• OVC Men’s Basketball Report – January 12 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, January 13
*Western Illinois at Eastern Illinois, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, January 15
*Eastern Illinois at Little Rock, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Tennessee State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at UT Martin, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at Tennessee Tech, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Southeast Missouri, 8:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, January 17
*Western Illinois at Little Rock, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Morehead State at Tennessee Tech, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at UT Martin, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southern Indiana at Tennessee State, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Southeast Missouri, 3:45 p.m. (ESPN+)
Sunday, January 18
Blackburn College
at Eastern Illinois, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Johnathan Lawson, G • 6-7, 190, R-Sr. • Memphis, Tenn. • Little Rock
Lawson led Little Rock to a pair of road victories in averaging 21.5 points, 5.0 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals/game while hitting 46.4 percent (13-of-28) from the field and 92.9 percent (13-of-14) from the free throw line. He opened the week with 23 points, five assists and two steals in 40 minutes against SIUE. He hit 10-of-10 at the free throw line, including four in the final 1:44, as the Trojans won 73-70 after trailing by 16 points with 16:56 to play. Lawson followed that with 20 points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block in a win at Lindenwood. In all games, Lawson ranks third in the OVC in 3-pointers made (2.6/game), fourth in assists (4.1/game), fifth in scoring (16.7/game) and free throw percentage (82.6%), seventh in steals (1.8/game) and ninth in field goal percentage (41.4%).
Others Nominated: Zion Fruster, Eastern Illinois; Jadis Jones, Lindenwood; Little Rock; Davion Cunningham, Morehead State; Brendan Terry, Southeast Missouri; Darrion Baker, SIUE; Travis Harper II, Tennessee State; Filip Radakovic, UT Martin; Isaiah Griffin, Western Illinois.
NEWCOMER
Davion Cunningham, G • 6-3, 185, R-Jr. • Charlotte, N.C. • Morehead State
Cunningham, a transfer from UNC Asheville, averaged 21.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists/game while hitting 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the field and 88.9 percent (8-of-9) from the free throw line in a pair of games. In Saturday’s come-from-behind 71-69 win over Southeast Missouri, the junior came off the bench and scored a career-high 35 points, the most by a MSU player since 2013 (and second-highest total by an OVC player this season). Cunningham only hit one 3-pointer in that game but nailed 12 jumpers and 8-of-9 free throws with 25 of his points coming in the second half as MSU rallied from 12 down to win. He opened the week with seven points and four rebounds against UT Martin.
Others Nominated: Meechie White, Eastern Illinois; Braxton Bayless, Little Rock; Luke Almodovar, Southeast Missouri; Khalil London, Tennessee State; Isaiah Griffin, Western Illinois.
FRESHMAN
Vince Dawson III, G • 6-6, 215, Fr. • Georgetown, Ky. • Morehead State
Dawson was a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point range over two games last week, averaging 9.0 points and 2.0 rebounds/game in two home contests for the Eagles. Against UT Martin, the guard came off the bench to hit four 3-pointers and score a career-high 13 points in just 22 minutes of action. He was 1-of-1 from 3-point range (2-of-2 from the field) in scoring five points in Saturday’s come-from-behind win over Southeast Missouri; in that game he added two rebounds. He is 17-of-35 (48.6%) from 3-point range this season.
Others Nominated: Matas Deniusas, UT Martin.
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Jadis Jones (G, So.), Lindenwood. Averaged 20.5 points and 11.0 rebounds/game while hitting 58.1% from the field. Had 22 points against SIUE.
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Brendan Terry (F, Sr.), Southeast Missouri. Tallied a career-high 30 points off the bench in win at Southern Indiana, hitting 13-of-16 shots and pulling down eight rebounds. For the week hit 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the field.
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Filip Radakovic (G, So.), UT Martin. Had a career-high 21 points and added 10 rebounds in win at Southern Indiana. For the week averaged 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists/game while shooting 58.8 percent (10-of-17) in two wins.
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Travis Harper II (G, Sr.), Tennessee State. Averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds/game while hitting 63.2 percent (12-of-19) from the field and 100% (13-of-13) at the line.
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Zion Fruster (G, Sr.), Eastern Illinois. Led team with 19 points in win over Tennessee State on Saturday. For the week averaged 14.5 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds/game.
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Darrion Baker (F, Sr.), SIUE. Stepped into starting lineup after a pair of injuries and had career-highs of 20 points and nine rebounds in win over Lindenwood.
Notes From Around the League
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: There were four teams tied for first place entering Saturday’s action, but only UT Martin scored a win to close the week and are now in sole possession of first place at 5-1 ... It marks the first time the Skyhawks have started OVC play 5-1 in its history ... Five teams enter this week with a 4-2 League record, Lindenwood, Little Rock, Morehead State, Southeast Missouri and Tennessee State ... UT Martin has reached 13 overall victories (17 games) faster than any other season in program’s Division I history (since 1992); the 13 wins are just one shy of all of last season ... Last Thursday Morehead State won at Morehead State for the first time since December 19, 2005 (ending a 16-game skid) ... Three different players (Davion Cunningham, Anias Futrell and Brendan Terry) scored 30 or more points this season; it was the second time Futrell had hit that mark this season and overall this year eight different OVC players have scored at least 30 in a game ... SEMO head coach Brad Korn picked up his 50th career OVC victory last Thursday at USI ... Last week SIUE announced that Ring Malith (team-high 17.0 points/game, 5.4 rpg) and Myles Thompson (second on team at 10.8 points/game, team-high 6.1 rebounds/game) will miss the remainder of the season; both were named to the OVC All-Tournament Team last season.
All Teams Eligible for Postseason Play: Lindenwood and Southern Indiana have completed their reclassification to Division I and are now eligible to earn to compete in NCAA sanctioned postseason play (NCAA and NIT Tournaments).
Recent Postseason Success: OVC teams have won at least one national postseason game in 13 of the past 16 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), but a new streak began with Murray State winning a NCAA Tournament game in 2022 and continued with Morehead State winning a NIT game in 2023.
OVC Basketball Championships Set For Ford Center in Evansville For Ninth Consecutive Year: The OVC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will be held March 4-7 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. It marks the ninth-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. In October 2025 an agreement was reached to extend the partnership through the 2032 Championship.
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.
OVC Players in the NBA: Seven former OVC players started the 2025-26 season on NBA rosters. That included three players who were drafted last year, Johni Broome (Morehead State), Will Richard (Belmont) and Taelon Peter (Tennessee Tech). 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).
• Johni Broome, Philadelphia 76ers (Morehead State)
• Myron Gardner, Miami Heat (Little Rock)
• Riley Minix, San Antonio Spurs (Morehead State)
• Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies (Murray State)
• Taelon Peter, Indiana Pacers (Tennessee Tech)
• Will Richard, Golden State (Belmont)
• Ben Sheppard, Indiana Pacers (Belmont)
Three in 2025 NBA Draft: Three players who played in the OVC were selected in the 2025 NBA Draft. That included Johni Broome (Morehead State/Auburn - Philadelphia 76ers), Taelon Peter (Tennessee Tech/Liberty - Indiana Pacers) and Will Richard (Belmont/Florida - Golden State Warriors). It marked the first time since 1987 that three OVC players were selected in the Draft, and first time since 1971 that three players were selected in the first two rounds of the Draft.
OVC to Produce Linear Television Package with ESPN: As part of its newly signed multi-year media deal with ESPN, the OVC will once again produce a national television package in 2025-26 that will include eight men’s basketball games that will air on the ESPN Family of Networks. The regular season games and the men’s tournament semifinals will air on ESPNU; 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.
Select OVC Games to Simulcast on Gray Media Stations: As part of the Conference’s new multi-year contract with ESPN, this season select men’s and women’s basketball games will simulcast in 20 Gray Media TV markets in five states (in addition to airing on ESPN+). That includes markets in Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Memphis, St. Louis, Cape Girardeau, Peoria, Quincy, Rockford, Evansville, Ft. Wayne, South Bend and Lexington. Prior to each game a listing of the stations that will broadcast each game will be made available at OVCSports.com.
Little Rock Picked as OVC Preseason Favorites: In a vote of OVC head men’s basketball coaches and communication directors, Little Rock was picked the preseason favorites for the 2025-26 season. It marks the second-straight year the Trojans have been tabbed the favorites. The Trojans picked up 12 of 22 first-place votes to receive 188 points. Southeast Missouri, last year’s regular season champions, picked up six first-place votes and 177 points, while SIUE (163 points) and Tennessee State (135 points) each picked up a first-place point and were tabbed third and fourth respectively. Lindenwood and Morehead State (100 points) tied for fifth place, Tennessee Tech (80) was seventh, UT Martin (79) eighth and Southern Indiana (67) received the other two first-place votes and were picked ninth. The poll was rounded out by Eastern Illinois (63) and Western Illinois (57).
The Season is Here: The 2025-26 season marks the 78th of competition for the Ohio Valley Conference. Over the previous 77 years, 14 different teams have claimed an OVC regular season championship.
ESPN+/ESPN Unlimited: The OVC signed a new multi-year media rights agreement with ESPN ahead of the season that continues the long-standing partnership to air games on the Family of Networks. 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). For the first time ever, ESPN now offers its full suite of 12 networks and services directly to fans within an enhanced ESPN App that integrates game stats, ESPN Fantasy sports, commerce, multiview options, a synchronized two-screen experience, a vertical video feature called Verts and a personalized SportsCenter For You. Designed to give fans more choice, flexibility and access to all of ESPN, these new features and functionality are available to all fans who watch on the ESPN App on mobile and connected TV devices, whether they subscribe directly or through a traditional pay TV package. Bundling options available for fans include a special offer at launch for the ESPN DTC Unlimited plan with Disney+ and Hulu for $29.99/month for the first 12 months.