• OVC Men’s Basketball Report – November 15 (PDF)

This Week’s Schedule
 
Monday, November 15
Kentucky Christian at Morehead State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Furman at Belmont, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Knox at SIUE, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Central Michigan at Eastern Illinois, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Tuesday, November 16
Austin Peay at Purdue Fort Wayne, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee Tech at Chattanooga, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Fisk at Tennessee State, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Murray State at Illinois State, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Thursday, November 18
Tennessee Tech vs. UNC Asheville, 5:00 p.m. (Chattanooga, Tenn.)
Transylvania at Morehead State, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Rockford University at Eastern Illinois, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Friday, November 19
UT Martin at Florida Atlantic, 5:00 p.m. (CUSA.TV)
Belmont at Kennesaw State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Arkansas State at Southeast Missouri, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
SIUE vs. Niagara, 6:45 p.m. (Youngstown, Ohio) (ESPN+)

Saturday, November 20
SIUE at Youngstown State, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Austin Peay at Dayton, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
UT Martin vs. Troy, 2:00 p.m. (Boca Raton, Fla.)

Sunday, November 21
SIUE vs. St. Thomas, 12:00 p.m. (Youngstown, Ohio) (ESPN+)
UT Martin vs. North Dakota, 1:00 p.m. (Boca Raton, Fla.)
Morehead State at Mississippi State, 2:00 p.m. (SEC Network+)
Tennessee State at South Dakota, 2:00 p.m.
 

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OVC Players of the Week

PLAYER
KJ Williams, F • 6-10, 245, Jr. • Cleveland, Miss. • Murray State
In a pair of wins last week, Williams averaged 22.0 points and 6.0 rebounds while hitting 81.0 percent (17-of-21) from the field, 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from 3-point range and 60 percent (3-of-5) from the free throw line. In the team’s season-opener against Cumberland, Williams had a career-high 32 points on 12-of-13 shooting (5-of-6 3-pointers) while also hitting 3-of-4 free throws. He added five rebounds in just 22 minutes of action.  The 32 points are the sixth-most by a Division I player this season. In the team’s win over Bellarmine, Williams hit 5-of-8 shots on his way to 10 points, while also adding seven rebounds, an assist, block and steal.
 
Others Nominated: Elijah Hutchins-Everett, Austin Peay; Ben Sheppard, Belmont; CJ Lane, Eastern Illinois; Johni Broome, Morehead State; Eric Reed Jr., Southeast Missouri; Ray’Sean Taylor, SIUE; Dedric Boyd, Tennessee State; Keishawn Davidson, Tennessee Tech; KK Curry, UT Martin.
 
NEWCOMER
KK Curry, F • 6-6, 205, So. • Cleveland, Tenn. • UT Martin
Curry, a transfer from South Alabama, averaged 18.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks/game while hitting 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field in a pair of games. In the team’s season-opener at No. 17 Tennessee, Curry had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while hitting 7-of-12 field goals. He became just the third Skyhawk since 2002 to have a double-double in the team’s season-opener. He capped the week with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting against Miami-Hamilton. Curry added nine rebounds, three blocks and three assists in 26 minutes of action in the 94-66 win.
 
Others Nominated: Caleb Stone-Carrawell, Austin Peay; Jermaine Hamlin, Eastern Illinois; Tray Hollowell, Morehead State; Trae Hannibal, Murray State; Mamoudou Diarra, Tennessee Tech.
 
CO-FRESHMAN
Elijah Hutchins-Everett, C • 6-11, 270, Fr. • Orange, N.J. • Austin Peay
Hutchins-Everett averaged 18.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.0 assists and 1.0 blocks/game while hitting 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the field, 66.7 percent (4-of-6) from 3-point range and 60 percent (6-of-10) from the free throw line in two games. In his collegiate debut he had 17 points, eight rebounds, a block, steal and assist against UT Southern. In that game Hutchins-Everett hit 6-of-13 field goals (2-of-3 3-pointers) in 24 minutes of action. Three games later he had a team-high 19 points at Southern Illinois. The center hit 7-of-11 field goals (2-of-3 3-pointers), grabbed five rebounds and had two steals.
 
CO-FRESHMAN
Ray’Sean Taylor, G • 6-1, 175, R-Fr. • Collinsville, Ill. • SIUE
Taylor averaged 20.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.0 assists/game while hitting 44.0 percent (11-of-25) from the field and 83.3 percent (15-of-18) from the line in a pair of road games. After missing last season with an injury, Taylor made his debut at Marquette last Tuesday, scoring 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting in 27 minutes of action. He hit 6-of-7 free throws and added five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Taylor followed that with 24 points, five steals and three rebounds at Chicago State. In that game he hit 6-of-13 field goals (including a trio of 3-pointers) and 9-of-11 free throws. Taylor currently leads all OVC freshmen in scoring.
 
Others Nominated: Will Richard, Belmont; Rodolfo Bolis, Eastern Illinois.
 
 
Notes From Around the League
 
The 2021-22 Season: The 2021-22 season marks the 74th of competition in the OVC. Over the previous 73 years, 13 different teams have claimed an OVC regular season championship.
 
CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll: In the Preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll, Belmont was ranked No. 2 (behind only Gonzaga), while Morehead State and Murray State were among the others receiving votes. Now in its 23rd season, the Mid-Major poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, ASUN, 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.
 
Muszynski on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Watch List: Belmont graduate student Nick Muszynski has been named to the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award Watch List by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Named after Class of 1995 Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA Champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor in its eighth year recognizes the top centers in men’s college basketball. A national committee of top college basketball personnel determined the watch list of 20 candidates. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award will be narrowed to 10 and then in late February to just 5. In March the five finalists will be presented to Mr. Abdul-Jabbar and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee where a winner will be selected.
 
Four OVC Players on Lou Henson Award Watch List: Four OVC players have been named to the Lou Henson Award Watch List by CollegeInsider.com. The four players were Morehead State forward Johni Broome, Murray State guard Tevin Brown, Belmont guard Grayson Murphy and Belmont center Nick Muszynski. The award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in division I college basketball, honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. The award will be given out in April.

OVC Players in the NBA: Four former OVC players were on NBA rosters to begin the 2021-22 season. The four players ranks the OVC 12th among all Division I conferences. Included in that is former Murray State All-American Ja Morant, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Morant would go on to become the first OVC player to be named the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 17.8 points, 7.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game in 67 contests. Dating back to 1983-84, he is one of just three players to attend a non-Power 5 college to win the award, joining Damian Lilliard of Weber State (2012-13) and Larry Johnson of UNLV (1991-92).  Another former Racer, Cameron Payne, helped Phoenix advance to the NBA Finals a year ago. It marked the fourth time in the past six years an OVC player had competed in the NBA Finals; Payne was the third all-time Murray State player to accomplish the feat. Here is a look at the four (4) former OVC players who are on NBA teams entering the 2021-22 season.
            • Robert Covington, Portland Trailblazers (Tennessee State)
            • Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies (Murray State)
            • Cameron Payne, Phoenix Suns (Murray State)
            • Dylan Windler, Cleveland Cavaliers (Belmont)
 
OVC to Produce 10-Game Linear Television Package: The OVC will produce a national television package in 2021-22 that will include nine men’s basketball games and one women’s basketball contest that will air on the ESPN Family of Networks. Five of the seven regular season games will air on ESPNU, as will the OVC Men’s Tournament semifinals, with two games airing on ESPNews. The Men’s Championship game will air on ESPN2.
 
Recent Postseason Success: With only one team in the postseason in 2021, the OVC saw a streak of at least one win in 11-straight postseasons come to an end. It had been 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 (CIT), Eastern Kentucky (CIT), Murray State (NIT) and UT Martin (CIT) scored victories in 2015 (the four different teams to record a victory in the single postseason was an OVC record), Morehead State (CBI) and UT Martin (CIT) won in 2016, Belmont (NIT) and UT Martin (CIT) scored wins in 2017, Austin Peay (CIT) and Jacksonville State (CBI) won in 2018 and Belmont and Murray State in 2019 (NCAA) before no postseason was held in 2020.
 
Broom and Murphy Tabbed as Preseason Co-Players of the Year: The 2021-22 OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team is headlined by Co-Players of the Year, Morehead State second-year forward Johni Broome and Belmont graduate student guard Grayson Murphy.  Murphy is the fourth Belmont player to pick up the award (joining Craig Bradshaw, Evan Bradds and Dylan Windler) while Broome is the first Morehead State player to earn the honor since Kenneth Faried was tabbed with the honor in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Overall, five different schools were represented on the team with Belmont leading the way with three selections, Morehead State and Murray State having two picks apiece and Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech having one pick apiece. Six of the 10 picks earned All-OVC first or second-team honors last year. Other returning first-team All-OVC selections from 2020-21 include Murray State redshirt junior guard Tevin Brown redshirt junior forward KJ Williams and Belmont senior center Nick Muszynski while Tennessee Tech redshirt junior guard Jr. Clay was a returning second-team pick. Additionally, Tennessee State senior guard Carlos Marshall Jr. earned second-team All-OVC honors in 2019-20, but missed all last year due to injury. The team was rounded out by Southeast Missouri redshirt junior guard Chris Harris, Morehead State redshirt junior guard Skyelar Potter and Belmont senior guard Luke Smith.
 
Belmont Picked as OVC Preseason Favorites:  In a vote of OVC head men’s basketball coaches and communication directors, Belmont has been picked the preseason favorites for the 2021-22 season. It marks the fifth time in the past six seasons the Bruins have been tabbed preseason favorites. Belmont picked up 17 of a possible 20 first-place votes to tally 161 total points in being picked first. Morehead State picked up the other three first-place votes and 141 points in being ranked second, just ahead of Murray State (136 points). Southeast Missouri was tabbed fourth (101) and followed by Tennessee State (84), Austin Peay (76), SIUE (65), Tennessee Tech (62), Eastern Illinois (43) and UT Martin (34).
 
ESPN+: This year marks the fourth of the OVC’s media rights deal with ESPN to air games on ESPN+, the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company Direct-to-Consumer & International segment. This season over 200 men’s and women’s basketball regular season Conference games and non-conference games will be streamed on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for $6.99 a month (or $69.99 per year) or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu ($13.99/month). ESPN+ is an integrated part of the ESPN App (on mobile and connected devices). More information can be found at www.OVCSports.com/ESPN.