AUSTIN PEAY RESUMES QUEST FOR TOURNEY TITLE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Austin Peay opens defense of its Ohio Valley Conference tournament title Friday when the Governors tackle Tennessee Tech at the Nashville Arena.

The battle between the No. 1 seeded Governors (16-13) and Tech (15-12), the No. 4 seed, shapes up as a showdown between two of the league's top stars -- Peay's high-scoring Bubba Wells and Tech's 7-foot-1 inside tower Lorenzo Coleman.

Tipoff for the Austin Peay-Tennessee Tech game is 3 p.m. CST, Middle Tennessee State (19-11), the No. 3 seed, and No. 2 seed Murray State (18-9) meet in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.

Austin Peay coach Dave Loos says his Governors can take no solace in the fact they have defeated the Golden Eagles twice this season.

"We have to be prepared to play Tech. We've always had our hands full with them," Loos said. "We have to combat Coleman inside. It's Coleman's size, power and strength versus Reggie Crenshaw's quickness. It's important to get them in an up-tempo game."

Coleman comes into the tournament hitting 63.6 percent of his shots from the field and averaging 17.3 points and 12 rebounds an outing. Coleman also has blocked 130 shots this season.

Austin Peay counters with Wells, who missed 12 games early in the season due to a stress fracture as the Governors suffered through a 2-8 start.

Since returning, Wells has averaged 32.2 points and 6.8 rebounds.

"It's been hard," Wells said. "I had to overcome surgery and the rehab was tough. I didn't think I would come back as strong."

Last year's OVC player of the year and tournament MVP, Wells says it will take a top team effort for the Governors to defend their title.

"All of us are going to have to come together. We have to know our roles just like we did last year," Wells said.

Middle Tennessee comes into its semifinal game with Murray State as a devastating force from 3-point range.

The Blue Raiders set an OVC record with 259 3-point baskets this season, hitting 39.2 percent.

Nod Carter paces the Blue Raiders, averaging 16.9 points a game, and leads the OVC in free throw percentage with 81.1 percent.

Murray State is shooting for its eighth straight berth in the championship game.

The Racers are paced by Vincent Rainey, the league's official scoring leader with 22.5 points a game. Rainey also is sixth in the league in rebounding with 8.2 per game.