# 2016–17 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball team represented Tennessee Technological University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Golden Eagles, led by sixth-year head coach Steve Payne, played their home games at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tennessee and were members of the East Division of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 12–20, 8–8 in OVC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the East Division. As the No. 6 seed in the OVC tournament, they lost in the first round to Murray State.

## Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2015–16 season 19–12, 11–5 in OVC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the East Division. They lost in the first round of the OVC tournament to Austin Peay. They were invited to the inaugural Vegas 16, which only had 8 teams, where they lost in the quarterfinals to Old Dominion.

## Preseason

In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men's basketball coaches and sports information directors, Tennessee Tech was picked to finish in fourth place in the East Division of the OVC. Aleksa Jugovic was selected to the All-OVC Preseason Team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm, ACC Extra | | at Georgia Tech | L 55–70 | 0–1 | Hank McCamish Pavilion (6,018) Atlanta, GA |
| 11/14/2016* 7:30 pm | | Central Michigan | L 74–86 | 0–2 | Eblen Center (1,546) Cookeville, TN |
| 11/17/2016* 7:30 pm | | Alabama A&M | W 95-61 | 1–2 | Eblen Center (1,396) Cookeville, TN |
| 11/20/2016* 2:00 pm | | Sam Houston State | L 71–78 | 1–3 | Eblen Center (768) Cookeville, TN |
| 11/22/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Southern | L 68–80 | 1–4 | F. G. Clark Center (601) Baton Rouge, LA |
| 11/25/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Ohio | L 57–68 | 1–5 | Convocation Center (6,388) Athens, OH |
| 11/28/2016* 7:00 pm | | Hiwassee | W 80–47 | 2–5 | Eblen Center (708) Cookeville, TN |
| 12/01/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Lipscomb | L 85–104 | 2–6 | Allen Arena (982) Nashville, TN |
| 12/03/2016* 6:00 pm | | at Alabama A&M | W 79–74 | 3–6 | Elmore Gymnasium (1,735) Huntsville, AL |
| 12/04/2016* 4:00 pm | | Crowley's Ridge | W 98–51 | 4–6 | Eblen Center (1,091) Cookeville, TN |
| 12/10/2016* 1:00 pm, BTN | | at Michigan State | L 63–71 | 4–7 | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| 12/13/2016* 6:00 pm, SECN | | at Tennessee | L 68–74 | 4–8 | Thompson–Boling Arena (11,524) Knoxville, TN |
| 12/17/2016* 6:00 pm | | Lipscomb | L 79–81 | 4–9 | Eblen Center (961) Cookeville, TN |
| 12/19/2016* 6:00 pm | | Furman | L 62–68 | 4–10 | Eblen Center (799) Cookeville, TN |
| 12/22/2016* 2:30 pm | | at Miami (OH) | L 58–66 | 4–11 | Millett Hall (1,108) Oxford, OH |
| Ohio Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2016 2:30 pm | | at SIU Edwardsville | W 72–66 | 5–11 (1–0) | Vadalabene Center (1,781) Edwardsville, IL |
| 01/05/2017 7:30 pm | | Austin Peay | W 76–67 | 6–11 (2–0) | Eblen Center (1,493) Cookeville, TN |
| 01/07/2017 7:30 pm | | Murray State | W 71–67 | 6–12 (3–0) | Eblen Center (2,017) Cookeville, TN |
| 01/10/2017 6:30 pm | | at Southeast Missouri State | L 78–83 | 7–12 (3–1) | Show Me Center (923) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| 01/14/2017 7:30 pm | | Jacksonville State | L 59–74 | 7–12 (3–2) | Eblen Center (2,882) Cookeville, TN |
| 01/19/2017 7:00 pm | | at Tennessee State | W 80–74 | 8–12 (4–2) | Gentry Complex (4,251) Nashville, TN |
| 01/21/2017 11:00 am, ASN | | at Belmont | L 70–82 | 8–13 (4–3) | Curb Event Center (2,061) Nashville, TN |
| 01/26/2017 6:00 pm | | Morehead State | W 76–73 | 9–13 (5–3) | Eblen Center (1,644) Cookeville, TN |
| 01/28/2017 7:30 pm | | Eastern Kentucky | L 66–79 | 9–14 (5–4) | Eblen Center (2,878) Cookeville, TN |
| 02/01/2017 7:30 pm | | UT Martin | L 46–75 | 9–15 (5–5) | Eblen Center (1,555) Cookeville, TN |
| 02/04/2017 3:15 pm | | at Eastern Illinois | W 87–68 | 10–15 (6–5) | Lantz Arena (1,077) Charleston, IL |
| 02/09/2017 6:00 pm | | Tennessee State | L 59–72 | 10–17 (6–6) | Eblen Center (1,414) Cookeville, TN |
| 02/11/2017 7:30 pm | | Belmont | W 83–70 | 11–17 (7–6) | Eblen Center (3,879) Cookeville, TN |
| 02/18/2017 7:00 pm | | at Jacksonville State | W 79–78 $^{OT}$ | 12–17 (8–6) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,822) Jacksonville, AL |
| 02/23/2017 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Morehead State | L 68–73 | 12–18 (8–7) | Ellis Johnson Arena (3,383) Morehead, KY |
| 02/25/2017 1:00 pm, ASN | | at Eastern Kentucky | L 71–75 | 12–19 (8–8) | McBrayer Arena (2,300) Richmond, KY |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament ||||||
| 03/01/2017 8:30 pm | (6) | vs. (7) Murray State First Round | L 84–85 $^{2OT}$ | 12–20 | Nashville Municipal Auditorium (1,043) Nashville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||