• OVC Men’s Basketball Report – December 16 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, December 17
*Tennessee Tech at Western Illinois, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, December 19
*UT Martin at Morehead State, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Little Rock, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Southeast Missouri, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at Lindenwood, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee State at Southern Indiana, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, December 21
*Tennessee State at Morehead State, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Eastern Illinois at Little Rock, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Western Illinois at Lindenwood, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Southern Indiana, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Southeast Missouri, 3:45 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Tarence Guinyard, G • 6-2, 170, Jr. • Tampa, Fla. • UT Martin
Guinyard, a transfer from Florida State College at Jacksonville, averaged 31.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists/game while hitting 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the field, 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from 3-point range and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) at the free throw line in a pair of games. On Wednesday at Alabama State, he helped UT Martin overcome a 23-point deficit with 6:59 to go in regulation to force overtime, scoring 29 of the Skyhawks’ final 52 points over a stretch of 17:57. In that game he added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench. Four days later against Champion Christian, he delivered career-highs in points (31), rebounds (8) and assists (5) in just 22 minutes of playing time. In that game he hit 11-of-15 field goals (including 4-of-4 3-pointers) and was 5-of-5 at the free throw line. Guinyard is the only OVC player this season with multiple 30-point scoring performances.
Others Nominated: Nakyel Shelton, Eastern Illinois; Jaylon McDaniel, Lindenwood; Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock; Ray’Sean Taylor, SIUE; Stephen Olowoniyi, Southern Indiana; Brandon Weston, Tennessee State; Marko Maletic, Western Illinois.
NEWCOMER
Tarence Guinyard, G • 6-2, 170, Jr. • Tampa, Fla. • UT Martin
Guinyard, a transfer from Florida State College at Jacksonville, averaged 31.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists/game while hitting 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the field, 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from 3-point range and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) at the free throw line in a pair of games. On Wednesday at Alabama State, he helped UT Martin overcome a 23-point deficit with 6:59 to go in regulation to force overtime, scoring 29 of the Skyhawks’ final 52 points over a stretch of 17:57. In that game he added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench. Four days later against Champion Christian, he delivered career-highs in points (31), rebounds (8) and assists (5) in just 22 minutes of playing time. In that game he hit 11-of-15 field goals (including 4-of-4 3-pointers) and was 5-of-5 at the free throw line. Guinyard is the only OVC player this season with multiple 30-point scoring performances.
Others Nominated: Obadiah Curtis, Eastern Illinois; Reggie Bass, Lindenwood; Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock; Steven Clay, Morehead State; Brendan Terry, Southeast Missouri; Ring Malith, SIUE; Stephen Olowoniyi, Southern Indiana; Brandon Weston, Tennessee State; Marko Maletic, Western Illinois.
FRESHMAN
Cham Okey, G • 6-6, 200, Fr. • Minneapolis, Minn. • SIUE
Okey played a season-high 15 minutes and recorded his first collegiate double-double in SIUE’s 100-52 victory over Eureka on Sunday. The guard had 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Okey connected on 3-of-6 3-point attempts. His 11 rebounds were five more than he had collected in his previous seven games this season.
Others Nominated: Jadis Jones, Lindenwood; Josiah Dunham, Southern Indiana; Filip Radakovic, UT Martin.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Brandon Weston (G, R-Jr.), Tennessee State. In two games, averaged 22.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals/game while hitting 57.7 percent (15-of-26) and 13-of-13 from the free throw line.
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Marko Maletic (G, Sr.), Western Illinois. Had 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, in game at South Dakota.
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Stephen Olowoniyi (F, So.), Southern Indiana. Tallied 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals against Shawnee State. Hit 8-of-12 (66.7%) field goal attempts.
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Johnathan Lawson (G, R-Jr.), Little Rock. In two games averaged 18.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Scored 25 points against UIC.
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Ray’Sean Taylor (G, Grad.), SIUE. Scored 18 points on 6-of-9 3-point shooting versus Eureka.
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Steven Clay (G, Jr.), Morehead State. Had 16 points and three rebounds in win over Kentucky Christian. All 16 of his points came in the second half.
Notes From Around the League
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: Conference play gets underway this week ... With an increase to a 20-game full round robin league schedule, league play is taking place before the Christmas holiday for the first time since the 2010-11 season ... After games this week, there are four final non-conference games (on December 28 & 29), with Conference play picking back up on December 31 ... UT Martin established single-game school records for three-point field goals made (19, previously 17 against Bethel on Dec. 13, 2022) and rebounds (73, previously 68 against Troy on Feb. 24, 1979 and against Union on Feb. 19, 1974) in December 15’s win over Champion Baptist ... In that game UTM had three players with double-doubles, the first time the team had done that since November 2007 ... In its win over Eureka College, SIUE set a new school-record with 17 3-pointers made while scoring 100 points in a game for the first time since December 2014 ... Nationally, Tennessee State is first in rebounding (45.64/game), second in offensive rebounds (16.82/game) and 12th in rebounding margin (10.3/game), UT Martin ranks 11th in defensive rebounds (29.73/game) and 16th in bench points/game (34.36), Southeast Missouri is ninth in 3-point defense (26.4%) and Little Rock is 26th in blocks (5.2/game) ... Individually, TSU’s Brandon Weston is sixth in free throws made (66), Little Rock’s Johnathan Lawson is 11th in minutes played/game (36:16) while Mwani Wilkinson is 39th in steals (2.27/game) and UTM’s Josué Grullon and SIUE’s Ray’Sean Taylor are tied for 14th nationally in 3-pointers made/game (3.45).
WIU’s Smith Records 25th and 26th Triple-Double in OVC History: Western Illinois senior guard
Sean Smith recorded the 25th triple-double in OVC history on December 4 against St. Ambrose. Smith had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the victory. Two days later in a victory over East-West University, Smith had another triple-double, this time with 10 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He is only the third player in OVC history to have multiple triple-doubles in the same season (UT Martin’s Lester Hudson and Murray State’s Ja Morant are the others) and the first to do it in back-to-back games. Nationally, there are six players to have a triple-double this season and Smith is the only one with two. There has been at least one triple-double by an OVC player in each of the past five seasons.
Smith Named National Player of the Week (December 10): Western Illinois senior guard
Sean Smith was named one of five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week award winners by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on December 10. Smith recorded two triple-doubles during the week, with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 rebounds against St. Ambrose and 10 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over East-West University. For the week he averaged 17.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and 10.0 assists/game while hitting 52 percent (13-of-25) from the field, 40 percent (4-of-10) from 3-point range and 100 percent (4-of-4) at the free throw line.
Recent Postseason Success: Following the 2023-24 season, OVC teams have won at least one national postseason game in 13 of the past 15 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 in 2022 Murray State won in the NCAA Tournament, followed by Morehead State winning in the NIT in 2023. No OVC team won a game in 2024.
OVC Basketball Championships Held at Ford Center in Evansville For Eighth Consecutive Year: The OVC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships presented by United Fidelity Bank will be held March 5-8 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. It marks the eighth-straight season the event will be held in the building. 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. 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 14th 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 three times, the No. 4 seed once, the No. 5 seed once and the No. 8 seed once (Austin Peay in 2016).
Foreign Connections: Every single OVC men’s basketball program has at least one player who lists their hometown in a foreign country. Overall there are 33 players on OVC men’s basketball rosters who list their hometown as not from the United States.
OVC Players in the NBA: Four former OVC men’s basketball players were on National Basketball Association (NBA) Opening Night rosters for 2024-25. 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). Riley Minix, the 2023-24 Player of the Year and OVC Male Athlete of the Year, is a rookie with the Spurs this season.
• Riley Minix, San Antonio Spurs (Morehead State)
• Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies (Murray State)
• Cameron Payne, New York Knicks (Murray State)
• Ben Sheppard, Indiana Pacers (Belmont)
OVC to Produce 9-Game Linear Television Package and Use “Wild Card” Selections: The OVC will once again produce a national television package in 2024-25 that will include eight 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.
Little Rock Picked as OVC Preseason Favorites: In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and communication directors, Little Rock was picked as the preseason favorites. The Trojans, who were one of three teams who shared last year’s regular season championship (along with Morehead State and UT Martin), picked up 20 of 22 first-place votes (teams could not vote for themselves) to receive 200 total points. Western Illinois was picked second (receiving 172 points) while SIUE picked up the other two first-place votes and 151 points in being picked third. Tennessee State was tabbed fourth (134 points) and followed by Morehead State (131), Eastern Illinois (87), Southeast Missouri (86), Southern Indiana (79), Lindenwood (67), UT Martin (52) and Tennessee Tech (51).
The 2024-25 Season: The 2024-25 season marks the 77th year of competition in the OVC. Over the previous 76 years, 14 different teams have claimed an OVC regular season championship.
ESPN+: The OVC has a 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 $11.99 a month (or $119.99 per year) or as part of a bundle with Disney+ and ad-supported Hulu ($16.99/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.