OVC Men's Basketball Report - January 16

OVC Men's Basketball Report - January 16

• OVC Men's Basketball Report - January 16 (PDF)
 
This Week’s Schedule
 
Thursday, January 19
*UT Martin at Southeast Missouri, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at Little Rock, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at SIUE, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Tennessee State, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at Lindenwood, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Saturday, January 21
*Morehead State at Lindenwood, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee State at Little Rock, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at UT Martin, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at SIUE, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at Southeast Missouri, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
 
 
OVC Players of the Week
 
PLAYER
Phillip Russell, G • 5-10, 165, So. • St. Louis, Mo. • Southeast Missouri
Russell led Southeast Missouri to a 2-0 week in averaging 26.6 points, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 rebounds/game and hitting 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field, 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from 3-point range and 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the free throw line. The sophomore scored 37 points, the most by an OVC player this season and 21st nationally, in the team’s win at Morehead State on Saturday. The 37 points tied the SEMO Division I single-game scoring record; he hit 5-of-9 3-pointers and made 10-of-11 free throws as the Redhawks overcame an 11-point deficit with 9:53 to play. He tallied eight points in the final four minutes of that win and added six assists, a steal and rebound in 38 minutes of action. He opened the week with 16 points, four assists, two steals and a rebound in a victory over Lindenwood; in that game he hit 3-of-5 3-pointers in 26 minutes on the court. Russell leads the OVC in assists (4.5/game) and ranks second in scoring (17.5 points/game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6), fourth in free throw percentage (85.6%) and steals (1.7/game) and fifth in 3-pointers made/game (2.5).
 
Others Nominated: Kinyon Hodges, Eastern Illinois; Mark Freeman, Morehead State;  DeeJuan Pruitt, SIUE; Isaiah Swope, Southern Indiana; Jr. Clay, Tennessee State; Jaylen Sebree, Tennessee Tech; Jordan Sears, UT Martin.
 
NEWCOMER
Kinyon Hodges, G • 6-2, 180, Jr. • Cape Girardeau, Mo. • Eastern Illinois
Hodges, a transfer from Three Rivers College, averaged 21.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.0 steals/game while hitting 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the field and 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the free throw line in two games. In the team’s win over Little Rock on Saturday, he tallied a game-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting (including 2-of-3 3-pointers) while adding four rebounds, two assists, a block and steals in 36 minutes. In marked his third 20-plus point game of the season. He opened the week with 19 points, five rebounds and a steal against league-leading SIUE. In that game he was a perfect 7-of-7 at the charity stripe. Hodges ranks fourth in the OVC in minutes played (31.6/game), 10th in field goal percentage (48.7%), 12th in scoring (13.4 points/game) and assists (2.8/game) and 13th in steals (1.4/game).
 
Others Nominated: Keenon Cole, Lindenwood; Alex Gross, Morehead State; Israel Barnes, Southeast Missouri; Damarco Minor, SIUE; Trevor Lakes, Southern Indiana; Adong Makuoi, Tennessee State; Ty Perry, Tennessee Tech; Jordan Sears, UT Martin.
 
FRESHMAN
Jerome Beya, F • 6-9, 225, Fr. • Kinshasa, D.R. of the Congo • Tennessee Tech
Beya earned his second start of the season on Saturday against Tennessee State, playing 17 minutes and scoring six points while grabbing four rebounds. He hit 3-of-5 field goals as the Golden Eagles won its fourth-straight game. He opened the week with two points, two blocks and a rebound in a victory over Morehead State.
 
Others Nominated: none
 
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
 
• DeeJuan Pruitt (F, R-So.), SIUE. In a pair of wins, averaged 14.5 points and 13.0 rebounds/game while hitting 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from the field and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the free throw percentage. Had a career-high 24 points and season-high 13 rebounds against Eastern Illinois.
 
• Isaiah Swope (G, So.), Southern Indiana. Averaged 20.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals/game while hitting 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from 3-point range. Had 19 points against Little Rock and 21 against UT Martin as USI won a pair of games.
 
• Mark Freeman (G, Sr.), Morehead State. Returned from injury to score 26 points, tally five steals, four assists and four rebounds against SEMO.
 
• Jr. Clay (G, Grad.), Tennessee State. Scored 43 points (21.5/game) in two games; averaged 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists/game and hit 12-of-14 (85.7%) at the free throw line.
 
• Jordan Sears (G, So.), UT Martin. Had a career-best 21 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in win over Tennessee State. Two days later had team-best 17 points against Southern Indiana.
 
 
Notes From Around the League
 
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: After three weeks of Conference play, SIUE is atop the OVC standings with a 5-1 record and has the top NET in the league (124) ... The team has 14 overall victories, the most of its Division I era ... This is the first time SIUE has started OVC play 5-1 ... Two teams have two Conference losses with four others at 3-3 overall ... After starting OVC play 0-2, Tennessee Tech has won four in a game, the first time the Golden Eagles have won that many OVC games in a row since the 2015-16 season (and first time in any games since 2017-18) ... SEMO’s Phillip Russell scored 37 points at Morehead State last week, the most points by an OVC player this season, and a mark that tied the SEMO Division I single-game record ... TSU’s Jr. Clay is just 30 points away from becoming the 20th member of the OVC’s 2000-Point Club ... Little Rock’s Myron Gardner leads the OVC in double-doubles (10), a mark that ranks fifth nationally, while ranking 14th in total rebounds (180) ... USI’s Jacob Polakovich is averaging a double-double over the last seven games with 13.4 points and 13.7 rebounds/game; the Screaming Eagles are now 8-1 at home on the season ... SIUE is 12th nationally in free throws made/game (17.6) and 14th in free throw attempts/game (23.9); as a team they are making 73.4% from the line ... UT Martin ranks 13th nationally in rebounding (39.84/game) and 21st in scoring (81.7 points/game) ... EIU is 25th nationally in turnovers forced/game (16.74) and 33rd in steals (8.9/game) ... SIUE”s Damarco Minor, who broke the OVC consecutive free throws made record (47), is fourth nationally in free throw percentage (94.2%) ... There have been 12 OVC Player of the Week selections this season (including two weeks of co-winners) without a repeat winner.
 
Minor Sets Consecutive Free Throws Made Record: SIUE sophomore guard Damarco Minor set a new OVC record for consecutive made free throws with his 47th straight against Eastern Illinois on January 12 (the streak came to an end on the next attempt). The 47-straight free throws broke the previous record of 46 held by Morehead State’s Glen Napier (set during the 1981-82 season).
 
20/20 Games: Southern Indiana’s Jacob Polakovich had 27 points and 26 rebounds in the Screaming Eagles win over Southeast Missouri on December 29. It marked the first 20/20 game by an OVC player since the 2019-20 season (when Austin Peay’s Terry Taylor and UT Martin’s Quintin Dove each had one in the month of February). Overall it was just the 11th 20/20 game by an OVC player over the past 13 seasons. The 26 rebounds was the most by an OVC player dating back to at least the 2002-03 season (the single-game record was 38 set in 1956-57). The 26 rebounds are also the most by a NCAA player this season (Division I, II or III); Polakovich has a pair of 20-plus rebound games this season, making him the only Division I player to achieve that feat.
 
Lakes Ties OVC Single-Game 3-Point Record: Southern Indiana graduate student Trevor Lakes tied the OVC single-game 3-pointers record when he made 10 (of 16) in a victory over IUPUI. He is the fifth player in OVC history to achieve the feat and first since the 2018-19 season.
            Marc Polite, Eastern Illinois (vs. Arkansas State), 1999-2000
            Glenn Cosey, Eastern Kentucky (vs. EIU), 2013-14
            Nick Smith, Belmont (vs. UT Martin), 2016-17
            Corey Tillery, Tennessee Tech (vs. Warren Wilson College), 2018-19
            Trevor Lakes, Southern Indiana (vs. IUPUI), 2022-23
 
Eastern Illinois Pulls Off B1G Upset: Eastern Illinois entered the December 21 game at Iowa as a 31.5-point underdog but shot 72 percent from the floor in the second half on its way to a 92-83 victory It was the largest upset (by point spread) in the past 30 seasons. Over the past 30 years, teams that were 30 or more point underdogs had been 0-558 in such games. It also snapped Iowa’s 24-game home non-conference win streak and was the fourth win over a Power Five school in EIU’s history.
 
Triple-Doubles: Lindenwood senior guard Chris Childs registered the 23rd all-time triple-double in OVC history on November 30 in a win over East-West University. He had 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes of action. There has been at least one triple-double in the OVC in six of the past seven seasons (2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23).
 
Taylor and Stewart Named to Lou Henson Award Watch List: SIUE guard Ray’Sean Taylor and UT Martin guard Parker Stewart have been named to the 2022-23 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award Watch List by CollegeInsider.com. 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.
 
New Teams: The OVC welcomes three new teams this year in Lindenwood, Little Rock and Southern Indiana. Little Rock moves over from the Sun Belt while Lindenwood and USI are reclassifying from Division II and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). The trio marks just the 22nd, 23rd and 24th full-time members in the 75-year history of the OVC.
 
All Teams Eligible for OVC Tournament: Both reclassifying teams, Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, are eligible to compete and win the OVC Tournament Championship this season. Should a transitioning school win an OVC Tournament Championship, the AQ shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up. Should the tournament runner-up also be a transitioning school, the AQ representative shall be the highest seed going into the tournament.
 
OVC Basketball Championships Held at Ford Center in Evansville For Sixth Consecutive Year: The OVC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will be held March 1-4 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. It marks the sixth-straight season the event will be held in the building after a long run in Nashville. The Ford Center, which opened in 2011, is an 11,000-seat arena located in the core of Evansville’s downtown district. The 290,000-square foot facility serves as home of the University of Evansville’s men’s basketball team and the Evansville Thunderbolts of the Southern Professional Hockey League. The Ford Center also serves as host to numerous sporting events and concerts on an annual basis. In September 2019, the OVC signed a three-year extension to keep the event at the venue through 2023, with an option for a fourth-year (2024), which was exercised in fall 2022.
 
OVC Tournament Championship Format: Once again the OVC Tournament will include a merit-based format. The format, which began in 2011, has the top eight men’s and women’s teams qualifying for the tournament. The No. 1 and 2 seeds will receive two byes to the semifinals while the No. 3 and 4 seeds will receive one bye into the quarterfinals. The first round will include the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed and the No. 6 seed against the No. 7 seed. The women’s bracket also uses a merit-based bracket.
 
Recent Postseason Success: OVC teams have won at least one national postseason game in 12 of the past 13 postseasons.  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. A streak of 11-straight years ended in 2021 (when only one team made the reduced postseason), and the OVC began a new streak with Murray State winning in the NCAA Tournament in 2022.
 
OVC Players in the NBA: Five former OVC men’s basketball players made National Basketball Association (NBA) rosters for 2022-23. In 2021, Cameron Payne helped Phoenix advance to the NBA Finals. It marked the fourth time in the past six years an OVC player had competed in the NBA Finals. In 2020 Ja Morant was named the NBA Rookie of the Year, making him one of three players from a non-Power 5 Conference to win the award since 1983-84 (joining Damian Lilliard of Weber State in 2012-13 and Larry Johnson of UNLV in 1991-92).
            • Robert Covington, Los Angeles Clippers(Tennessee State)
            • Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies (Murray State)
            • Cameron Payne, Phoenix Suns (Murray State)
            • Terry Taylor, Indianapolis Pacers (Austin Peay)
            • Dylan Windler, Cleveland Cavaliers (Belmont)
 
OVC to Produce 10-Game Linear Television Package and Use “Wild Card” Selections: The OVC will produce a national television package in 2022-23 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 and the men’s tournament semifinals will air on ESPNU with two regular season games airing on ESPNews. The Men’s Championship game will air on ESPN2.  Each of the regular season games will be “wild card selections” with the matchup picked approximately two weeks ahead of the game.
 
Simon Named Preseason Player of the Year: The 2022-23 OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team was headlined by UT Martin senior guard KJ Simon. He is the first Skyhawk to be named OVC Preseason Player of the Year since 2008-09, when All-American and future NBA player Lester Hudson earned the honor. Overall, seven different schools were represented on the team with Tennessee State leading the way with four picks. Southeast Missouri, SIUE and UT Martin had two selections apiece while Morehead State, Southern Indiana and Tennessee Tech each had one pick. Other returning All-OVC selections from last year who made the preseason team were Southeast Missouri sophomore guard Phillip Russell and Tennessee State graduate guard Jr. Clay while SIUE sophomore Ray’Sean Taylor earned All-Newcomer honors. Two other players previously earned All-OVC accolades before transferring away from the league and then back this season. Those players are Morehead State senior guard Mark Freeman and UT Martin graduate guard Parker Stewart. The team was rounded out by Southeast Missouri senior guard Chris Harris, SIUE sophomore forward DeeJuan Pruitt, Southern Indiana senior guard Jelani Simmons, Tennessee Tech graduate guard Ty Perry and a trio of Tennessee State players in sophomore guard Marcus Fitzgerald Jr., senior guard Dedric Boyd and graduate forward Zion Griffin.
 
Morehead State Picked as OVC Preseason Favorites: In a vote of OVC head men’s basketball coaches and communication directors, Morehead State has been picked the preseason favorites for the 2022-23 season. It marks the first time since 2009-10 that the Eagles have been tabbed the preseason favorites. The Eagles were one of five different teams to pick up first-place votes, tallying seven top picks to finish with 138 points. They finished ahead of Tennessee State who had two first-place votes (130 points), UT Martin who had seven first-place votes (120 points), Southeast Missouri who had two first-place votes (115) and SIUE who picked up two first-place votes (111 points). The poll was rounded out by Little Rock (102), Southern Indiana (68), Tennessee Tech (62), Eastern Illinois (31) and Lindenwood (23).
 
Men’s Basketball Experimental Rules for Second Half Media Timeouts in Conference Play: This season in Conference men’s basketball games, the league will participate with a NCAA Experimental Rule which establishes a standard media timeout format for the second half of all OVC men’s basketball regular season and conference tournament games (the experimental rule does not pertain to non-conference games). The rule establishes the standard media timeout format for all OVC games which requires electronic media timeout marks that occur after the first stoppage of play following the 17-, 14-. 11-, 8- and 4- minute marks in the second half. The experimental rule, which was approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, is designed to help standardize the traditional “floater” media mark in the second half. 
 
The 2022-23 Season: The 2022-23 season marks the 75th of competition in the OVC. Over the previous 74 years, 13 different teams have claimed an OVC regular season championship.
 
ESPN+: This year marks the fifth 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 $9.99 a month (or $99.99 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.