OVC Men's Basketball Report - December 5

12/5/2016 3:11:39 PM

• OVC Men’s Basketball Report – December 5 (PDF)

This Week’s Schedule

Tuesday, December 6
Belmont at Lipscomb, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN3)

Wednesday, December 7
Eastern Illinois at Northern Kentucky, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Eastern Kentucky at Jacksonville, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Missouri State at Southeast Missouri, 6:30 p.m. (OVC Digital Network)
Stetson at SIUE, 8:00 p.m. (FOX Sports Midwest)

Saturday, December 10
Tennessee Tech at Michigan State, 1:00 p.m. (BTN)
Eastern Kentucky at Ball State, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Austin Peay at Fort Wayne, 1:30 p.m.
Northern Kentucky at Southeast Missouri, 2:00 p.m. (OVC Digital Network)
UT Martin at Illinois State, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Missouri Western at SIUE, 2:00 p.m. (OVC Digital Network)
Eastern Illinois at Western Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Tennessee State at NC State, 3:00 p.m. (ACC Network Extra)
Murray State at Evansville, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Morehead State at Lipscomb, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Jacksonville State at Louisiana-Monroe, 7:00 p.m.

adidas^®OVC Players of the Week

PLAYER
Evan Bradds, F • 6-7, 205, Sr. • Jamestown, Ohio • Belmont
Bradds returned from missing a game to average 24.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.0 steals/game in leading Belmont to a pair of victories. The senior hit 62.5 percent (20-of-32) from the field and 80 percent (8-of-10) from the free throw line for the week. Against rival Lipscomb, Bradds had 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting, added nine rebounds and netted a career-high six assists. His most important assist came after Lipscomb had tied the game with 2.8 seconds remaining; Bradds took the ball out-of-bounds and launched a length-of-the-floor pass to Dylan Windler who scored the game-winning basket with 0.4 seconds remaining. He ended the week with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists as Belmont won 85-77 at Pepperdine. Bradds currently ranks second in the OVC and 22nd nationally in scoring (22.0 points/game), 27th nationally in field goal percentage (61.6%) and 51st in rebounding (9.0/game).

Others Nominated: John Murry, Austin Peay; Cornell Johnston, Eastern Illinois; Nick Mayo, Eastern Kentucky; Erik Durham, Jacksonville State; Miguel Dicent, Morehead State; Jonathan Stark, Murray State; Burak Eslik, SIUE; Ken’Darrius Hamilton, Tennessee State; Aleksa Jugovic, Tennessee Tech; Kedar Edwards, UT Martin.

NEWCOMER
Jonathan Stark, G • 6-0, 175, Jr. • Munford, Tenn. • Murray State
For the fourth-straight week Stark earned OVC Newcomer of the Week honors, this time after averaging 28.0 points, 6.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals/game while hitting 46.2 percent (18-of-39) from the field, 40 percent (4-of-10) from 3-point range and 94.1 percent (16-of-17) from the free throw line in two games. Stark opened the week with a season-high 29 points while adding eight assists in an overtime loss at Southern Illinois. The transfer from Tulane played all 45 minutes and committed just two turnovers while hitting 10-of-11 at the free throw line (including two with one minute left in overtime to tie the game). In a victory over Detroit to conclude the week, the junior hit 9-of-18 field goals, 3-of-4 3-pointers and 6-of-6 free throws to finish with 27 points. He also dished out five assists (against just one turnover) and grabbed four rebounds. In the second half, he scored nine consecutive points as part of an overall 15-9 run that gave MSU a 72-61 lead with 6:11 to play. Stark currently ranks first in the OVC and 15th nationally in scoring (22.6 points/game); he is also 16th nationally in 3-pointers made/game (3.50) and 30th in assists (6.0/game).

Others Nominated: Ray Crossland, Eastern Illinois; Zach Charles, Eastern Kentucky; Norbertas Giga, Jacksonville State; Ken’Darrius Hamilton, Tennessee State; Matthew Butler, UT Martin.

FRESHMAN
Asante Gist, G • 5-11, 185, Fr. • East Orange, N.J. • Eastern Kentucky
Gist averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists/game while hitting 50 percent (11-of-22) from the field as Eastern Kentucky topped Conference USA foes Western Kentucky and Marshall. Against WKU he scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half as the Colonels won 78-59 to snap a 13-game losing streak to its in-state rival, besting the Hilltoppers for the first time since 1987. Gist hit 7-of-12 field goals, 3-of-6 3-pointers and 2-of-2 free throws while also adding four rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes off the bench. Against Marshall Gist added 13 points, six rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes of action. Gist currently ranks ninth in the OVC in assists (3.7/game) and leads all OVC freshmen in scoring at 12.8 points/game.

Others Nominated: Ashton Spears, Jacksonville State; Denzel Mahoney, Southeast Missouri; Colton Blevins, Tennessee Tech.

Notes From Around the League

OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: The OVC enters the week ranked No. 15 in the RPI out of 31 Division I conferences...OVC teams are currently 55-44 in non-conference play this season; at this time at year ago the league’s cumulative record was 46-53...UT Martin is off to an 8-2 start, its best in the school’s Division I Era (since 1992) and best for the program since starting 12-1 in 1986-87...UTM first-year head coach Anthony Stewart is the first coach in program history to win eight of his first 10 games as coach...The Skyhawks are 5-0 at home this season and have won 11-straight at home (the longest in its Division I history) dating back to January of last season...With its win at Arkansas-Pine Bluff last week, UT Martin has now won 23 true road games since the beginning of the 2014-15 season; that is second nationally behind only Monmouth (25)...UTM junior Matthew Butler scored 35 points on Sunday against Boyce College; it marked the most by an OVC player in a game this season; it was the most for a UTM player in a game since the 2009-10 season...After starting the season 6-0, Tennessee State suffered its first loss at Vanderbilt but rebounded to top Lipscomb to improve to 7-1 on the year with six of those wins coming away from home...Through eight games this season TSU has had five different players lead it in scoring...Eastern Kentucky snapped a 13-game losing streak to in-state rival Western Kentucky last week, besting the Hilltoppers 78-59 to win for the first time in the series since 1987...With 2.8 seconds left, Belmont’s Evan Bradds connected on a length-of-the-court pass to Dylan Windler who scored with 0.4 seconds remaining to lift the Bruins to its 10th-straight victory over in-city rival Lipscomb...SIUE has already won four non-conference games this season (three of those coming away from home), surpassing its win total from last year...Tennessee Tech’s Hakeem Rogers tied the school record with eight 3-pointers against Crowley’s Ridge on Sunday...Austin Peay’s Josh Robinson had 33 points against Fort Wayne last week, but saw a streak of 24-straight games scoring in double figures end at Arkansas on Saturday.

RPI: As of Monday, the OVC is rated as the 15th-best conference in Division I in the RPI. The highest the league has finished in the RPI over the past decade is 16th, doing so in 2012-13. Last year the OVC finished 22nd in the final RPI. There are currently four teams ranked in the Top 128 of the RPI including Tennessee State (71), UT Martin (104), Eastern Kentucky (117) and Austin Peay (128).

NCAA Stats Leaders: In the final set of NCAA statistical leaders (Dec. 5), Jacksonville State ranks eighth nationally in 3-point percentage (42.9%) while Eastern Illinois is fourth in forced turnovers (19.25/game) and sixth in turnover margin (+7.0/game). Murray State is 15th in 3-pointers made/game (10.5) while Tennessee Tech is 17th in offensive rebounds/game (14.5). Individually, JSU’s Erik Durham is third in 3-point percentage (56.6%), Austin Peay’s Josh Robinson is seventh in minutes played (37:00/game) and Southeast Missouri’s Jamaal Calvin is ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.50). Murray State’s Jonathan Stark is 15th in scoring (22.6 points/game) and 16th in 3-pointers made (3.5/game).

CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll: In the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll (Nov. 28 - the newest poll was not yet available), Tennessee State was ranked 17th and Belmont was 18th while UT Martin was among the others receiving votes. Gonzaga picked up 26 of 31 first-place votes to be ranked No. 1. Now in its 18th season, the Mid-Major poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC and West Coast. It is voted upon by coaches from those conferences, with one coach per conference casting a vote (Eastern Illinois coach Jay Spoonhour is the OVC representative).

Recent Postseason Success: Including five total wins in 2016, OVC teams have now at least won one game in each postseason for eight-straight years, the longest stretch in league history. Morehead State won a NCAA game in 2009, Murray State won in the NCAA Tournament in 2010, Morehead State won in the NCAA’s in 2011, Murray State won in the NCAA’s in 2012, Eastern Kentucky won in the CIT in 2013, Belmont (NIT) and Murray State (CIT) won games in 2014, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State and UT Martin scored victories in 2015 (the four different teams to record a victory in the single postseason was also an OVC record) and last year (2016) Morehead State (CBI) and UT Martin (CIT) scored postseason wins.

Four OVC Players Nominated for 2017 AllState NABC Good Works Team: Four OVC men’s basketball players named been nominated for the 2017 AllState NABC Good Works Team. The nominees include Austin Peay’s Zach Glotta, Belmont’s Evan Bradds, SIUE’s Josh White and Tennessee Tech’s Mason Ramsey. The Allstate Good Works Team® recognizes players at all levels of college basketball whose charitable involvement and altruistic acts stand out amongst all other student-athletes participating in the sport. Athletic departments and sports information directors across the country nominated the 181 NABC student-athletes for the prestigious honor; a final roster of 10 award recipients will be unveiled in February.

Bradds and Mayo on Lou Henson Award Watch List: Belmont senior Evans Bradds and Eastern Kentucky sophomore Nick Mayo were two of 50 players nationally named to the preseason Lou Henson Award Watch List. The award is presented by CollegeInsider.com to the nation’s top Division I mid-major player. The award’s namesake, Lou Henson, coached college basketball for 41 years. When he left the game in 2005, he was sixth all-time in career Division I wins with 779. He is the winningest coach at both Illinois and New Mexico State. He is one of only 12 coaches in the history of the game to take two schools to the Final Four. The recipient of the 2017 Lou Henson Award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com awards banquet on April 31 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bradds Named to Julius Erving Award Watch List: Belmont senior Evan Bradds has been named one of 20 candidates for the 2017 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Named after Hall of Famer and 11-time NBA All-Star Julius Erving, the annual honor in its third year recognizes the top small forwards in Division I men’s college basketball. A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates. By mid-February, the watch list of 20 players for the 2017 Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Award will be narrowed to just 10. In March, five finalists will be presented to Mr. Erving and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2017 Julius Erving Award will be presented at the ESPN College Basketball Awards in April.

Loos is All-Time Winningest Coach in OVC History; Byrd Ranks 8th Among Active NCAA Coaches: With a 68-66 victory at Ohio on Dec. 9, 2009, Austin Peay head coach Dave Loos recorded his 320th career victory while in the OVC, a mark that ranks first all-time. Loos passed Cal Luther (319 wins at Murray State and UT Martin) for the all-time mark. Loos, the Dean of OVC coaches, is now in his 27th year at Austin Peay. Loos now has 413 victories in his tenure at Austin Peay and 495 for his career. Belmont head coach Rick Byrd (who is in his fifth year in the OVC and 31st overall at Belmont) has 734 career victories, which ranks sixth among active Division I head coaches. Loos and Byrd are two of just six active Division I coaches to have coached at the same school for 25 or more years (the others are Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Oakland’s Greg Kampe and Davidson’s Bob McKillop).

OVC Tournament Once Again at Municipal Auditorium: The 2017 OVC Tournament will once again be played at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee (March 1-4). It marks the seventh-straight year the tournament has been at the venue and the 12th time the combined men’s and women’s tournaments have been held at the venue (1994, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016); the men’s tournament was also held there in 1967 and 1989. Beginning in 2011 the Championship switched to a format where the top eight men’s and women’s teams play in the merit-based format. The No. 1 and 2 seeds receive two byes to the semifinals while the No. 3 and 4 seeds receive one bye into the quarterfinals. The first round includes the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed and the No. 6 seed against the No. 7 seed. That format remains the same for the men’s team, although the women’s teams have switched back to a traditional bracket (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc.) bracket in 2015. As part of the deal to host the tournament at Municipal Auditorium, the Nashville City Council and Municipal Auditorium committed $200,000 to improvements at the venue, which opened in 1962. Among the major improvements included upgrades to the dressing rooms, two new scoreboards and the new OVC-branded playing surface. The floor was built by Horner Sports Flooring, whose corporate headquarters are in Dollar Bay, Mich. The company has made floors for many collegiate and National Basketball Association (NBA) teams, including building the floor for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game which was held at Texas Stadium.

OVC to Produce 21-Game Men’s Basketball National Television Package: The OVC will produce the largest national television package in its history in 2016-17 as 21 Conference games will air on either the ESPN Family of Networks, CBS Sports Network or the American Sports Network. The Conference will once again have seven men’s games on the ESPN Family of Networks, including four regular season games as well as the OVC Tournament semifinals and championship game. The OVC will also have a seven-game package on CBS Sports Network for the third-straight season. In addition the league will have seven men’s games on the American Sports Network (ASN). Two women’s games will be broadcast this year (1 on ESPNU, 1 on ASN) bringing the complete package to 23 games.

OVC Men’s Hoops in Fifth Year of Divisional Play: For the fifth year the OVC will use divisional play for men’s basketball (the OVC women’s teams are not using divisional play anymore). The addition of Belmont University on July 1, 2012 gave the OVC 12 member institutions, the largest the Conference has been since it was formed in 1948 (the OVC is currently the nation’s eighth-oldest Division I conference). The East Division includes Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech. The West Division includes Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Murray State, Southeast Missouri State, SIUE and UT Martin.

Former OVC Players in the NBA: There are currently five former OVC players on NBA rosters. That ranks the OVC No. 10 among all 31 Division I Conferences for total numbers of NBA players (ahead of the likes of the Conference USA, Missouri Valley and Colonial). Former Morehead State All-American Kenneth Faried was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and is in his sixth season with the Denver Nuggets. Faried was a two-time OVC Player of the Year, three-time OVC Defensive Player of the Year and set the NCAA Modern Era (since 1973) Rebounding record during his career. Faried was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 2012 and helped lead Team USA to a Gold Medal in the World Cup of Basketball in 2014. Former Murray State All-American Isaiah Canaan was drafted by the Houston Rockets before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers; this year he begins his first season with the Chicago Bulls. former Tennessee State star Robert Covington also started his career with Houston before signing a free agent contract with Philadelphia where he begins his third season with the 76ers. Former Belmont All-American Ian Clark saw time with the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets before signing with the World Champion Golden State Warriors prior to last season; last year he became the first OVC player to participate in the NBA Finals since 1993-94 (TSU’s Anthony Mason). Former Murray State star and 2015 OVC Player of the Year Cameron Payne was a lottery pick (No. 14 overall) by the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015 and begins his second year in the league this season.

Belmont’s Bradds Tabbed as Preseason Player of the Year: The 2016-17 OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball team was headlined by Belmont senior Evan Bradds who was named the OVC Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches and SID’s. Bradds is the second-straight Belmont player to be tabbed preseason player of the year. Overall nine different schools were represented on the team with Belmont and Tennessee State having two selections apiece and Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State, Murray State, Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech having one pick apiece. The squad features four players who were either first or second-team selections last season. The team is comprised of seven seniors, three juniors and a sophomore. In addition to Bradds the others named to the team included Bradds’ teammate Taylor Barnette, Austin Peay’s Josh Robinson, Eastern Illinois’ Cornell Johnston, Eastern Kentucky’s Nick Mayo, Morehead State’s Xavier Moon, Murray State’s Bryce Jones, Southeast Missouri’s Antonius Cleveland, Tennessee State’s Tahjere McCall and Wayne Martin and Tennessee Tech’s Aleksa Jugovic.

Belmont Picked as OVC Preseason Favorite: In a vote of OVC head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors Belmont has been picked the preseason favorite for the 2016-17 season. It marks the second-straight year the Bruins have been tabbed preseason favorites. Belmont, who has won three of the past four OVC regular season championships, picked up 16 of 24 first-place votes in being picked the preseason favorites as overall regular season champions. The Bruins were also tabbed the East Division favorites, picking up 16 of 24 first-place votes in that category, while Murray State was picked the West Division favorites. In the overall champion voting, in addition to Belmont picking up 16 first-place votes, other teams with first-place votes included Tennessee State (6), Eastern Kentucky (1) and Morehead State (1). All the teams who received an overall first-place vote came from the East Division. Since Belmont was picked as the overall champion, they were also an overwhelming favorite to take first place in its own division; the Bruins have finished first in the East in each of the first four years of divisional play. Belmont received 126 total points to top the East and were followed by Tennessee State (6 first-place votes and 106 points), Morehead State (1 first-place vote, 98 points), Tennessee Tech (62 points), Eastern Kentucky (1 first-place vote, 60 points) and Jacksonville State (40). Murray State picked up 21 of 24 first-place votes and 131 points to be picked the West Division favorites. The Racers have finished at the top of the West Division in each of the first four years of divisional play. Eastern Illinois was picked second (95 points) and followed by defending tournament champion Austin Peay (2 first-place votes, 88 points), UT Martin (1 first-place vote, 82 points), SIUE (54) and Southeast Missouri (42).

The 2016-17 Season: The 2016-17 season marks the 69th of competition in the OVC. Over the previous 68 years, 13 different teams have claimed an OVC regular season championship.

Westwood One Sports to Broadcast OVC Championship Game: For the eighth consecutive season, the OVC Men’s Basketball Championship game will be broadcast by the Westwood One radio network, the largest provider of audio content in America. Westwood One is the leading multi-platform provider of sports, music, news, spoken word, and digital audio content with a portfolio that features exclusive brands like the NFL, the GRAMMYs, NASH, Rdio, and more. Westwood One, which is part of Cumulus Media, reaches 245 million people each week through 454 owned-and-operated stations in 90 US media markets, more than 8,200 broadcast radio affiliates and numerous digital channels.

OVC Digital Network: The OVC launched the OVC Digital Network (OVCDN) in August 2012. The OVCDN is the exclusive home for live web streamed athletic contests involving OVC schools. This marks the 11th year the OVC has streamed live events, but the fifth year the events have been offered free of charge and in an HD format. Fans can log onto OVCDigitalNetwork.com and access the streams without any registration. The events are available on any computer, tablet or smart phone. In November 2015 the league also announced the addition of a channel on the Roku streaming player as well, making it even easier for fans to watch events on their television.