season recovering from an injury and has not appeared in an official game for North Carolina State.
PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS
Single-game tickets to any of the Governors' 15 home contests start as low as $10 and can be purchased:
- in-person by visiting the SS&E office inside the Dunn Center
- online
- via email (jmitchell@ssellc.com)
- by calling 931-221-PEAY (7329)
