STRONGER THAN EVER
2010-11: A Season on the Brink... Promise. Confidence. Momentum. No, Tennessee Tech didn’t walk out of Municipal Auditorium with an Ohio Valley Conference title in hand last March, but the Golden Eagles did leave Nashville with all of the above. Coming in as a No. 4 seed, Tech blew past Tennessee-Martin in the first round, then upset regular-season champion Murray State in front of a national television audience in the semifinals, delivering the dagger on a Zac Swansey three-pointer with 24 seconds left that gave the Golden Eagles a five-point lead. In the championship game, Tech trailed Morehead State by as many as 15 with 7:10 left to play, but never gave up, rallying to cut the lead to 69-65 with 1:49 left as Kevin Murphy hit a three-pointer and Swansey stole the ball and scored on a layup to cap a 17-6 spurt. Morehead State, which went on to upset Louisville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, hoisted the hardware that night, but the Golden Eagles believe that memorable March week in Nashville gave them the belief they’ll need to get right back to the title game in 2011-12. Murphy, Swansey and then-sophomore Jud Dillard were all named to the OVC All-Tournament team for their performances. Murphy scored 30 points against Morehead State and averaged 24.3 points per contest during the tournament. Swansey averaged 9.7 points and 7.3 assists per game, and notched his fifth double-figure assist game of the year during the tournament. Dillard averaged a double-double in the tournament, scoring 13.3 points and averaging 11.3 rebounds per outing. The Golden Eagles made their first postseason appearance since 2002, earning a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) and traveling to Western Michigan, where they fell to the Broncos 74-66. Prior to its OVC Tournament run, Tech finished the 2010-11 regular season on a torrid streak, claiming victory in its final five games to enter the league tournament as the hottest team in the conference. The streak ran to seven games before Morehead State finally brought it to an end. With an overall 20-12 record, the Golden Eagles recorded only their fifth 20-win season in program history, two of which fell under former head coach Mike Sutton and his staff. Tech finished with a final conference record of 12-6 and played in the league championship game for the first time since 2003. Overall, the Golden Eagles led the OVC in scoring offense with 2,396 points on the season, averaging 74.9 per game. The team’s field-goal percentage of 47.9 percent and its 799
defensive rebounds (25 per game) also took top honors among OVC schools. Tech finished second with a rebounding margin of plus-5.3 and in assists with 454 on the season (14.2 per game). Murphy was an AllOVC first team selection, leading the team in scoring and ranking third in the OVC with 17.0 points per game. He was also named first-team All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Swansey, who played his first season with the Golden Eagles after transferring from Georgia, became known for his clutch shooting as he hit five game-winning shots on the season, and was named to the OVC All-Newcomer team. Swansey averaged 9.7 points per contest and led the OVC in assists (6.4 per game), steals (2.1 per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.8). He was also an NABC All-District selection.
2011-12 GOLDEN EAGLE BASKETBALL
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