NASHVILLE – The Tennessee State men's basketball team will host their first ranked opponent since 2012 as they welcome No. 23 Murray State to the Gentry Center on Thursday evening. TSU Athletics is asking fans to wear their Tiger Blue as we look to fill Gentry with a #BLUEout.

The Matchup: Tennessee State Tigers (10-14, 5-7 OVC) vs. No. 23 Murray State Racers (22-2, 12-0 OVC)
Date/Time: Thursday, February 10 || approx. 7:30 p.m. (CST)
Location: Gentry Center || Nashville, Tenn.

Watch v. MSU: Big Blue Sports Network and ESPN+ will carry the game live with Greg Pogue (play-by-play), Ron Slay (color analyst) and Sami Kincaid (sideline reporter).
Listen: For an audio broadcast, head to www.doperadiofm.com or click here.
Live Stats: To follow live coverage of the game through the stats link, click here.

Series History vs. MSU: The Tigers will meet Murray State for the 75th time in series history as the Racers own a sizeable advantage, 57-17. On January 13, TSU traveled to Murray, Kentucky and suffered a loss to the top-team in the OVC, 67-44. Kassim Nicholson grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds while Carlos Marshall Jr. led the team with 12 points. Murray State's KJ Williams logged a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards.

Last Time Out for TSU: Tennessee State earned a road victory, 69-61, behind Kassim Nicholson's eighth double-double of the season. Nicholson posted 17 points and 13 rebounds on the road at UT Martin last Saturday. Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. logged 17 points on 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. The Tigers had six players score at least seven points as UTM's KJ Simon recorded a game-high 21 points.

The Last Ranked Victory for TSU: Tennessee State's last victory over a ranked opponent occured, almost ten years to the date, on Feburary 9, 2012 at No. 9 Murray State, 72-68. The two programs faced off three times in 2011-12 and the Racers were ranked in all three meetings, including the OVC Championship game (No. 12 MSU, 54-52). Coach Penny Collins has faced two Top-25 opponents in his career at TSU, falling to No. 10 Kentucky (11/23/18) and No. 12 Texas Tech (11/21/19).

The Last Ranked Opponent at Gentry: In the 2011-12 season, TSU welcomed No. 14 Murray State to the Gentry Center in the final game of the year (2/23/12). The Racers defeated the Tigers, 80-62, prior to their rubber match in the OVC Championship game

Nicholson Atop the Conference: Tennessee State's Kassim Nicholson ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference with eight double-doubles, trailing  only Morehead State's Johni Broome (17) and Murray State's KJ Williams (9). Nicholson ranks third in rebounding (8.4 rpg) and 10th in field goal percentage (50%).

Last Time Out for MSU: Murray State recorded their 300th win at the CFSB Center on Saturday against SIUE. In the last 24 seasons, the Racers have won 86% of their games at home. MSU improved to 12-0 in Ohio Valley Conference action behind 18 points each from Tevin Brown and Justice Hill. KJ Williams posted his ninth double-double of the season and 25th of his career. Brown, the OVC all-time leader in three-pointers made, drained a "trey-ball" for the 20th straight game.

Steph, Ray Allen ... Tevin Brown?: Murray State's leading scorer, Tevin Brown, averages 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds. Brown set the record for the most three-pointers made (320) in Ohio Valley Conference history on January 29 against Morehead State. The junior from Alabama broke a record which stood for 24 years by Joe Sibbitt from Austin Peay.

Ranked Opponent: Murray State were among the Top-25 national rankings on Monday afternoon for the first time since March 2015 with Cam Payne and company. The Racers were tabbed No. 23 by the Associated Press Top-25 and No. 24 by the USA Today Coaches poll. MSU has been named the No. 2 team in the Mid-Major Top-25 behind Gonzaga.

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