2011–12 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball team

The 2011–12 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball team represented Tennessee Technological University during the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Eagles, led by first year head coach Steve Payne, played their home games at the Eblen Center and are members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 19–14, 9–7 in OVC play to finish in third place. They lost in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Basketball tournament to Murray State. They were invited to the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Tournament where the lost in the first round to Georgia State.

2011–12 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball
CIT, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	19–14 (9–7 OVC)
Head coach	Steve Payne (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Happy Osborne Russ Willemsen David Boyden
Home arena	Eblen Center

2011–12 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 12 Murray State †	15	–	1		.938			31	–	2		.939
Tennessee State	11	–	5		.688			20	–	13		.606
Morehead State	10	–	6		.625			18	–	15		.545
Tennessee Tech	9	–	7		.563			19	–	14		.576
Southeast Missouri State	9	–	7		.563			15	–	16		.484
Austin Peay	8	–	8		.500			12	–	20		.375
Jacksonville State	8	–	8		.500			15	–	18		.455
Eastern Kentucky	7	–	9		.438			16	–	16		.500
*SIU Edwardsville	6	–	10		.375			10	–	17		.370
Eastern Illinois	5	–	11		.313			12	–	17		.414
UT Martin	0	–	16		.000			4	–	27		.129
† 2012 Ohio Valley Conference tournament winner As of March 15, 2012 Rankings from AP Poll * Ineligible for conference tournament

Roster

Number	Name	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
00	Liam Neeson	Center	7–0	265	Senior	Toronto, Ontario
2	Zac Swansey	Guard	6–1	180	Senior	Dunwoody, Georgia
3	Matt Damon	Forward	6–6	205	Junior	Brooklyn, New York
5	Javon McKay	Guard	6–5	195	Freshman	Atlanta, Georgia
10	Lanerryl Johnson	Guard	6–0	175	Freshman	Atlanta, Georgia
11	Terrell Barnes	Forward	6–8	265	Junior	Riverdale, Georgia
12	Mitchell Hill	Guard	6–1	170	Freshman	Cookeville, Tennessee
15	Riley Hunley	Guard	6–3	185	Senior	Knoxville, Tennessee
20	John Sexton	Guard	6–3	200	Junior	Memphis, Tennessee
24	Chase Dunn	Guard	5–10	175	Sophomore	Livingston, Tennessee
25	Jud Dillard	Guard	6–5	190	Junior	Riverdale, Georgia
30	Ryon Riggins	Forward	6–9	210	Freshman	Norcross, Georgia
32	Bassey Inameti	Forward	6–8	215	Senior	Suwanee, Georgia
33	Dennis Ogbe	Forward	6–7	210	Sophomore	Munich, Germany
42	Zach Bailey	Guard	6–1	175	Senior	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
55	Kevin Murphy	Guard	6–7	185	Senior	Atlanta, Georgia

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
11/11/2011* 8:00 pm		at Miami (FL)	L 58–69	0–1	BankUnited Center (3,600) Coral Gables, FL
11/15/2011* 7:00 pm		Reinhardt	W 94–64	1–1	Eblen Center (1,094) Cookeville, TN
11/19/2011* 7:00 pm		Appalachian State	L 63–68	1–2	Eblen Center (1,650) Cookeville, TN
11/22/2011* 8:00 pm		at High Point	W 62–57	2–2	Millis Center (1,106) High Point, NC
11/25/2011* 7:00 pm		Lamar	L 65–85	2–3	Eblen Center (857) Cookeville, TN
11/27/2011* 4:00 pm		vs. Wilberforce	W 84–83	3–3	Eblen Center (629) Cookeville, TN
12/03/2011* 8:00 pm		at Duquesne	L 67–77	3–4	Palumbo Center (2,368) Pittsburgh, PA
12/07/2011* 7:30 pm		East Tennessee State	W 83–74	4–4	Eblen Center (1,455) Cookeville, TN
12/10/2011* 7:00 pm		Lipscomb	W 89–87 OT	5–4	Eblen Center (1,168) Cookeville, TN
12/17/2011* 1:00 pm		at Evansville	W 65–57	6–4	Ford Center (4,235) Evansville, IN
12/19/2011* 8:00 pm, ESPN3		at West Virginia Las Vegas Classic	L 53–72	6–5	WVU Coliseum (6,252) Morgantown, WV
12/22/2011* 4:30 pm		vs. Kennesaw State Las Vegas Classic	W 81–68	7–5	Orleans Arena (NA) Paradise, NV
12/23/2011* 4:30 pm		vs. Bethune-Cookman Las Vegas Classic	W 67–59	8–5	Orleans Arena (NA) Las Vegas, NV
12/29/2011 7:00 pm		at SIU Edwardsville	L 68–83	8–6 (0–1)	Vadalabene Center (1,049) Edwardsville, IL
12/31/2011 4:00 pm		at UT Martin	W 85–62	9–6 (1–1)	Skyhawk Arena (1,113) Martin, TN
01/05/2012 7:00 pm		Tennessee State	W 92–86	10–6 (2–1)	Eblen Center (1,123) Cookeville, TN
01/07/2012 7:30 pm		Morehead State	W 66–55	11–6 (3–1)	Eblen Center (2,049) Cookeville, TN
01/14/2012 5:00 pm, ESPNU		at No. 14 Murray State	W 77–72	11–7 (3–2)	CFSB Center (8,691) Murray, KY
01/19/2012 7:00 pm		Jacksonville State	L 62–63	11–8 (3–3)	Eblen Center (2,424) Cookeville, TN
01/21/2012 7:30 pm		Southeast Missouri State	W 77–62	12–8 (4–3)	Eblen Center (2,685) Cookeville, TN
01/26/2012 6:00 pm		at Eastern Kentucky	W 82–65	13–8 (5–3)	Alumni Coliseum (2,400) Richmond, KY
01/28/2012 2:00 pm, ESPNU		at Morehead State	L 50–56	13–9 (5–4)	Ellis Johnson Arena (2,833) Morehead, KY
01/30/2012 7:00 pm		SIU Edwardsville	W 98–80	14–9 (6–4)	Eblen Center (1,503) Cookeville, TN
02/02/2012 7:00 pm		at Austin Peay	W 94–88	15–9 (7–4)	Dunn Center (2,243) Clarksville, TN
02/04/2012 4:30 pm		at Jacksonville State	W 76–68	16–9 (8–4)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,118) Jacksonville, AL
02/09/2012 7:00 pm		Eastern Illinois	L 57–74	16–10 (8–5)	Eblen Center (1,425) Cookeville, TN
02/11/2012 7:30 pm		at Tennessee State	L 53–68	16–11 (8–6)	Gentry Complex (3,650) Nashville, TN
02/15/2012 7:00 pm		Eastern Kentucky	W 74–67	17–11 (9–6)	Eblen Center (1,003) Cookeville, TN
02/18/2012* 11:00 am		at Coastal Carolina ESPN BracketBusters	W 77–71	18–11	Kimbel Arena (1,039) Conway, SC
02/25/2012 7:30 pm		No. 14 Murray State	L 64–69	18–12 (9–7)	Eblen Center (9,021) Cookeville, TN
2012 OVC Basketball tournament
03/01/2012 6:00 pm		vs. Southeast Missouri State Quarterfinals	W 77–73	19–12	Nashville Municipal Auditorium (1,621) Nashville, TN
03/02/2012 6:00 pm, ESPNU		vs. No. 12 Murray State Semifinals	L 52–54	19–13	Nashville Municipal Auditorium (5,142) Nashville, TN
2012 CIT
03/13/2012* 7:00 pm		at Georgia State First Round	L 43–74	19–14	GSU Sports Arena (1,509) Atlanta, GA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.