OVC Men's Basketball Report - January 9

1/9/2023 11:00:00 AM

• OVC Men's Basketball Report - January 9 (PDF)

This Week’s Schedule

Thursday, January 12
*Lindenwood at Southeast Missouri, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Eastern Illinois, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Tennessee Tech, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Tennessee State, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Southern Indiana, 8:00 p.m. (ESPNU)

Saturday, January 14
*Southeast Missouri at Morehead State, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee State at Tennessee Tech, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Eastern Illinois, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at SIUE, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Southern Indiana, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

OVC Players of the Week

PLAYER
Damarco Minor, G • 6-0, 180, So. • Chicago, Ill. • SIUE
Minor, a transfer from South Suburban College, led SIUE to a pair of wins in averaging 22.5 points and 10.5 rebounds/game while making 21-of-21 free throws and hitting 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the field and 40 percent (4-of-10) from 3-point range. On Thursday he led the Cougars to an 81-72 win over Tennessee State with 18 points and a then career-best 10 rebounds. He was 5-of-12 from the field (2-of-5 from 3-point range) and 6-of-6 at the free throw line while adding two assists in 31 minutes. He followed that with a career-high 27 points and new career-high 11 rebounds in a 69-62 road win over Southern Indiana (handing USI its first home loss of the season). In that game Minor hit 5-of-11 field goals and 15-of-15 free throws while adding a pair of steals. That matched SIUE’s single-game record for most free throw attempts without a miss. Minor ranks third nationally in in free throw percentage (96.3%) and among OVC players in ninth in steals (1.5/game), 11th in assists (2.8/game), 14th in rebounding (5.1/game) and 15th in scoring (12.5 points/game).

Others Nominated: Keenon Cole, Lindenwood; Myron Gardner, Little Rock; Mark Freeman, Morehead State; Phillip Russell, Southeast Missouri; Isaiah Swope, Southern Indiana; Jr. Clay, Tennessee State; Jaylen Sebree, Tennessee Tech; Parker Stewart, UT Martin.

NEWCOMER
Damarco Minor, G • 6-0, 180, So. • Chicago, Ill. • SIUE
Minor, a transfer from South Suburban College, led SIUE to a pair of wins in averaging 22.5 points and 10.5 rebounds/game while making 21-of-21 free throws and hitting 43.5 percent (10-of-23) from the field and 40 percent (4-of-10) from 3-point range. On Thursday he led the Cougars to an 81-72 win over Tennessee State with 18 points and a then career-best 10 rebounds. He was 5-of-12 from the field (2-of-5 from 3-point range) and 6-of-6 at the free throw line while adding two assists in 31 minutes. He followed that with a career-high 27 points and new career-high 11 rebounds in a 69-62 road win over Southern Indiana (handing USI its first home loss of the season). In that game Minor hit 5-of-11 field goals and 15-of-15 free throws while adding a pair of steals. That matched SIUE’s single-game record for most free throw attempts without a miss. Minor ranks third nationally in in free throw percentage (96.3%) and among OVC players in ninth in steals (1.5/game), 11th in assists (2.8/game), 14th in rebounding (5.1/game) and 15th in scoring (12.5 points/game).

Others Nominated: Keenon Cole, Lindenwood; Adong Makuoi, Tennessee State; Jayvis Harvey, Tennessee Tech; Jordan Sears, UT Martin.

FRESHMAN
Cameron Haffner, G • 6-2, 180, Fr. • Westfield, Ind. • Eastern Illinois
In a pair of road games, Haffner averaged 9.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists/game while hitting 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the field and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from 3-point range. At Tennessee Tech he led the team with eight points, hitting 2-of-3 3-pointers while adding three rebounds and a steal. On Saturday at Morehead State, he had his second double-figure scoring game of the season with 11 points on 3-of-3 3-point shooting. He also had two rebounds and two assists against the Eagles.

Others Nominated: Grant Strong, Tennessee Tech.

Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.

• Myron Gardner (G, Sr.), Little Rock. Averaged 14.0 points and 13.5 rebounds/game, including a season-best 15 rebounds against Lindenwood. Gardner now has 10 double-doubles on the season, which is tied for third nationally.

• Parker Stewart (G, Grad.), UT Martin. Averaged 21.0 points, 4.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds/game and knocked down 12-of-15 free throws. Had team-best 25 points and season-high four assists in win over SEMO.

• Jr. Clay (G, Grad.), Tennessee State. Averaged 22.0 points, 4.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.5 rebounds/game in two road games. Had 22 points in both games. Scored 16 points in the second half as TSU overcame early deficit to win at Lindenwood.

• Phillip Russell (G, So.), Southeast Missouri. Russell averaged 22.0 points, 4.5 assists and 4.0 steals/game while hitting 41.2 percent from the field. Had a season-high 28 points (hitting six 3-pointers) at UT Martin.

Notes From Around the League

OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: Through the first 15 Conference games of the season, home teams were 13-2; that changed on Saturday when road teams were 4-1 ... That included the first road victories of the entire season for Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech and the first home losses of the year for Lindenwood, Southern Indiana and UT Martin ... UT Martin’s KJ Simon scored his 1,000 career point last week (760 points at UTM and 245 at Troy) ... Teammate Parker Stewart is 20th nationally in total 3-pointers made (50) ... UTM sank 30 of its 38 tries from the free throw line in Thursday’s win over Southeast Missouri; that marked the first time that the Skyhawks had made 30 free throws in a game since Jan. 24, 2011 at SIUE – a span of 369 games ... TSU’s Jr. Clay is just 76 points away from becoming the 20th member of the OVC’s 2000-Point Club; Clay needs two steals to move into eighth place in OVC history ... Little Rock’s Myron Gardner leads the OVC in double-doubles (10), a mark that ranks third nationally; he is also ninth nationally in total rebounds (165), 17th in defensive rebounds/game (7.06) and 20th in total rebounds/game (9.7) ... SIUE, tied for first place with Morehead State, has already matched its Division I season-best with 12 victories; the team is off to a 3-1 start in OVC play for the fourth time ... As a team, SIUE is 16th nationally in free throw attempts/game (24.1) and 12th in free throws made/game (17.8) ... UT Martin ranks 15th nationally in scoring (82.9 points/game) and 16th nationally in rebounding (40.24/game) ... Eastern Illinois ranks 26th nationally in turnovers forced/game (16.76) and 32nd nationally in steals (8.9/game) ... Morehead State is 20th in the nation in 3-point defense (28.8%) ... Tennessee Tech held Eastern Illinois without a double-digit scorer last Thursday, the first time the Golden Eagles held a Division I opponent without a double-figure producer in more than 20 years ... Tech’s defense held EIU to just 49 points, marking the lowest scoring output by an OVC opponent since the Golden Eagles collected a 63-40 win against Morehead State during the 2004-05 campaign.

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.