CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – For only the second time in Mid-South Conference play, Campbellsville men's basketball will host a Saturday home game tomorrow afternoon when Life University comes to the Powell Athletic Center.
 
The Running Eagles and Tigers will be set to tip off at 4 p.m. ET or about 20 minutes after the conclusion of the Lady Tigers game that will start at 2 p.m. ET. The voice of Tiger and Lady Tiger basketball, Matt Payton, will bring you all the action as Campbellsville basketball returns to WLCU-TV and the CU Sports Network along with their radio broadcast remaining on 88.7 FM The Tiger.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The CU and Cumberlands game Thursday night was postponed and rescheduled for next Monday due to a leak in the roof of the Powell Athletic Center.
 
For the second time this season, the Tigers earned back-to-back victories over Cumberland University and Lindsey Wilson College, this time on the road. Their win against the Blue raiders came at a nine-point margin by a final score of 84-75. CU was led by their do-it-all point guard Stephaun Adams who led the Tigers in points (20), rebounds (9), assists (6) and steals (2). Adams shot 50-percent from the field (7-for-14) while hitting three, three-pointers and three free throws. LWC never led by more than one in the second half and CU never gave up their lead after the 13:52 mark in the second half to close out their second-straight victory after losing four consecutive games prior to that.
 
MSC REWIND
Of the three games that were played on Thursday, all three home teams came away with victories. Shawnee State's 86-83 victory over Cumberland was the only single-digit margin on Thursday as No. 16 Pikeville and No. 8 Georgetown each won their games over Lindsey Wilson and Life by double-digits.
 
SCOUTING LIFE
The Running Eagles are currently on a two-game losing streak that extends to losses in four of their last five after beating both Campbellsville and Georgetown about three weeks ago at home when both teams of Tigers were ranked in the top-10 at the time.
 
FOUR-GAME HOMESTAND
After a grueling stretch that saw CU play five of their first eight conference games on the road, the Tigers will get to stay in the comfort of their own beds for the next two weeks starting this week as they will play four-straight games at the Powell Athletic Center. Campbellsville will host Life (Feb. 9), Cumberlands (Feb. 11), Georgetown (Feb. 14) and Shawnee State (Feb. 21) as the Tigers look to climb back into the top half of the Mid-South Conference standings. CU is 11-1 overall at the Powell Athletic Center this season with their only loss coming in conference play against Pikeville. The Tigers average 94.5 points per game at home compared to 81.9 points per game in all games played outside of the Powell. CU also shoots it better on the home hoops as both their overall field goal and three-point field goal percentages up about five percent each in games at home.
 
LOCK DOWN DEFENSE
Though the points allowed stat doesn't always show it, Campbellsville's defense comes to play more often than not, especially when it comes to contesting shots. So far this season, no CU opponent has made more than half of their shots taken this season. They have surrendered a 50-percent shooting day twice this season but never greater. Along with that, the Tigers have shot better from the field than their opponents in 18 of the 24 total games they've played with a 16-2 record in those games.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING: JAN. 17
The last meeting between the Running Eagles and the Tigers saw Life hand the then No. 10 ranked CU their first and only double-digit loss of the season at 82-68. LU won the battle of front court players as forwards Deven Dorsett and Evan Milligan combined for 40 points where Campbellsville's Andrew Smith and Deion Evans combined for just nine points in the game.
 
MATCH-UP TO WATCH - ADAMS vs. SIMPSON
Each team's starting point guards will be put to the test Saturday to be able to facilitate their offenses. Life's Jay Jay Simpson leads the Running Eagles with 73 total assists and 3.3 assists per game, while also scoring in double-figures at 13.2 points per game. Adams, the primary ball-handler for CU is the second-leading scorer on the team at 18.7 points per game while leading the Tigers and the Mid-South Conference with 5.1 assists per game with a total of 122 helpers. The biggest difference between the two guards may be the ability to rebound as Adams is the third-leading rebounder on the Tigers, pulling down 5.2 boards per game as Simpson only grabs 2.6 per game.
 
THE MOST RELIABLE TRIO IN THE MID-SOUTH
Campbellsville's pseudo "big three" of Hagen Tyler, Stephaun Adams and Andrew Smith are three of the top-six scorers in the Mid-South Conference. Rather than their scoring averages being boosted by a few high scoring games, it's been consistency that keeps these three near the top of the list. Combined between the three of them, they have only had single-digit scoring outputs five times. Tyler and Adams have only had one game under 10 points apiece and two of the three have only scored in single-digits in the same game one time. The trio continues to put up the points despite each averaging over 30 minutes per game coming into the home stretch of the season.
 
CONFERENCE STATICAL LEADERS
At this point in the season, Campbellsville's big three of Stephaun Adams, Hagen Tyler and Andrew Smith are top-two among Mid-South Conference players in a number of different categories. Adams is the league's leader in steals per game (2.3) and assists per game (5.1) while his 18.7 points per game average is good for third in the conference. Tyler is the best three-point shooter in the conference percentage-wise at 51.5 percent and his 19.6 points per game average is second in the conference. Smith is second in three categories in terms of MSC players, rebounds per game (10.3), blocks per game (1.9) and double-doubles (10).
 
TYLER MOVING ON UP
Senior Guard Hagen Tyler currently has 1,831 points scored in his CU career, recently moving into fifth place all by himself on the all-time scoring list. By scoring 20 points against Life on Jan. 17, Tyler passed James Boulware, who had 1,723. Before that, Tyler moved into sixth against in the MSC opener against Georgetown as he scored 14 points, passing Cecil Eillis. Hagen entered the top-10 in scoring all-time in CU history in the season opener against Kentucky Christian. He moved up three more spots in non-conference play, two spots in two games as he passed Marcio Kardosh with his 20-point game on Nov. 23 then followed it up with 21 the next night to pass Ramont Smith.
 
UP NEXT
The Tigers will play their rescheduled game against University of the Cumberlands at home Monday night at 6 p.m. ET.