Top four still on the floor

The home court proved to be a safe haven in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference basketball tournament Tuesday night.

All eight games -- four men's and four women's -- were won by the home team, with most of those victories decisive. So finishing in the top four of the regular-season standings to earn home-court advantage for the tourney's opening round certainly was beneficial.

But now the tournament shifts to Louisville, Ky., for the semifinals and finals this weekend. A neutral site generally tends to even up the field.

"Getting the home court in the first round of the tournament is always important," Tennessee Tech coach Jeff Lebo said. "But with the rest of the tournament on a neutral floor, anything can happen."

Lebo's Eagles (23-5) are regarded as a solid favorite after rolling to the regular-season title with a 15-1 record.

The top-seeded Eagles breezed into the semifinals by disposing of No. 8 Southeast Missouri State 73-56 in the opening round.

"We didn't play a great game. We know we'll have to play a lot better (in Louisville)," Lebo said. "It was an ugly game and that happens sometimes when you're playing a team for the third time."

Tech will take on fourth-seeded Austin Peay (14-17), which survived the only close first-round game by holding off No. 5 Tennessee-Martin 72-69.

The Eagles defeated the Govs twice during the regular season, 74-67 and most recently 86-84 in double-overtime.

"We look forward to another shot at Tech," Austin Peay coach Dave Loos told the Leaf-Chronicle of Clarksville, Tenn.

In the other semifinal, second-seeded Morehead State (18-10) and third-seeded Murray State (17-12) will hook up in what figures to be a toss-up type of game.

Morehead won both meetings during the regular season, 92-83 in overtime and 80-75. Murray romped to Louisville by destroying No. 6 Eastern Illinois 103-56 while Morehead cruised past No. 7 Tennessee State 91-82.Women's field

While Tennessee Tech's men are favored, Eastern Kentucky and Tech probably rank as the women's co-favorites after they shared the regular-season title with 13-3 records.

Eastern Kentucky (22-6) did defeat Tech (21-7) twice, which lifted the Colonels to the No. 1 seed.

Both squads romped into the semifinals, Eastern thumping No. 8 Murray State 76-59 and Tech crushing No. 7 Eastern Illinois 67-43.

Third-seeded Morehead State (21-7) also had an easy first-round game, 90-66 against No. 6 Tennessee-Martin, while defending tournament champion and fourth-seeded Austin Peay (17-11) held off Southeast Missouri State 76-67.

In the semifinals, Eastern Kentucky plays Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech faces Morehead State.Unprecedented honors

The all-OVC honors that were announced Tuesday included two unprecedented awards.

Lebo won coach of the year for the third consecutive season, the first time that has ever happened in the OVC. Lebo led the Eagles to their second straight OVC regular-season title and their most wins in school history.

Tennessee Tech senior center Janet Holt won player of the year for the third straight time, also a league first.