CHARLESTON -- Atlanta, Ga., is not the best route to go from Cape Girardeau, Mo., to Charleston.
But with Georgia Tech providing money as well as next year?s trip to visit Tennessee State, that is what Tennessee State?s basketball team has done since Thursday.
?It?s been real hard because you start off in the Midwest and go to the south and back to the Midwest,? Tigers coach Cy Alexander said.
?We?ve got to be mentally tough. Right now (Sunday afternoon) we?re resting. We?ll watch tape and go to the arena tonight. It won?t be any physical type of practice. It?s the last game for a week so we have to let it all out.?
The let-it-all-out third game within five days for Tennessee State is today?s 7:35 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference contest at Eastern Illinois? Lantz Arena, where the Tigers might be a bit fatigued.
?One would hope,? EIU coach Mike Miller said. ?But you know what, they?ve got the kind of guys who come to play every night. They?re well coached. I know we?re going to get their best shot. This is a conference game and I?d expect nothing less.?
Tennessee State gave a good shot at upsetting an Atlantic Coast Conference team Saturday before losing 82-72 at Georgia Tech.
Eastern, agreeing to move a game so Tennessee State could get a guaranteed paycheck visiting Georgia Tech, has had the weekend to prepare for another bid for its first win under EIU?s new coach Miller.
That meant the Panthers, 0-5 overall and 0-1 in the OVC, could either get rested and ready for a 1-2, 0-1 Tennessee State team traveling or be stewing over Thursday?s 83-80 overtime loss to Tennessee Tech.
?We?ve talked about that a little bit,? Miller said. ?I don?t know if it was good or bad that we had a couple days off. Sometimes you say after a game like that you want to get right back at it. But I think with our being so young, this was good for us. We had a couple of practices and we?re practicing again (Sunday).?
Practices and game planning do not necessarily assure EIU can stop Tennessee State?s junior guard Bruce Price, who two years ago was spectacular as a freshman in a Tigers? win at Lantz and is averaging 19 points three games into his junior season.
?I?m real concerned about him,? Miller said. ?We?ve been watching the clips and the way he can create. He makes a lot of plays for their team. I?ve already seen a box where I think in an exhibition game he shot 20 free throws. It tells you what kind of driver he can be.
?Sometimes you have a basic idea of what you want done, but the players have to execute it. We?ve really tried to emphasize what he does and how he creates. We?ll hopefully do a good job against him.?
Price is certainly not the only Tennessee State athlete presenting problems for opponents even before Larry Turner, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Oklahoma, becomes eligible a week from tonight.
Clarence Matthews, a 6-7 forward who transferred from Los Angeles City College, is averaging 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds helping make up for Tennessee State?s loss of last season?s senior center 6-9 Rod Flowers.
As a team, the Tigers are averaging 71.0 points while allowing 71.7.
?They can put a spurt together and put points on the board and cause you to do some things you don?t want to do,? Miller said.
After that 80-35 point loss at Xavier to start Miller?s first season as EIU?s coach, the Panthers more recently have been showing their ability to score and nearly came up with an upset Thursday against defending OVC regular season champion Tennessee Tech.
?We?ve had some good pockets,? Miller said. ?We?ve played a really good schedule. We?ve talked about it before where we?ve said let?s play our best basketball in January. We still have a few weeks until then.
?I think as a whole we do feel we?re getting better. Our quest is to play 40 minutes of good basketball and when we do everything is going to take care of itself.?
Alexander sees the Panthers? potential as his Tennessee State team tries for an OVC win after losing Thursday 70-69 at Southeast Missouri.
?Two of the three games are conference games,? the Tigers coach said. ?We let one slip away Thursday and played much better against (Saturday) against Georgia Tech.
?We?re playing a team that?s hungry for a win. They?re well coached and run a lot of motion and triangle stuff rather well.?
But with Georgia Tech providing money as well as next year?s trip to visit Tennessee State, that is what Tennessee State?s basketball team has done since Thursday.
?It?s been real hard because you start off in the Midwest and go to the south and back to the Midwest,? Tigers coach Cy Alexander said.
?We?ve got to be mentally tough. Right now (Sunday afternoon) we?re resting. We?ll watch tape and go to the arena tonight. It won?t be any physical type of practice. It?s the last game for a week so we have to let it all out.?
The let-it-all-out third game within five days for Tennessee State is today?s 7:35 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference contest at Eastern Illinois? Lantz Arena, where the Tigers might be a bit fatigued.
?One would hope,? EIU coach Mike Miller said. ?But you know what, they?ve got the kind of guys who come to play every night. They?re well coached. I know we?re going to get their best shot. This is a conference game and I?d expect nothing less.?
Tennessee State gave a good shot at upsetting an Atlantic Coast Conference team Saturday before losing 82-72 at Georgia Tech.
Eastern, agreeing to move a game so Tennessee State could get a guaranteed paycheck visiting Georgia Tech, has had the weekend to prepare for another bid for its first win under EIU?s new coach Miller.
That meant the Panthers, 0-5 overall and 0-1 in the OVC, could either get rested and ready for a 1-2, 0-1 Tennessee State team traveling or be stewing over Thursday?s 83-80 overtime loss to Tennessee Tech.
?We?ve talked about that a little bit,? Miller said. ?I don?t know if it was good or bad that we had a couple days off. Sometimes you say after a game like that you want to get right back at it. But I think with our being so young, this was good for us. We had a couple of practices and we?re practicing again (Sunday).?
Practices and game planning do not necessarily assure EIU can stop Tennessee State?s junior guard Bruce Price, who two years ago was spectacular as a freshman in a Tigers? win at Lantz and is averaging 19 points three games into his junior season.
?I?m real concerned about him,? Miller said. ?We?ve been watching the clips and the way he can create. He makes a lot of plays for their team. I?ve already seen a box where I think in an exhibition game he shot 20 free throws. It tells you what kind of driver he can be.
?Sometimes you have a basic idea of what you want done, but the players have to execute it. We?ve really tried to emphasize what he does and how he creates. We?ll hopefully do a good job against him.?
Price is certainly not the only Tennessee State athlete presenting problems for opponents even before Larry Turner, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Oklahoma, becomes eligible a week from tonight.
Clarence Matthews, a 6-7 forward who transferred from Los Angeles City College, is averaging 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds helping make up for Tennessee State?s loss of last season?s senior center 6-9 Rod Flowers.
As a team, the Tigers are averaging 71.0 points while allowing 71.7.
?They can put a spurt together and put points on the board and cause you to do some things you don?t want to do,? Miller said.
After that 80-35 point loss at Xavier to start Miller?s first season as EIU?s coach, the Panthers more recently have been showing their ability to score and nearly came up with an upset Thursday against defending OVC regular season champion Tennessee Tech.
?We?ve had some good pockets,? Miller said. ?We?ve played a really good schedule. We?ve talked about it before where we?ve said let?s play our best basketball in January. We still have a few weeks until then.
?I think as a whole we do feel we?re getting better. Our quest is to play 40 minutes of good basketball and when we do everything is going to take care of itself.?
Alexander sees the Panthers? potential as his Tennessee State team tries for an OVC win after losing Thursday 70-69 at Southeast Missouri.
?Two of the three games are conference games,? the Tigers coach said. ?We let one slip away Thursday and played much better against (Saturday) against Georgia Tech.
?We?re playing a team that?s hungry for a win. They?re well coached and run a lot of motion and triangle stuff rather well.?
