• OVC Men’s Basketball Report – January 20 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, January 21
*UT Martin at Tennessee State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, January 23
*Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Western Illinois, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at SIUE, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at Tennessee State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Eastern Illinois, 8:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, January 25
*Southern Indiana at Eastern Illinois, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Lindenwood, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at SIUE, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Western Illinois, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at UT Martin, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Damoni Harrison, G • 6-5, 180, Jr. • Atlanta, Ga. • Southern Indiana
Harrison, a transfer from Tallahassee Community College, averaged 26.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists/game while hitting 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from the field, 50 percent (5-of-10) from 3-point range and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from the free throw line in a pair of wins. He opened the week with a season-high 26 points and 10 rebounds to net his first double-double of the year. In that game he hit 8-of-16 field goals as USI topped Lindenwood. Two days later he matched his season-high with 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting against Western Illinois. Harrison added six rebounds and two assists in the game. Through eight OVC games, the junior ranks second in the OVC in scoring (18.3 points/game). He is the first USI player to earn OVC Player of the Week honors since January 30, 2023.
Others Nominated: Kooper Jacobi, Eastern Illinois; Jadis Jones, Lindenwood; Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock; Rob Martin, Southeast Missouri; Ray’Sean Taylor, SIUE; Vladimer Salaridze, UT Martin; Sean Smith, Western Illinois.
NEWCOMER
Damoni Harrison, G • 6-5, 180, Jr. • Atlanta, Ga. • Southern Indiana
Harrison, a transfer from Tallahassee Community College, averaged 26.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists/game while hitting 54.3 percent (19-of-35) from the field, 50 percent (5-of-10) from 3-point range and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from the free throw line in a pair of wins. He opened the week with a season-high 26 points and 10 rebounds to net his first double-double of the year. In that game he hit 8-of-16 field goals as USI topped Lindenwood. Two days later he matched his season-high with 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting against Western Illinois. Harrison added six rebounds and two assists in the game. Through eight OVC games, the junior ranks second in the OVC in scoring (18.3 points/game). He is the first USI player to earn OVC Player of the Week honors since January 30, 2023.
Others Nominated: Artese Stapleton, Eastern Illinois; Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock; Ring Malith, SIUE; Carlous Williams, Tennessee State; Vladimer Salaridze, UT Martin; Sean Smith, Western Illinois.
FRESHMAN
Jadis Jones, G/F • 6-5, 200, Fr. • New Madrid, Mo. • Lindenwood
Jones earned the award for the sixth time this season after averaging 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks/game while hitting 60 percent (12-of-20) from the field. At Southern Indiana he had a season-best 21 points and 11 rebounds to net his second career double-double. The guard hit 8-of-12 field goals and added three assists and two steals in 36 minutes. Jones followed that with 16 points, four rebounds, two blocks, a steal and assist at Morehead State. The freshman hit a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line in the game.
Others Nominated: Filip Radakovic, UT Martin.
Other Notable Performers
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
•
Ray’Sean Taylor (G, Grad.), SIUE. The OVC’s leading scorer averaged 22.0 points/game in two road games, including 19 in the second half as Cougars won in double overtime at TSU.
•
Johnathan Lawson (G, Jr.), Little Rock. Led the Trojans to a 2-0 week in averaging 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists/game while hitting 52.6 percent from the field. Hit the game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds left at SEMO.
•
Rob Martin (G, Jr.), Southeast Missouri. Martin averaged 16.0 points/game including 19 at home versus Little Rock.
•
Vladimer Salaridze (F, R-Sr.), UT Martin. Led UTM with 19.5 points/game in two wins, including career-best 23 points vs. EIU. Added 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals/game.
•
Sean Smith (G, Sr.), Western Illinois. Averaged 18.5 points in two road games, including 26 points at Southern Indiana. Hit six 3-pointers during the week.
•
Carlous Williams (F, Sr.), Tennessee State. Averaged 14.0 points and 8.5 rebounds/game while hitting 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the field.
Notes From Around the League
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: A perfect 2-0 week by Morehead State kept them on top of the OVC standings as they head out for a two-game road trip ... Little Rock is the only team with two losses (they have played one less league game at this point), while SIUE, Southern Indiana and UT Martin are all 5-3 ... MSU continues to win at home and is 8-0 at Johnson Arena in 2024-25 and have won 22 of its last 23 games; the Eagles are 60-6 at home since the beginning of the 2020-21 season ... UT Martin’s three OVC losses have come by a combined three points (with two of the game-winning shots coming in the final 5.5 seconds); UTM is 32-5 inside the Elam Center since the start of the 2022-23 season ... Last Thursday UT Martin trailed Eastern Illinois by 17 points with 18:29 to play, before outscoring the Panthers 43-21 the rest of the way to claim the 68-63 win (it marked the second-straight season the team had overcome a 17-point or great deficit to come back and win) ... Southeast Missouri won for only the seventh time ever in Cookeville (and first time since 2014) in topping Tennessee Tech 77-70 last Thursday ... Last Wednesday the NCAA Division I Council adopted a proposal that requires schools moving into Division I to meet objective measures that focus on the student-athlete experience and support a school’s successful transition to Division I and would change the timeline from four to three years; current reclassifying teams Lindenwood and Southern Indiana can use the new timeline
IF they meet all other criteria and could potentially be eligible for NCAA postseason play next year ... There have been 10 Player of the Week selections this season and nine different teams have claimed an award (with only SIUE having more than one -- EIU and TSU have yet to claim one) ... Nationally, Little Rock ranks 10th in field goal defense (37.7%) and 14th in blocks (5.4/game), UT Martin is 11th in 3-point attempts (30.3/game), 23rd in offensive rebounding (13.74/game) and 27th in bench points (30.16/game), Tennessee State ranks fifth in rebounding (42.42/game) and 15th in offensive rebounding (14.16/game) while Southeast Missouri is fourth in 3-point defense (27.2%) ... Individually, TSU’s Brandon Weston is sixth in free throws made (115), Little Rock’s Johnathan Lawson is fifth in minutes played (37:10/game)
, EIU’s Kooper Jacobi is 21st in rebounding (9.5/game) and 25th in double-doubles (7), SEMO’s Rob Martin ranks 17th in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.21) and WIU’s Marko Maletic is 15th in 3-point percentage (44.8%).
3-Pointers in Every Game: As of January 20 there are two OVC players who have made at least one 3-pointer in every game this season. They are
Jaylon Johnson (Tennessee Tech) and
Zion Fruster (Eastern Illinois).
Eastern Illinois at Little Rock Game Rescheduled for January 27: The Eastern Illinois at Little Rock game originally scheduled for December 21 was postponed following the tragic death of Little Rock student manager Josh Claxton in a car accident. The game has been rescheduled for Monday, January 27 at a neutral site at Lindenwood (where Little Rock plays on January 25).
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.
Guinyard Named National Player of the Week (December 17): UT Martin junior guard Tarence Guinyard was named one of five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week award winners by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) on December 17. He 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. 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.
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.
Division I Council Adopts New Reclassification Criteria: On January 15 the NCAA Division I Council adopted a proposal that requires schools moving into Division I to meet objective measures that focus on the student-athlete experience and support a school’s successful transition to Division I. The change reduces the reclassification period from four to three years for Division II schools and four years for Division III schools. Members currently in the reclassification process (Lindenwood and Southern Indiana) can use the new timeline
IF they meet all other criteria. Progression through the process is dependent upon meeting each year’s benchmarks. If the benchmarks are met, teams would be eligible for NCAA postseason events in the 2025-26 school year.
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.