ETSU takes on former OVC rival Murray State Monday

NAPLES, Fla. (Nov. 21, 2021) – Coming off its first win of the season, the ETSU men’s basketball team looks to carry momentum with them down to Florida. The Bucs will play three games in three days as the Blue and Gold gear up for the Naples Invitational, beginning Monday when ETSU takes on Murray State at 5:30 p.m.

ABOUT THE TOURNAMENT

• Joining the Bucs in the inaugural Naples Invitational include Murray State, Long Beach State, Missouri State, Kent State, George Washington, James Madison and Kent State.
• The winner of ETSU-Murray State will take on the winner of Long Beach State-Missouri State Tuesday night at 8 p.m. The two losing teams will play Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
• The entire tournament will be video streamed on FloHoops (subscription fee), while live stats will be provided via StatBroadcast.
• Voice of the Bucs Jay Sandos will broadcast all three Buccaneer games on WXSM-AM 640.
• Click here for more information on the Naples Invitational.

LAST TIME OUT

• The Bucs secured their first win of the season as ETSU defeated USC Upstate 56-43 Thursday night inside Freedom Hall.
• ETSU held USC Upstate to 43 points, marking the fewest allowed by the Bucs since holding Milligan to 41 back on Dec. 15 2019 … USC Upstate’s 43 points were its lowest total since Feb. 6, 2011 when the Spartans were held to 38 at Florida Gulf Coast.
• The Blue and Gold out-rebounded the Spartans by 22, 57-35 ... The Bucs also doubled up USC Upstate on the offensive glass, 26-13 … The 57 rebounds were the most by a Buccaneer team since Dec. 3, 2018 when ETSU had 60 against Reinhardt, while the 26 offensive rebounds matched the most since grabbing 26 versus UVA Wise – exactly seven years ago to the day.
• The win was the first for Coach Oliver as a head coach and he became the 18th head coach in program history to record a victory.

BUCS IN PRESEASON TOURNAMENTS

ETSU is looking for its fifth preseason tournament title since the start of the 2016-17 season … In 2016, the Bucs won the Sanford Pentagon Showcase in South Dakota with wins over Milwaukee, South Dakota State and UC Irvine, followed by winning the 2018 Sun Bowl Classic (wins over Wyoming and Norfolk State) and Cayman Island Classic Mainland (wins over Chicago State and Sam Houston State), and the 2019 Maui Invitational Mainland (wins over Delaware State and Southern Utah).

ETSU TO RED-SHIRT FOUR IN 2021-22

Head coach Desmond Oliver announced on Friday that four Buccaneers will be red-shirting this 2021-22 season … Four true freshmen will be red-shirting, which includes guards Allen Strothers (Newport News, Va.) and Brandon Hall (Chicago, Ill.), and post players Matt Nunez (Newport News, Va.) and Isaac Farah (Fishers, Ind.).

ETSU SIGNS THREE EARLY

East Tennessee State University men’s basketball head coach Desmond Oliver and his staff signed three Buccaneers during the November early signing period … The class includes 6-foot-8 forward Jeremy Gregory (Charlotte, N.C.), 6-foot-10 forward Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) and 6-foot-7 guard Kristian Shaw (Hendersonville, Tenn.) … Gregory played at North Mecklenburg High School before transferring to Oak Hill Academy … He was ranked the No. 12 player in the North Carolina class of 2022 by Phenom Hoop Report … Ilic plays at Morristown East where he has totaled 1,231 points, 712 rebounds and 271 blocks in his first three seasons … Shaw plays at Beech High School in Hendersonville where he was named 2021 Player of the Year by Main Street Preps.

STRONG DEFENSIVE STARTS EQUATE TO WINS

Since the start of the 2015-16 season, when ETSU holds an opponent under 30 first-half points it typically equates to a Buccaneer victory … ETSU, who was 6-3 last season when accomplishing the feat, went 17-0 in 2019-20 and is 65-6 since 2015-16 (losses were to Xavier in 2017-18, UNCG in 2018 SoCon title game, the 65-61 loss to UAB on Dec. 12, 2020, the 53-51 loss at Chattanooga on Feb. 15, 2021, the 85-74 overtime loss to UNCG on Feb. 27, 2021 and the 69-67 loss at Appalachian State on Nov. 12) … In addition, the Bucs went 12-0 when holding the opposition to 60 points or less in 2019-20, while the Bucs are 47-2 when allowing 60 points or less since 2015-16. 

BUCS CONTINUE 3-POINT STREAK

Since Feb. 16, 1987 in a game against Davidson, the Bucs have made at least one 3-pointer in 1,063 consecutive games ... ETSU was 0-for-8 in that 1987 game ... The Bucs currently rank as the fifth-longest streak in the NCAA, with UNLV topping the list with 1,133 games.

ABOUT MURRAY STATE

• Murray State has won its first three games to start the 2021-22 season.
• The Racers are coming off a 77-65 win at Illinois State last Tuesday where four players scored in double figures.
• As a team, Murray State has four players averaging in double figures in scoring with Tevin Brown leading the way with 22.3 points per game and KJ Williams is posting 19 points per contest.
• Brown and Williams earned preseason all-OVC honors, while the duo has scored over 1,000 points in their careers … Brown entered the 2021-22 season with eight of Murray State’s top 32 single-game three-point records, while Williams is one of 15 players in program history to have recorded 1,000 points and 600 rebounds.
• Brown ranks third nationally in three-point field goals per game (4.3) and 18th in points per game.
• As a team, the Racers rank 10th nationally in field goal percentage (.538) and 33rd in scoring offense (88.0).
• Murray State made the 2019 NCAA Tournament where they defeated fifth-seeded Marquette before falling to Florida State in round two.
• Murray State was picked to finish third in the Preseason OVC Coaches Poll. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Murray State leads the all-time series, 24-19, including winning the last two and six of the last eight.
• Monday marks the first meeting since Nov. 15, 2010 when the Racers won 50-39 in Kentucky … ETSU’s last win in the series was on Feb. 4, 1978 when the Bucs defeated Murray State, 84-69.
• The first-ever meeting between the two teams was on Jan. 19, 1959 when the Racers won 73-62 in Kentucky.
• Twenty-five of the games in series have been decided by 10 points or less with ETSU going 14-11 in those contests … Fourteen games have been decided by five points or less with the Bucs winning nine and seven have been decided by a single possession with ETSU going 5-2.

UP NEXT

Following the tournament, ETSU heads back to Johnson City where they host Lees-McRae Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Freedom Hall.

For more information on ETSU men’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s basketball tab.