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NASHVILLE – The seventh-seeded Jacksonville State men's basketball team will open the 2012 Ohio Valley Conference Basketball Championship on Wednesday with an 8 p.m. matchup with sixth-seeded Austin Peay at Municipal Auditorium.

The Gamecocks (14-17, 8-8 OVC) and Governors 12-19, 8-8 OVC) put a pair of three-game winning streaks on the line in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, a stage that Austin Peay has a little more familiarity being on. JSU begins its fourth attempt at the league tournament in its ninth season in the OVC, while the Governors are making their 27th consecutive appearance in the event.

Fans interested in tickets throughout the tournament should call the JSU Ticket Office at 256-782-8499 or 256-452-0008. The winner of Wednesday's game will play the No. 3 seed Morehead State at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

JSU and Peay had similar roads to this year's tournament, both starting slowly before turning it around down the stretch to end the regular season tied for sixth in the league standings. APSU claimed the No. 6 seed via tiebreaker, thanks to a 60-57 win over JSU in Clarksville, Tenn., on Jan. 14 in the only meeting between the two this year.

The Gamecocks started the season picked to finish 10th in this year's OVC race, while the Govs were picked to win it. JSU has just two players (sophomores Brian Williams and Nick Cook that played Division I basketball prior to this season. That duo, joined by juniors Ronnie Boggs and Tarvin Gaines and freshman Darion Rackley, have been key in guiding the Gamecocks to a finish that has seen them win eight of their last 11 games.

Those 11 games have seen JSU outscore its foes by an average of 8.8 points and outrebound its opponents by 2.1 boards per game. All five players mentioned are averaging 9.2 points per game during that stretch, with Williams leading the way with 15.4 points per game. Cook's 6.1 rebounds per game is the team high during the last 11 games, as are his 17 blocks.

JSU IN THE OVC TOURNAMENT
This marks the fourth appearance by the Gamecocks in the OVC Tournament and the second in the past three seasons. All-time, JSU is 1-3 in OVC Tourney play with its lone win coming over Eastern Kentucky in the first round of the 2006 event. It marks JSU's first trip to Nashville since that 2006 tournament, when the Gamecocks lost to eventual champion Murray State in the semifinals.
2004: at Morehead State, L, 68-82
2006: EASTERN KY, W, 86-59
2006: vs. Murray State, L, 64-69
2010: at Morehead State, L, 54-87

FINISHING STRONG
The Gamecocks closed the regular season by winning eight of their last 11 games, tying Morehead State for the third-best record in the OVC over the final 11 games. Murray State went 10-1 during its final 11 games, while Tennessee State finished 9-2. Here are how the other teams in this week's field finished their last 11: Austin Peay (5-6), Eastern Kentucky (5-6), Southeast Missouri (4-7) and Tennessee Tech (7-4).

GAMECOCKS WIN FINAL THREE
JSU's three-game winning streak to close the season is the longest the Gamecocks have had since winning the final three regular season games of the 2005-06 season. JSU has won its last three regular season games just five times since moving to Division I in 1995-96 (1997-98, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2005-06 and 2011-12).

JSU FINISHED .500 IN OVC
The Gamecocks' 8-8 conference record makes this year's team just the second JSU squad to finish at .500 or better in league play since joining the OVC in 2003-04. The 2005-06 team went 12-8 (.600), the only other time the Gamecocks have not lost more OVC games than they have won.

SECOND ONE IS HARD TO COME BY
JSU hasn't lost twice to an OVC squad this season, with Austin Peay searching for its second win over the Gamecocks this year on Wednesday. The Gamecocks have split the season series with five teams (SIUE, SEMO, Morehead State, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech) and swept UT Martin. They played Austin Peay, Murray State, Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois just once.
The only team with two wins over JSU this year is USC Upstate, who claimed a 50-48 win in Spartanburg, S.C., on Dec. 1 and a 82-77 win in Jacksonville on Jan. 30.

GETTING TO THE LINE
After not going to the line 40 times in a game since 2008, the Gamecocks have gotten to the charity stripe 40 times twice this season. They shot 40 charity shots in the season-opening win vs. Miles before shooting 46 free ones against Southeast Missouri on Feb. 23. JSU made 30 of the 40 against Miles and then tied the school's Division I record for makes in a game with 31 successful attempts in the SEMO win. It was the third time they have made 31 free throws in a game (vs. Tennessee Tech in 2005 and vs. Mississippi Valley State in 1999).

JSU BUILDS BIG LEADS vs. UAPB & UTM
JSU built a 31-point lead in the second half of its Dec. 28 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the largest lead over a Div. I program in the James Green era and the largest since a 31-point advantage over West Alabama on Nov. 14, 2009, until they built a 34-point lead over UT Martin in the second half of the regular season finale.
The only other lead that was larger under Green was a 53-point advantage over Berry on Dec. 30, 2008.

JSU's WEEKLY AWARDS
OVC Newcomer of the Week
Tarvin Gaines: 11/21
Ronnie Boggs (2): 1/16, 2/27
OVC Freshman of the Week
Darion Rackley (3): 1/30, 2/20, 2/27

JSU CLOSES WITH ROUT OF SKYHAWKS
JSU's 77-46 win over UT Martin in the regular season finale was the most lopsided conference win for the Gamecocks since joining the OVC in 2003-04. It was the largest winning margin in any game since a 49-point win over Berry College (98-49) on Dec. 30, 2008.