JACKSONVILLE – The Jacksonville State men's and women's basketball teams return to Pete Mathews Coliseum on Thursday to begin a four-game homestand. The stretch begins with Eastern Kentucky visiting Jacksonville. The women's game begins at 5:15 p.m. with the men's contest to follow at 7:30 p.m.
 
Both games will broadcast live on ESPN+ and be available online through ESPN on WatchESPN, and the women's contest will broadcast on ESPN+. Visit espn.com/watch or download the ESPN app to view the games on a computer or mobile device.
 
Fans can also listen to "The Voice" of the Gamecocks, Mike Parris, on the Gamecock Radio Network and online. Parris is entering his 37th season on the mic for Jacksonville State basketball.
 
Jacksonville State returns to action Saturday with Morehead State coming to The Pete for two games. The women tip against the Eagles at 1:45 p.m. and the men are set to follow at 4 p.m.

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Men's Basketball - Game 20
Jacksonville State (8-11, 3-3 OVC) vs. Eastern Kentucky (7-12, 4-2 OVC)
January 23, 2020 | 7:30 p.m. CT
Jacksonville, Ala. | Pete Mathews Coliseum  

SERIES HISTORY
• Eastern Kentucky leads series 21-12
• Home Record vs. EKU: 10-7
• Road Record vs. EKU: 2-14
• JSU has not lost a home game to EKU since Jan. 26, 2017 - a 57-52 loss to the Colonels.
• Gamecock coach Ray Harper is 2-1 against EKU head coach A.W. Hamilton.

FOLLOW LIVE
Listen: Gamecock Radio Network
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: Click Here
 
GAME NOTES
Jacksonville State Notes
Eastern Kentucky Notes
 
Tipoff Tidbits
• Jacksonville State owns a 10-7 record against the Colonels at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The Gamecocks have won their past two meetings over EKU at The Pete.
• Despite trailing 21-12 in the series, Jacksonville State has won four of its last five meetings with Eastern Kentucky. The four victories include two at Richmond's Alumni Coliseum - the first two ever on the road against the Colonels in program history.
• Kayne Henry was named the OVC Newcomer of the Week on Monday following consecutive double-doubles at Eastern Illinois and SIUE. He is the first Gamecock to earn conference weekly honors this season.
• Henry scored 16 points with 14 rebounds at EIU, registering his first career double-double, before getting a career-high 22 points with 14 boards Saturday at SIUE.
• Jacksonville State added Georgia transfer Amanze Ngumezi on Monday. The 6-foot-9 forward played seven games with the Bulldogs as a sophomore before transfering to JSU. He will be eligible for competition for the 2020-21 season. More about Ngumezi can be found on page three of this notes package.
 
A win would…
• Push the Gamecocks' OVC record above .500 (currently 3-3) this season.
• Improve JSU's winning streak over EKU to three consecutive.
• Give Ray Harper his 76th win as Jacksonville State's head coach.
• Improve Jacksonville State's record against EKU at Pete Mathews Coliseum to 11-7.
• Help the Gamecocks to five wins in their last six meetings with the Colonels.
 
About Eastern Kentucky
• Tied for fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
• Coming off a 92-88 win over fourth-place Tennessee State, forcing a tie in the standings between the two teams.
• Jomaru Brown, who totaled 37 points in the win over the Tigers in Nashville, now leads the OVC in scoring during conference play (22.3 ppg).
• Brown was named the OVC Player of the Week after averaging 31 points, 3.3 rebounds and four assists per game in two contests at Tennessee State and Belmont last week.
• At 4-2, EKU is off to its best conference start since the 2013-14 season.

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Women's Basketball - Game 18
Fresh off a 53-44 road victory at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Jacksonville State's women's basketball team will look for back-to-back wins when it hosts Eastern Kentucky on Thursday afternoon.
 
Five Things To Know:

• The Gamecocks (7-10, 3-3 Ohio Valley Conference) will take on the visiting Colonels (8-9, 2-4 OVC) in a 5:15 tip-off at Pete Mathews Coliseum. The game will stream live and ESPN+ with Mike Parris on the radio side of things on the Gamecocks Sports Network.
• JSU topped EKU on the road just 19 days ago at the start of conference play in a historic 44-33 result, which marked the fewest points allowed to an OVC opponent by the Gamecocks.
• JSU's stingy defense continues to be a staple of the program that has led the OVC in scoring defense each of the last five seasons and is once again in that position after holding Eastern Illinois to 55 and SIUE to 45 last weekend.
• Junior Taylor Hawks enters with a team-high 11.9 points scoring average and will make her 70th consecutive start for the Red and White, which dates back to her freshman season.
• Redshirt-senior Chloe Long will enter Thursday game just four rebounds shy of seventh-place on JSU's all-time rebounding list with 610.

Series: The Colonels lead the all-time series 20-15 since the two schools first met in 2002. Despite the overall deficit, the Gamecocks have dominated the series of late winning nine of the last 11 meetings.
 
Standings: At 3-3 in the OVC, JSU is currently tied with Morehead State, who the Gamecocks host on Saturday, for sixth in the league standings, one game ahead of EKU. Tennessee Tech and UT Martin remain tied atop the standings with perfect 6-0 conference slates.

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For more information on the JSU men's basketball team, follow the Gamecocks on Twitter (@JSUGamecocksMBB) and Instagram (@JSUGamecocksMBB), and for more information on the JSU women's basketball team, follow the Gamecocks on Twitter (@JSUGamecocksWBB) and Instagram (@JSUGamecocksWBB). For more on all Gamecocks sports teams, follow the official social media accounts of JSU Athletics on Twitter (@JSUGamecocks), Facebook (Facebook.com/JSUGamecocks) and Instagram (@JSUGamecocks).