• OVC Men’s Basketball Report – December 9 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, December 10
Harris-Stowe
at Lindenwood, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Ouachita Baptist
at Little Rock, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Tennessee State at Western Kentucky, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wednesday, December 11
UT Martin at Alabama State, 6:00 p.m. (Hornet Sports Network)
Saturday, December 14
Johnson University
at Tennessee State, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Western Illinois at South Dakota, 2:00 p.m. (Summit League Network)
IU Indy
at Lindenwood, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eastern Illinois at Eastern Kentucky, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, December 15
Kentucky Christian
at Morehead State, 11:30 a.m. (ESPN+)
Shawnee State
at Southern Indiana, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Eureka College
at SIUE, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
UIC
at Little Rock, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
at Southeast Missouri, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Champion Christian
at UT Martin, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Sean Smith, G • 6-3, 185, Sr. • Louisville, Ky. • Western Illinois
Smith recorded two triple-doubles as Western Illinois won a pair of home games. The transfer from Alabama State had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 rebounds against St. Ambrose and two days later had 10 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over East-West University. It marked the 25th and 26th triple-doubles in OVC history; Smith is now one of three players in OVC history to have more than one triple-double in the same season (joining UT Martin’s Lester Hudson and Murray State’s Ja Morant) and the only one to do it in back-to-back games. There have been six triple-doubles nationally this season, and Smith is the only player with more than one. 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.
Others Nominated: Kooper Jacobi, Eastern Illinois; Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock; Tyler Brelsford, Morehead State; Ray’Sean Taylor, SIUE; Stephen Olowoniyi, Southern Indiana; Rodney Johnson Jr., Tennessee Tech; Josué Grullon, UT Martin.
NEWCOMER
Sean Smith, G • 6-3, 185, Sr. • Louisville, Ky. • Western Illinois
Smith recorded two triple-doubles as Western Illinois won a pair of home games. The transfer from Alabama State had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 rebounds against St. Ambrose and two days later had 10 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over East-West University. It marked the 25th and 26th triple-doubles in OVC history; Smith is now one of three players in OVC history to have more than one triple-double in the same season (joining UT Martin’s Lester Hudson and Murray State’s Ja Morant) and the only one to do it in back-to-back games. There have been six triple-doubles nationally this season, and Smith is the only player with more than one. 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.
Others Nominated: Zion Fruster, Eastern Illinois; Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock; Tyler Brelsford, Morehead State; Ring Malith; SIUE; Stephen Olowoniyi, Southern Indiana; Josué Grullon, UT Martin.
FRESHMAN
Clayton Jackson, G • 6-2, 180, Fr. • St. Louis, Mo. • Lindenwood
Jackson averaged 11.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals/game in a pair of contests last week. The guard hit 8-of-15 (53.3%) shots, 3-of-7 (42.9%) 3-pointers and 3-of-4 (75%) free throws in his first two starts of the season. He had 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in a victory over East-West University to open the week. He capped the week with eight points, two assists and two rebounds in a road contest against No. 20/23 Ole Miss. This marks Jackson’s second Freshman of the Week award of the season; a Lindenwood player has won the award each of the five weeks of the season.
Others Nominated: Malik Olafioye, Eastern Illinois.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
•
Ray’Sean Taylor (G, Grad.), SIUE. Had 27 points, four rebounds and three assists as SIUE topped Ball State; his six of his seven 3-pointers in the second half.
•
Stephen Olowoniyi (F, So.), Southern Indiana. Averaged 20.5 points and 4.0 rebounds/game while hitting 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the field. Had career-best 24 points at Southern Illinois.
•
Josué Grullon (G, Jr.), UT Martin. Averaged 19.5 points and 4.0 rebounds/game while hitting 56 percent (14-of-25) from the field; had 24 points against Montreat.
•
Kooper Jacobi (F, Grad.), Eastern Illinois. Led EIU in scoring by averaging 18.5 points/game; hit 5-of-10 3-pointers and had career-high 22 points at Butler.
•
Johnathan Lawson (G, R-Jr.), Little Rock. In victory over Central Arkansas, Lawson had 18 points, six assists, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks. He connected on 6-of-9 3-pointers.
•
Tyler Brelsford (G, Grad.), Morehead State. Averaged 17.5 points/game and connected on 10-of-18 (55.6%) from the field in two games. Had 19 points at Marshall.
Notes From Around the League
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: This marks the last full week of non-conference play, as the first set of games of Conference play will begin next 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 ... Western Illinois senior Sean Smith recorded two triple-doubles last week, becoming the first OVC player to have a triple-double in back-to-back games; overall it marked the 25th and 26th triple-doubles in OVC history ... SIUE recorded its first win over Ball State (in six tries) on Sunday and won for the first time this season when leading at halftime ... SIUE graduate student Ray’Sean Taylor had 27 points in the win and moved into fourth place on the school’s all-time scoring list (1,483) ... SIUE is 6-4 on the season and has the top NET ranking in the OVC ... Southern Indiana had a three-game sweep on its homestand, its first since December 2022 ... Eight UTM players scored in double figures against Montreat, the first time that had happened since January 20, 2011 ... Little Rock ranks 13th nationally in field goal defense (37.4 points/game) and 21st in blocks (5.2/game) ... Tennessee State is second nationally in rebounding (45.78/game), fourth in offensive rebounding (16.4/game) and 16th in rebound margin (+9.3/game) ... Tennessee Tech is 21st nationally in 3-pointers made/game (10.5) while Southeast Missouri is 22nd in 3-point defense (27.3%).
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.
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.