Tennessee-Martin at Eastern Kentucky, 7:00 PM Eastern, watchcollegeinsider.com
The quarterfinal round of the CIT gets under way today as the Eastern Kentucky Colonels host the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks in a matchup of Ohio Valley Conference rivals. Though both teams play in the OVC, they only faced each other once during the season, with EKU prevailing in Martin, TN by a 66-58 score back on January 8. UT-Martin has advanced to the CIT quarterfinal round with wins over Northwestern State and South Carolina-Upstate, both on the road. EKU, on the other hand, has ridden their home court into the quarterfinals, knocking off Norfolk State and High Point.
The Skyhawks will be looking for another strong effort from Deville Smith tonight. Smith put up an amazing triple-double in his team’s first round win over Northwestern State, scoring 21 points while pulling down 12 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists. If he performs anywhere close to that level tonight, Eastern Kentucky will be in trouble. EKU is led by Corey Walden, who also had a very strong stat line in his team’s first round win over Norfolk State, scoring 22 points while pulling down 5 rebounds and handing out 8 assists. Eric Stutz will also be a major factor for the Colonels after scoring 16 points and pulling down 10 rebounds last time out. Whichever team prevails will advance to the CIT Final Four next Tuesday night with a shot at being one of only four teams that will end its season by cutting down the nets in celebration of a championship.