The Eastern men’s basketball team’s previous 27 games, including its 16 Ohio Valley Conference games, no longer mean anything.

A second season begins tonight, when the Panthers travel to take on Tennessee Tech at 7:30 in the first round of the OVC Tournament.

The Panthers (12-15, 7-9 OVC) have dropped both of their contests against the Golden Eagles this season, losing 86-72 on Jan. 6 in Cookeville Tenn. and 81-68 at Lantz Arena on Jan. 22. However, since the last meeting, Eastern has won six of their 10 games.

Eastern head coach Rick Samuels and Tennessee Tech head coach Mike Sutton discussed the upcoming game during a teleconference Monday, where Samuels confessed the trip to Tech isn’t a comfortable one.

“At Tech, their visitor’s locker room is about 90 degrees,” he said.

Sutton quickly responded, saying it will be “105 by tomorrow night.”

While Sutton was joking about kicking up the heat in the locker room, the Golden Eagles will try to keep the Panthers uncomfortable on the floor with their swarming, three-quarter court trapping defense.

In the two prior meetings, Eastern has been forced into committing 21 and 20 turnovers, leading to a total of 38 points for Tech, the OVC regular season champs.

The first meeting between the two was the OVC opener for both teams, and from that game on Samuels said the Golden Eagles have shown they’re the best team in the league.

“Tennessee Tech, over the course of the whole season, has been the best,” he said. “Even though it was a competitive race, they made the plays and won the games they needed to earn the number one seed.”

Along with the top seed, Tennessee Tech might have the conference’s top player in senior forward Willie Jenkins.

Jenkins leads the team with 19.7 points per game (second in the OVC) and 6.9 rebounds per game (fifth in the OVC). He also leads the team in three-point field goals made with 54.

Against the Panthers this season, Jenkins has scored 28 points and 21 points while grabbing eight and then nine rebounds. In the first meeting, Jenkins scored 18 of his 28 points in the second half, and at Eastern, he had 12 points and six rebounds in the final 20 minutes.

“He’s just a solid player,” Samuels said. “He really stepped up in the second half in both games against us.”

Jenkins is in his second season as a Golden Eagle after transferring from Massachusetts.

Sutton said Jenkins’ relentless effort distinguishes him from other players.

“Willie has been one of the hardest working players I’ve been around,” Sutton said. “He’s not our most athletic player but he makes up for that with the size of his heart and by being competitive.

“He was the preseason player of the year, which means everyone was gunning for him.”

And despite the target on his back, Jenkins has delivered by leading Tech to the top of a tightly grouped conference.

The Panthers hope to get a similar performance from their go-to player, junior guard Josh Gomes.

Tennessee Tech has limited Gomes to games of 10 and 11 points, well below his 17 points per game average.

Samuels said that Gomes has to play well for the Panthers to pull off the road upset.

“He’s a guy we need to be consistent for us,” Samuels said. “He needs to make jump shots for us to be competitive.

“He stretches defenses because you have to guard him on the perimeter, which gives us, the way we play, chances to get offensive rebounds and some penetration.”

Both coaches agree that though the game is between the tournament’s best and worst seeds, the result of the match up isn’t predetermined.

“There are no easy outs,” Sutton said. “Everyone is capable of beating you, and if you don’t bring you’re ‘A’ game, you’re going to be through for the year.”