JACKSONVILLE - Jacksonville State begins its Bluegrass tour with a stop in Richmond, Ky., Thursday to face the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky, before moving on to play Morehead State on Saturday.

JSU takes aim at a third-straight Ohio Valley Conference win. What could become the Gamecocks' first road win at EKU, would send JSU's OVC record to above .500.

The Colonels are 11-0 at home against JSU, and own a 16-8 overall series advantage. Four of the last five games played in Richmond have been decided by six or fewer points.

The Gamecocks enter the contest coming off an 82-60 win over then-OVC West leader, UT Martin. JSU made 17 3-pointers en route to the big win last Saturday. Junior Erik Durham scored a career-high 31 off the bench, setting a new season standard for any Gamecock this year.

Sophomore Malcolm Drumwright dished nine assists as four Gamecocks overall reached double figures scoring. In JSU's seven wins, Drumwright - the team's leading scorer - has led the team in assists six of the seven times. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native is seventh in the OVC for minutes played averaging 33 per game.

Behind Drumwright's 14.5 points per game average, freshman Jared Hamilton and junior Greg Tucker both flirt with double digits averages. The Gamecocks also have five players that average four or more

rebounds, led by Jeremy Watson's 5.1 mark.

The Gamecocks hope to take their hot shooting on the road after posting back-to-back games where they shot better than 50% from the floor overall.