CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – After extending its Atlantic Sun Conference-best winning streak to six games, Austin Peay State University's basketball team returns home for a 7 p.m., Thursday contest against longtime rival Eastern Kentucky on Gary Mathews Court at F&M Bank Arena.

Austin Peay (10-5, 4-0 ASUN) completed a sweep of a pair of Sunshine State foes last week, earning an 82-71 win at Florida Gulf Coast, Thursday, before then downing Stetson, 81-69 in DeLand, Florida, Saturday. Freshman Zyree Collins paced the Govs with 25 points in the win over the Eagles while graduate forward Collin Parker recorded the fourth-highest-scoring game by a Gov this season with 27 in the win over the Hatters.

For the second time this season, Collins was tabbed both the ASUN Men's Basketball Player and Newcomer of the Week – the only player in the league to accomplish the feat multiple times this season – after averaging 21.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 3.5 steals per game last week, while also shooting 52.0% from the field and 50.0% from distance in the wins.

Collins currently is the top-scoring freshman in the ASUN with 14.5 points per game with his 4.1 assists pacing the Govs, ranking fifth in the ASUN, and 15th among all Division I freshman. His 2.33 steals per game lead the ASUN and rank third nationally among freshmen. Collins 14.5 points per game is proceeded only by Parker's 16.2 points per game, which rank fifth in the league.

A Columbia, Missouri native and the reigning ASUN Freshman of the Year, Tate McCubbin is third on APSU with 11.9 points per game, with the sophomore guard/forward leading APSU with 37 three-pointers this season.

The Govs look to secure the 15th-longest winning streak in program history with a win in the 124th all-time meeting against Eastern Kentucky (6-11, 2-2 ASUN). APSU's 10 wins through its opening 15 games this season is tied for the 10th-best start in program history and tied for the best start since a 12-3 mark through 15 games to begin the 2000-01 season.

Thursday's game, and all ASUN Conference contests, will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Barry Gresham (play-by-play) and Ethan Schmidt (analyst) on the call. Fans also can tune into the Governors Sports Network on ESPN Clarksville (104.1 FM / 540 AM) to hear Brian Rives call all the action.

From The Jump

• Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky meet for the 124th time in program history, with the series beginning Jan. 9, 1964 when Eastern Kentucky joined the Ohio Valley Conference.
• Austin Peay leads the all-time series, 65-57, and is 39-19 all-time against the Colonels in Clarksville.
• The last time the two teams met, EKU secured an 88-82 win, Feb. 1, 2025, in Richmond Kentucky.
• APSU has won each of the last two meetings in Clarksville, including a 97-90 overtime win in Clarksville last January, in which Tate McCubbin scored 38 points – the highest-scoring game by a freshman since Fly Williams scored a program-record 51 points during the 1971-72 season.
• Austin Peay has held 14-of-15 opponents this season below their season average in scoring.
• The Govs pace the ASUN in scoring defense (69.5), scoring margin (+11.1), steals per game (11.4), three-point percentage defense (31.2), and turnovers forced per game (16.7). The Govs' steals and turnovers forced per game rank third and ninth in Division I.
• Offensively, the Govs lead the ASUN with 15.4 free throws per game, while its 1.57 assist/turnover ratio, 15.4 fastbreak points per game, and 10.8 turnovers per game all rank second in the league and Top 80 nationally.

Scouting the Colonels

• Eastern Kentucky is led by eighth-year head coach A.W. Hamilton, who is 128-113 at the helm of Colonels basketball.
• Eastern Kentucky finished tied for fourth in the ASUN last season after going 18-14 overall with a 12-6 record in ASUN Conference play. The Colonels entered the 2025 ASUN Basketball Tournament as the No. 5 seed and fell to No. 4 Jacksonville, 78-67, in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
• Eastern Kentucky was picked to finish third in the ASUN Basketball Preseason Poll and earned two first-place votes. The Colonels were picked to finish second in the league's media poll, receiving three first-place votes. Montavious Myrick - a graduate forward who averaged 6.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game - was EKU's lone selection as a Preseason All-ASUN Team member.
• Eastern Kentucky currently sits tied for fifth in the league standings with a 2-2 conference record. The Colonels are 2-0 at home in ASUN play and coming off a 79-75 overtime win against Central Arkansas, Saturday.
• Eastern Kentucky leads the ASUN and ranks fifth nationally with 11.4 three-pointers per game, in addition to ranking sixth nationally with 33.8 three-point attempts per contest. The Colonels also lead the league and rank 43rd in the NCAA with 13.41 offensive rebounds per game.
• Montavious Myric is second in the ASUN with 7.1 rebounds per game, with his 2.73 offensive boards per game ranking third in the league. Juan Cranford Jr. leads EKU with 13.8 points per game, with his 52 threes second in the ASUN and 32nd nationally.

Up Next

Austin Peay heads down I-24 for an in-state matchup with Lipscomb. The Govs and Bisons will tipoff a 6 p.m., Saturday from Allen Arena in Nashville.

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