CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Records fell… oh, did records fall.
Twenty three-pointers, 33 assists, 24 steals, 36 turnovers forced, and an 81-point margin of victory. All stand atop the record book, while the 128 points scored shares the top spot alongside a Jan. 4, 1973, game against Tusculum in the Little Red Barn.
Surely one individual stood out with all the records that fell and had a 30- or 40-point night? Maybe a duo combined for 50 or 60? Not quite.
Tate McCubbin led five Austin Peay State University basketball student-athletes in double figures with 17 points in the Governors' 128-47 season-opening thwarting of Bryan College, Monday, on Gary Mathews Court at F&M Bank Arena.
McCubbin finished the contest 6-for-9 from the field and 4-for-7 from three to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Freshman Tyler Wagner was second amongst the Govs with 15 points and tied McCubbin for a game-high four three-pointers. Fellow freshman Zyree Collins had 11 points and six assists in his collegiate debut, while Anton Brookshire and Matt Enright concluded APSU's double-figure scorers with 14 and 11, respectively.
Collins opened the historic night with a three-pointer 82 seconds into the evening, and it was quickly answered by Bryan's first of two triples in the opening half. However, it proved to be the final instance the two teams would be tied, as a pair of McCubbin three-pointers and a driving layup by Brookshire gave APSU an 11-3 lead three minutes into the game.
The Govs made six-straight attempts from the field and scored 16-straight points after the under-16 media timeout to lead 26-5 following a 3-for-3 trip to the line by Matt Enright.
Wagner then hit three-straight three-pointers in as many trips down the court, with the final – a four-point play – sparking a 19-4 run to give APSU a 55-18 advantage with under six minutes to play in the half.
After making its final three baskets of the period, Austin Peay took a 69-25 lead into the break. Its 69 points are the second-most across a half in program history and the most since a 73-point period against Youngstown State during the 1987 Ohio Valley Conference campaign.
The Governors made 14 first-half three-pointers. Not only that, they did it in an efficient, 26 attempts from beyond the perimeter (53.8%). The Govs outscored the Lions 27-1 in points off turnovers, while holding Bryan to 9-for-25 (26.0%) from the field and 2-for-13 (15.4%) from distance.
APSU opened the second half on a 16-point run, with nine points coming from the charity stripe. After a brief, five-point run by the Lions, a Wagner three-pointer sparked a five-minute, 22-5 run, as APSU crossed the century mark and led 108-35 with nine minutes to play in the contest.
Brookshire hit a three with 8:54 to play – the Govs' 18th of the game. Two minutes later, Gaines tied the record with a triple and, on APSU's final basket of the outing, Travis Torain hit a right-wing triple to break the record which had held for 292 days when the Govs hit 19 triples against Eastern Kentucky at F&M Bank Arena.
The Difference
Balance, efficiency, and consistency. All 13 Governors played in the season opener, scored at least six points, and no one played over 21 minutes. Austin Peay shot a blistering 56.6% from the field (43-76), 47.6% from three (20-42), and 84.6% from the free throw line. Austin Peay allowed Bryan to make back-to-back baskets just four times, with the Lions' longest stretch of consecutive makes being three midway through the first half. On the other side, APSU had a stretch of seven-straight makes in the first period and shot at least 50% from the field in both halves.
Box Score Bullets
- Austin Peay opened its 95th season with a 128-47 victory against Bryan, tying the single-game scoring record and breaking the largest margin of victory mark. The previous largest margin of victory was 64 in a 102-38 win against Carver, Dec. 4, 2020.
- Austin Peay's 128 points are tied with a Jan. 4, 1973 game against Tusculum for the most in program history, is the 79th 100-point game in program history, and the second 100-point night under head coach Corey Gipson. It was APSU's first time eclipsing the 100-point mark since a 101-98 victory against North Florida in the 2024 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
- Austin Peay improved to 70-9 all-time in 100-point games.
- Austin Peay made a program-record 20 three-pointers against the Lions with eight Governors contributing with made triples. The 20 threes surpass the 19 APSU made against Eastern Kentucky, Jan. 16, 2025.
- Austin Peay now has five games connecting on at least 15 three-pointers under Gipson.
- Austin Peay set the single-game assists record with 33. The mark surpasses the previous record of 31 set against Oakland City, Nov. 16, 2017.
- The Governors broke the single-game steals record with 24, surpassing a mark of 23 set against Calvary, Dec. 8, 2018.
- APSU improved to 68-27 all-time in home openers with its 10th-straight home-opening victory. It also improved to 3-0 in home openers at F&M Bank Arena.
- The Govs improved to 57-38 all-time in season openers with their third-straight win in a season opener.
- APSU's 42 made field goals are tied for its most since hitting 46 against Oakland City, Nov. 5, 2019.
- Austin Peay's 72 bench points and 57 points off turnovers are both the most in APSU's digital record-keeping era.
- The Govs improved to 1-0 with the starting lineup of Zyree Collins, Anton Brookshire, Tate McCubbin, Collin Parker, and Creighton Morisch.
- Creighton Morisch, Zyree Collins, Collin Parker, Tyler Wagner, Matt Enright, Rashaud Marshall, Trais Torain, and Ja'Corey Robinson made their APSU debuts against the Lions. Collins, Robinson, and Wagner also made their collegiate debuts.
- Matt Enright led APSU with seven steals – tied for the most by a Gov since Reggie Crenshaw's program-record of nine against Tennessee Tech, Feb. 14, 1998.
- McCubbin led APSU in scoring for the eighth time in his career. McCubbin, Morisch, and Hansel Enmanuel also led APSU with six rebounds.
- Zyree Collins paced APSU with six assists. He and McCubbin are the first Govs with at least five assists and no turnovers since Isaac Haney against Bellarmine, Feb. 18, 2025.
Up Next
Austin Peay begins a five-game road trip when it faces Air Force in a 3 p.m. (CT), Nov. 8 contest at Clune Arena in USAFA, Colorado.
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