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OVC Men’s Basketball Report – March 3 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
2025 OVC Basketball Championship Presented by United Fidelity Bank
Ford Center - Evansville, Indiana
Wednesday, March 5
#5 Tennessee Tech vs. #8 UT Martin, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
#6 Lindenwood vs. #7 Morehead State, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, March 6
#4 Little Rock vs. Winner of Game 1, 6:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
#3 Tennessee State vs. Winner of Game 2, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Friday, March 7
#1 Southeast Missouri vs. Winner of Game 3, 7:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
#2 SIUE vs. Winner of Game 4, 9:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, March 8
Semifinal Winners, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN2/Westwood One)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Nakyel Shelton, G • 6-3, 180, Sr. • Chicago, Ill. • Eastern Illinois
Shelton helped Eastern Illinois close out the season with a pair of wins, including topping regular season champion Southeast Missouri on the final day of the regular season. The senior averaged 26.5 points, 3.0 steals, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks/game while hitting 57.7 percent (15-of-26) from the field, 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from 3-point range and 80 percent (16-of-20) from the free throw line as the Panthers ended the season on a four-game winning streak. Against SEMO he had 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting (3-of-4 3-pointers) while connecting on all seven free throw attempts. He added three blocks, two steals and two rebounds in 34 minutes of action as the Panthers won by 17 points, ending the Redhawks 10-game winning streak. In Thursday’s win over Little Rock he hit 6-of-11 shots (4-of-7 3-pointers) on his way to 25 points. Shelton added four steals, two rebounds, two assists and a block in that game.
Others Nominated: Reggie Bass, Lindenwood; Jordan Jefferson, Little Rock; Rob Martin, Southeast Missouri; Ray’Sean Taylor, SIUE; Jayland Randall, Southern Indiana; Carlous Williams, Tennessee State; Jaylon Johnson, Tennessee Tech; Trey Deveaux, Western Illinois.
NEWCOMER
Trey Deveaux, F • 6-5, 205, Sr. • Lincoln, Neb. • Western Illinois
Deveaux, a transfer from Wayne State, averaged 26.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists/game while hitting 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the field, 50 percent (4-of-8) from 3-point range and 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the free throw line as Western Illinois closed out the season with a pair of wins. He started the week with a then season-high 23 points in an overtime victory over Lindenwood. He added seven rebounds and two assists and made 10 free throws in the victory. Two days later he topped that performance with 29 points on 9-of-12 shooting (3-of-4 3-pointers) while going 8-of-8 at the free throw line against Tennessee Tech. Since he entered the starting lineup in late January, Deveaux has scored in double figures in 11-straight games.
Others Nominated: Artese Stapleton, Eastern Illinois; Reggie Bass, Lindenwood; Teddy Washington Jr., Southeast Missouri; Ring Malith, SIUE; Jayland Randall, Southern Indiana; Travis Harper II, Tennessee State; Jaylon Johnson, Tennessee Tech; Andrija Bukumirovic, UT Martin.
FRESHMAN
Jadis Jones, G/F • 6-5, 200, Fr. • New Madrid, Mo. • Lindenwood
Jones earned the OVC Freshman of the Week for a record 12th time after averaging 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 assists/game and hitting 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the field in two road games. The 12th weekly award broke the previous record of 11 held by EKU’s Matt Witt (2002-03). Overall Lindenwood won 15 of the 16 freshmen awards this season, which was also a new OVC single-season record. Jones had 22 points, six rebounds and two steals as the Lions knocked off Tennessee Tech on the final day of the regular season to lock up the No. 6 seed for the OVC Tournament. He made 11-of-15 field goals in the win; it marked his third 20-point performance of the season. In the team’s overtime loss earlier in the week at Western Illinois, he had 13 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Others Nominated: none
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Rob Martin (G, Jr.), Southeast Missouri. Scored a career-high 31 points as SEMO topped SIUE to claim the outright OVC regular season championship. For the week he averaged 24.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds/game while hitting 51.4 percent from the field.
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Jaylon Johnson (G, Jr.), Tennessee Tech. In two games averaged 26.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals/game while knocking down 9-of-11 (81.8%) 3-pointers. Had season-high 31 points against Western Illinois.
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Ray’Sean Taylor (G, Grad.), SIUE. Averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals/game and hit 56 percent from the field. Had 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting against SEMO.
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Reggie Bass (G, Jr.), Lindenwood. Hit game-winning free throws in final seconds to beat Tennessee Tech on Saturday. Averaged 21.5 points and 5.0 assists for the week.
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Carlous Williams (F, Sr.), Tennessee State. Led TSU to a pair of victories by averaging 19.0 points and 3.0 rebounds/game and hitting 68.2 percent from the field. Had 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting against USI.
OVC Tournament Team Specific Notes
GENERAL TOURNAMENT NOTES
This marks the 62nd overall OVC Men’s Basketball Tournament; the event is the fourth-oldest Division I Championship nationally behind only the Southern, ACC and SEC... The winner of this year’s event will be the first nationally to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament...This marks the eighth-straight year the event has been held at the Ford Center in Evansville...The event will be held in the Ford Center through at least 2026...Six years ago the event set an all-time OVC Tournament attendance record during the semifinals (8,294) and broke that a night later in the championship game (10,525)...This marks the 13th time the bracket has used a merit-based format with the No. 1 and 2 seeds receiving double byes and the No. 3 and 4 seeds receiving single byes.
LINDENWOOD
All-Time Record: 0-1
Titles: 0
Lindenwood has qualified for the OVC Tournament for the second time in three years as members of the league and will be in search of its first win; the Lions lost to eventual champion SEMO in the First Round in 2023 ... This season the program has set Division I era records for most wins (15) and OVC wins (10); overall its 15 wins are the most for the program since 2018-19 ... Three of the team’s last five games have gone into overtime (LU was 2-1 in those games) ... Guard/forward Jadis Jones has been named OVC Freshman of the Week a record 12 times this season; he is averaging 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds/game while shooting 55.4 percent from the field ... As the No. 6 seed the team will take on No. 7 seed Morehead State on Wednesday; the Lions defeated MSU for the first time in five all-time matchups earlier this season.
LITTLE ROCK
All-Time Record: 1-1
Titles: 0
Little Rock is in the OVC Tournament field for the second-straight year in its now third season as members of the League ... After being the No. 1 seed last year (and picked up as league favorites in the preseason), the Trojans are No. 4 this season; had they topped SIUE in the regular season finale they would have been the No. 2 seed ... The team has played without All-OVC guard KK Robinson this season after he suffered an injury in the preseason; he averaged 15.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists/game last season ... Little Rock lost in the Tournament Championship game last season; they won a pair of Sun Belt Tournament Championships during its time in that league (1992 through 2022), the last coming in 2016 (the other in 2011) under then head coach Chris Beard - the Trojans went on to top Purdue in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament ... The Trojans will play the winner of the Tennessee Tech/UT Martin game in the Quarterfinals; Little Rock was 4-0 against those two teams during the regular season.
MOREHEAD STATE
All-Time Record: 41-47
Titles: 6 (1983, 1984, 2009, 2011, 2021, 2024)
Morehead State is appearing in the OVC Tournament field for the seventh-straight season, the longest active streak among current OVC teams ... The Eagles are the defending champions, winning as the No. 3 seed last season ... The team has appeared in the OVC Tournament Title Game in three of the past four seasons (2021, 2022, 2024) ... The Eagles have won at least one game in 12 of its last 15 appearances (only failing to do so in 2017, 2020 and 2023) ... In its first season under head coach Jonathan Mattox, the team started OVC play 9-1 before losing nine of 10 games, including eight losses in a row before winning its regular season finale against UT Martin ... Morehead State will matchup with Lindenwood in the First Round; it is the first time the two teams have played in the event ... Earlier this season the Eagles lost its first game to the Lions (but still lead the all-time series 4-1).
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
All-Time Record: 16-16
Titles: 2 (2000, 2023)
Southeast Missouri won the OVC Tournament Title two years ago as the No. 5 seed, but failed to make the Tournament field a year ago (going 4-14 in league play) ... The Redhawks, who were predicted seventh in the preseason poll were 5-4 in OVC play at one point this season but then won 10-straight games to capture its second OVC regular season crown and first since the 1999-00 season ... The team’s 15 OVC wins was tied for the most in program history while its +11 win increase from last season (when they won nine overall games) was the biggest one-year turnaround in program history ... The No. 1 seed has failed to win the OVC Tournament in three of the past four seasons (only Murray State in 2022 won) ... If SEMO would win the Tournament title, they would join Western Kentucky (1976-78) as the only program in OVC history to win the OVC Tournament, fail to make the field the following year and then win it the next year ... As the No. 1 seed SEMO has a bye to Friday’s quarterfinals.
SIUE
All-Time Record: 2-8
Titles: 0
SIUE is in the OVC Tournament field for the fifth-straight season, the second-longest active streak among current OVC teams (only trailing MSU’s seven-straight appearances) ... After going 0-for-6 in its first six appearances, the Cougars have won a game in each of the past two Tournaments ... Overall the Cougars have been in the tournament in seven of the eight years it has been at the Ford Center ... The team earned the No. 2 overall seed and a double bye to the semifinals; it marks the highest seed the program has heard (they were No. 6 each of the past two years) and the marks the first time they have earned any type of bye in the event ... The 20 overall wins are the most for the team at the Division I level, with the squad’s 13 OVC wins are a program record ... SIUE’s two all-time OVC Tournament wins are against teams (EIU, USI) that are not in this year’s eight-team field ... Graduate student Ray’Sean Taylor is SIUE’s Division I scoring leader with 1,908 career points (and No. 2 on its all-time scoring list -- just 42 points from becoming the all-time leader).
TENNESSEE STATE
All-Time Record: 15-30
Titles: 2 (1993, 1994)
Tennessee State is in the OVC Tournament field for the fourth-straight season ... After being the No. 4 seed last year, TSU is No. 3 this season, its highest seed since being No. 2 in 2012 (when it advanced to the OVC Tournament title game against Murray State) ... TSU has won at least one game in the event in three of its last four appearances ...TSU is looking for its first tournament crown since the second of back-to-back titles in 1994... This season after starting OVC play 2-5, the team rebounded and closed out the regular season by winning 10 of its final 13 games to finish 12-8 ... This year’s team has only one player (Knute Wood) who saw action for the team in 2023-24 ... As the No. 3 seed the squad has earned a bye to the quarterfinals where they will face the winner of the Lindenwood/Morehead State game; TSU split with both of those teams this season (winning on its home court) ... TSU is 5-2 against MSU in the OVC Tournament with the last meeting coming in 2020’s First Round; TSU has never played Lindenwood in the event.
TENNESSEE TECH
All-Time Record: 27-46
Titles: 1 (1967)
After falling in the 2023 OVC Tournament Final, Tennessee Tech failed to make the eight-team field a year ago ... The Golden Eagles are in search of its first OVC Tournament title since 1967, when the tournament was held at the beginning of the season and did not include an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament ... Junior guard Jaylon Johnson is the only OVC player to hit at least one 3-pointer in every game this season ... TTU will face off with No. 8 seed UT Martin in the First Round; Tech swept the season series, winning both games in overtime ... The Golden Eagles are 4-1 all-time against the Skyhawks in the event, with the most recent matchup coming in the 2023 Semifinals.
UT MARTIN
All-Time Record: 6-14
Titles: 0
UT Martin is back in the OVC Tournament field for the third-straight year, this time under first-year head coach Jeremy Shulman ... As of March 2, the Skyhawks lead all Division I teams in one-possession or overtime games (13), one-possession or overtime losses (nine) and conference games lost by either one point or in overtime (seven) ... After being the No. 2 seed last year, UTM is the No. 8 seed this season ... UTM will match up with Tennessee Tech to kick off the Tournament on Wednesday (the team was swept by Tech this season, losing both games in overtime) ... The Skyhawks are 1-4 all-time against the Golden Eagles in the event, including a loss in the 2023 Semifinals.
Notes From Around the League
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: Eight teams will compete in the OVC Tournament Championship this week in Evansville ... The winner of the event will be the first team to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament ... Southeast Missouri finished the year with a 15-5 overall record to win the OVC Regular Season Championship; it was the second overall title for the Redhawks (first since 1999-00) and the first outright crown ... SEMO’s 15 OVC wins were tied for the most in program history (with the 1998-99 squad) with its +11 win increase (from 9-22 to 20-11) is the best one-year turnaround in program history (the 2015-16 team went from 5-24 to 15-18) ... Prior to a loss in the regular season finale, the Redhawks had a 10-game winning streak for the first time in 35 years (they won 11 in a row in 1989-90) ... SIUE’s 13 OVC wins were the most in program history and the team secured its first-ever winning season in OVC play; the team’s 20 overall wins are the most for the program at the Division I level and the team earned its highest-ever OVC Tournament seed (No. 2) ... Lindenwood has now set Division I era records for most wins (15) and OVC wins (10); overall its 15 wins are the most for the program since 2018-19 ... Tennessee State won 10 of its final 13 games to earn the No. 3 seed, its highest seed since being No. 2 in 2012 ... Desmond Polk has played in 142 games at SIUE, the most of any current OVC player with one team ... Only one OVC player made at least one 3-pointer in every game of the regular season: Tennessee Tech’s Jaylon Johnson ... UT Martin leads all NCAA Division I men’s basketball in one-possession or overtime games (13), one-possession or overtime losses (nine) and conference games lost by either one point or in overtime (seven) ... UTM’s Vladimer Salaridze is the only NCAA Division I men’s basketball player to accumulate at least 300 points, 200 rebounds, 70 assists, 50 steals and 25 made three-pointers in 2024-25 ... 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 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.
2024-25 All-OVC Teams and Awards Announced on Tuesday: The announcement of the 2024-25 All-OVC Basketball Teams with the Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year awards will be announced on Tuesday, March 4 between Noon and 1 p.m. CT on social media.
Southeast Missouri Wins OVC Regular Season Championship: With a 15-5 record Southeast Missouri won the 2024-25 OVC Regular Season Championship. It is the second overall title (first outright) and first for the Redhawks since 1999-00 (they shared that crown with Murray State).
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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