RICHMOND, Ky. - Ohio Valley Conference pre-season favorite and perennial powerhouse Murray State affords the competition for coach Scott Perry's Eastern Kentucky University Colonels Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. at McBrayer Arena.

Murray State, currently 11-5 overall and 4-1 inside league play, resides in second place in the current OVC standings, trailing league-leader Southeast Missouri, who is 6-1 against conference teams this season.

EKU lost its fourth straight game, all OVC contests, and seventh in the last eight outings Tuesday night when Morehead State defeated the Colonels, 79-76. EKU stands 6-9 overall and 2-4 in OVC play and are currently in eighth place in the league standings.

"It's tough to continually be playing from behind (Eastern was trailing 41-25 at halftime). We have been able to come back from deficits like this before this year to win, but not tonight," said Perry.

Sophomore forward Sam Hoskin continued his scoring onslaught, notching a team-high 22 points for the Colonels to up his season's average to 16.4. Sophomore guard Will Morris and junior forward Lavoris Jerry each added 13 points, while junior forward Darcel Williams scored 10 for EKU who scored 51 second-half points against the Eagles.

After the Murray State contest Thursday night, EKU closes the current homestand with a 4:15 p.m. game with much-improved UT Martin Saturday afternoon.

Tickets to this contest and all remaining home games are available by visiting the EKU Athletic Ticket Office in Room 126 of Alumni Coliseum or by phoning the ticket office at (606) 622-2122 or 1-800-262-7493, inside Kentucky.