Friday, March 7th, 7:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Municipal Auditorium (9,654) -- Nashville, Tennessee. Television: ESPNU. Home Record: UTM 8-6, APSU 13-1. Away Record: UTM 8-9, APSU 8-8. Neutral Record: UTM 1-0, APSU 1-1. Conference Record: UTM 11-9, APSU 17-4. Series Record: Austin Peay leads, 59-23.

GAME NOTES: Following an epic battle in the quarterfinal round of the 45th annual Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Tuesday night, the Skyhawks of Tennessee-Martin hope to have an easier time of it tonight as they challenge the Austin Peay Governors in the semifinals at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. Playing just their second overtime game of 2007-08, the fourth- seeded Skyhawks didn't stop there three nights ago as they played a total of three bonus sessions before topping Samford in a 101-94 decision. The victory turned out to be the first-ever for the program in the OVC Tournament, following five straight losses. As for the top-seeded Governors, who have played in four of the last five title games in the event and last won it all with a 63-57 win over Tennessee Tech in 2003, they easily handled Eastern Kentucky in the first round with a 76-51 decision. As far as the all-time series between these two schools is concerned, APSU won both meetings during the regular season and now leads by a count of 59-23. The winner of this contest will play for the tourney title against the winner of the Tennessee State/Murray State battle.

Of the 101 points scored by UTM on Tuesday night, all but six came from four of the five starters, with Marquis Weddle using the opportunity to register a career-high 39 points in the triple-overtime affair. Weddle finished the night hitting 9-of-21 shots behind the three-point line, with Lester Hudson coming up with 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, the latter two totals pacing the group. Djero Riedewald and Gerald Robinson tacked on 14 points apiece, while Olajide Hay produced six points and six rebounds off the bench. One of the nation's top scorers this season, Hudson is posting an amazing 25.5 ppg in almost 37 minutes per game. But more than that, Hudson is also first on the team with 145 assists and is one of the nation's leaders with close to three steals per game as well. And don't forget that he is second on the team with 7.8 rpg, behind only Robinson (14.3 ppg) and his eight boards per outing. Now, if the Skyhawks could just do something with Benzor Simmons (5.2 ppg) who started the game on Tuesday but was held scoreless and did little more than take up space while he was in there.

As was the case with UTM in the first round of the tournament, the Governors relied heavily on a handful of players to get them past Eastern Kentucky. Ernest Fields came off the bench and posted 15 points and eight rebounds in a mere 16 minutes, followed by Derek Wright and Kyle Duncan with 14 points apiece. Wes Channels added 12 points and Fernandez Lockett another 10 and six boards as the team shot an impressive 10-of-20 behind the three-point line. With everyone chipping in to make this team so successful, it is easy to look past Drake Reed and his team-high 14.8 ppg because there's a total of five players scoring in double figures at the moment. Wright (11.8 ppg), who has made good on 40.7 percent of his three-point tries this season, is also responsible for almost five assists per game and nearly three steals per outing as well. Lockett (10.8 ppg) heads the charge on the glass with his 6.8 rpg and yet the team is still getting beaten on the boards by almost two and a half rebounds per game.

In addition to Austin Peay being the top team in the OVC this season, the Govs also catch a break in this meeting because the Skyhawks have to be worn down by the extra three periods they played on Tuesday night.

Predicted Outcome

Austin Peay 77, Tennessee-Martin 64