• OVC Men’s Basketball Report – November 27 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Monday, November 27
Utah Tech
at Lindenwood, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Western Illinois at Wisconsin, 6:00 p.m. (BTN)
Tuesday, November 28
Western Carolina
at Tennessee Tech, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Ball State
at Little Rock, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at #5 Kansas, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
East-West University
at Southern Indiana, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Missouri Baptist
at SIUE, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, November 29
Tennessee State at Alabama A&M, 7:00 p.m.
Morehead State at Austin Peay, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, November 30
Hannibal-LaGrange
at Western Illinois, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee Tech at North Alabama, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Southeast Missouri at Kansas City, 7:00 p.m. (Summit League Network)
UT Martin at Rice, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, December 1
SIUE at Troy, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Arkansas State
at Little Rock, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, December 2
UT Martin at McNeese, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
UHSP
at Eastern Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Bowling Green
at Southern Indiana, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Austin Peay
at Tennessee State, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Lindenwood at Idaho State, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, December 3
South Dakota
at Western Illinois, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Alice Lloyd
at Tennessee Tech, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Missouri Baptist
at Southeast Missouri, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Chattanooga at
Morehead State, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Jordan Sears, G • 5-11, 185, Jr. • Daytona Beach, Fla. • UT Martin
In a pair of victories Sears averaged 30.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals/game while hitting 61.8 percent (21-of-34) from the field, 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from 3-point range and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the foul line. He opened the week with a career-high 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting in a double overtime victory over North Alabama. Sears, who also had a season-high seven assists in the win, scored UTM’s final six points down the stretch in double overtime. Later in the week he had a game-high 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting (including a season-best four 3-pointers) as the Skyhawks won 94-71 at Chicago State. He had 20 points in the first half alone as UTM improved to 5-2 on the season. Sears leads the OVC and ranks 12th nationally in scoring (22.3 points/game).
Others Nominated: Kooper Jacobi, Eastern Illinois; Jamir Chaplin, Little Rock; Riley Minix, Morehead State; Adam Larson, Southeast Missouri; Lamar Wright, SIUE; AJ Smith, Southern Indiana; Kinyon Hodges, Tennessee State; Jayvis Harvey, Tennessee Tech; James Dent Jr., Western Illinois.
NEWCOMER
Jamir Chaplin, G • 6-5, 200, Grad. • Norcross, Ga. • Little Rock
Chaplin, a transfer from USF, had a monster week averaging 20.0 points and 13.0 rebounds/game while hitting 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the field and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the charity stripe. In an overtime loss to Georgia State to begin the week, Chaplin tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds. Three days later in an overtime victory against Tulsa, the graduate student had career-highs with 27 points and 15 rebounds. In that contest he hit 11-of-14 field goals (78.6%) and was perfect (5-of-5) at the foul line. It marked the first 20-point double-double for a Trojan since December 2022. He currently leads the OVC in field goal percentage (60.7%).
Others Nominated: Kooper Jacobi, Eastern Illinois; Dieonte Miles, Morehead State; Rob Martin, Southeast Missouri; Javius Moore, Southern Indiana; Rodney Johnson Jr., Tennessee Tech; Jacob Crews, UT Martin; Drew Cisse, Western Illinois.
FRESHMAN
Jaylen Jones, G • 6-1, 160, Fr. • Nashville, Tenn. • Tennessee State
Jones helped Tennessee State to a 2-1 week by averaging 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.0 steals/game while hitting 46.1 percent (12-of-26) from the field and 92.9 percent (13-of-14) from the free throw line. The true freshman logged a trio of double-digit scoring performances, tallying 10 points against Midway, 18 against Mercer and 11 versus Southeastern Louisiana. He added nine rebounds in the win over Midway and seven in the victory over Southeastern; in both of those games he also tallied six assists.
Others Nominated: Isaiah Griffin, Eastern Illinois; Eddie Ricks III, Morehead State; Jordan Pickett, SIUE; Kyle Layton, Tennessee Tech.
Other Notable Performances
•
Riley Minix (F, Grad.), Morehead State. Averaged a double-double with 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in a pair of victories. Had 16 points and eight rebounds at Bellarmine and added 16 points and 12 rebounds versus Midway.
•
Lamar Wright (F, R-Sr.), SIUE. Had 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting in balanced team effort as Cougars topped Detroit Mercy.
•
Kinyon Hodges (G, Sr.), Tennessee State. Led TSU to a 2-1 week in averaging 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals/game and hitting 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the field.
•
Jayvis Harvey (G, Sr.), Tennessee Tech. Helped Golden Eagles to a road win over Presbyterian in overtime. Scored 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting), while tying his career-high with nine rebounds.
•
Jacob Crews (G/F, Jr.), UT Martin. Averaged 19.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals/game while hitting 60 percent (12-of-20) from the field in two wins. Had 14 points, 10 rebounds and career-high four steals versus North Alabama. Followed that with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting at Chicago State.
Notes From Around the League
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: OVC teams won 11 non-conference games last week ... Tennessee State and UT Martin currently have the top records in the league, both sitting at 5-2 overall, including 3-0 home marks ... EIU head coach Marty Simmons won his 300th career game last week with a victory over Eureka ... UTM’s 24-point win at Chicago State was the program’s biggest non-conference margin of victory since a 25-point win over Northwestern State in the 2015 CIT; the team’s 5-2 start is the best since the 2016-17 season ... Southern Indiana led No. 9 Duke 35-31 at halftime last week; it was the first time the Blue Devils had trailed at home at the break to a mid-major team since 2018 ... SIUE had six players in double figures against Detroit Mercy ... Morehead State’s Drew Thelwell ranks fifth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (+11.0) ... Nationally no player has more made field goals than UTM’s Jordan Sears (58) ... SEMO’s Adam Larson is hitting 58.6 percent from 3-point range, which is third nationally ... WIU’s Drew Cisse is 16th nationally in rebounding (10.5/game) while SIUE’s Damarco Minor ranks 23rd (10.1/game), TSU’s Jason Jitoboh is 22nd nationally in blocks (2.33/game) ... As a team Western Illinois is third nationally in blocks (7.2/game) and eighth in rebounding (46.17/game) while UT Martin is second nationally in rebounding (46.57/game) and 26th in scoring (86.0 points/game) ... Little Rock ranks eighth nationally in free throws made/game (20.5).
Recent Postseason Success: Following the 2022-23 season, OVC teams have won at least one national postseason game in 13 of the past 14 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, while Morehead State added to that with a NIT win in 2023.
OVC Basketball Championships To Be Held at Ford Center in Evansville For Seventh Consecutive Year: The OVC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will be held March 6-9 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. It marks the seventh-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. It was announced in March 2023 the event was extended through 2026 with an option for 2027.
All Teams Eligible for OVC Tournament: Both reclassifying teams, Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, were 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 semifinalist that had the highest remaining seed going into the tournament.
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. This marks the 13th year the format has been used (it was not used in 2021), and teams with a double bye (e.g. No. 1 or 2 seed) have won the tournament seven times. The No. 1 seed has won five times, the No. 2 seed twice, the No. 3 seed twice, the No. 4 seed once, the No. 5 seed once (SEMO last year) and the No. 8 seed once (Austin Peay in 2016).
New Team: After welcoming three new teams last year, the OVC welcomes another new program in 2023-23. Western Illinois joined the OVC on July 1 after previously being in the Summit League. They are just the 25th full-time member in the 76-year history of the OVC.
OVC Players in the NBA: Six former OVC men’s basketball players were on National Basketball Association (NBA) Opening Night rosters for 2023-24. In 2021, Cameron Payne helped Phoenix advance to 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, Philadelphia 76ers (Tennessee State)
• Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies (Murray State)
• Cameron Payne, Milwaukee Bucks (Murray State)
• Ben Sheppard, Indiana Pacers (Belmont)
• Terry Taylor, Chicago Bulls (Austin Peay)
• Dylan Windler, Cleveland Cavaliers (Belmont)
OVC to Produce 10-Game Linear Television Package and Use “Wild Card” Selections: The OVC will once again produce a national television package in 2023-24 that will include nine men’s basketball games and one women’s basketball contest that will air on the ESPN Family of Networks. The regular season games will all air on ESPNU, as will the OVC Tournament semifinals. 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.
Freeman Named Preseason Player of the Year: The 2023-24 OVC Preseason Men’s Basketball Team was headlined by Morehead State senior guard
Mark Freeman, who was the 2022-23 OVC Player of the Year. Last year he averaged 15.0 points and 3.7 assists/game in leading the Eagles to the OVC Regular Season Championship and a NIT victory over Clemson. Overall seven different schools were represented on the Preseason All-OVC Team which included 12 individuals. The others included Lindenwood’s
Keenon Cole, Little Rock’s
DeAntoni Gordon, Morehead State’s
Drew Thelwell, SIUE’s
Damarco Minor,
Ray’Sean Taylor and
Shamar Wright, Tennessee State’s
Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. and
Kinyon Hodges, Tennessee Tech’s
Jayvis Harvey and UT Martin’s
Jordan Sears and
KK Curry.
Morehead State Picked as OVC Preseason Favorites: In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and communication directors, Morehead State has been picked the preseason favorites for the 2023-24 season. It marks the second-straight year the Eagles have been tabbed the favorites. The Eagles picked up 20 of 22 first-place votes (teams could not vote for themselves); Tennessee State picked up the other votes. MSU tallied 200 points and was followed by SIUE (162), who was picked second. Tennessee State (153) was picked third and followed by UT Martin (149), Southeast Missouri (124), Tennessee Tech (120), Little Rock (85), Western Illinois (80), Southern Indiana (63), Lindenwood (40) and Eastern Illinois (34).
Men’s Basketball Experimental Rules for Second Half Media Timeouts in Conference Play: For the second-straight year in Conference men’s basketball games, the OVC 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 Experimental Rule will also be used in the NIT this season.
The 2023-24 Season: The 2023-24 season marks the 76th of competition in the OVC. Over the previous 75 years, 13 different teams have claimed an OVC regular season championship.
ESPN+: This year marks the sixth 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 $10.99 a month (or $109.99 per year) or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu ($15.99/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.