• OVC Men’s Basketball Report – January 26 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Thursday, January 29
*SIUE at Morehead State, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Eastern Illinois, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Lindenwood at Southern Indiana, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Tennessee State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Western Illinois, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, January 31
*Lindenwood at Morehead State, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Tennessee Tech, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Eastern Illinois, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Western Illinois, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*SIUE at Southern Indiana, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Anias Futrell, G • 6-5, 195, Sr. • St. Louis, Mo. • Lindenwood
Futrell averaged 25.0 points, 7.0 rebounds. 4.0 assists and 4.0 steals/game as Lindenwood split a pair of home games. The senior hit 50 percent (18-of-36) from the field and was perfect (7-of-7) at the free throw line. He opened the week with his second double-double of the season, scoring 25 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in a win over Tennessee Tech. He also added five assists and five steals in 32 minutes. In Saturday’s game with Tennessee State, he had team-best 25 points, 18 of which came in the second half. He also added four rebounds, three assists and three steals while playing all 40 minutes. In 10 OVC games, he leads the Conference in scoring (20.7 points/game), having scored in double figures in all but one league game. In all games, he ranks in the Top 10 in scoring (4th, 16.7 points/game) and rebounding (10th, 5.8/game).
Others Nominated: Zion Fruster, Eastern Illinois; Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock; Kyle Thomas, SIUE; Amaree Brown, Southern Indiana; Travis Harper II, Tennessee State; JaJuan Nicholls, Tennessee Tech.
CO-NEWCOMER
Luke Almodovar, G • 6-3, 190, Jr. • Noblesville, Ind. • Southeast Missouri
Almodovar had 22 points in 24 minutes, hitting 6-of-10 3-pointers, in leading Southeast Missouri to a victory over league-leading UT Martin to begin last week. The transfer from Saint Francis (Ind.) then had his first double-double of his career with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in a victory over Little Rock. Almodovar also added three assists and a steal in the win. For the week he averaged 17.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists/game while hitting 46.2 percent (12-of-26) from the field. He ranks 10th in the OVC in scoring (14.6 points/game) and fifth in 3-pointers made/game (2.2).
CO-NEWCOMER
Dante Harris, G • 6-0, 170, Grad. • Washington, D.C. • Tennessee State
Harris averaged 19.5 points, 3.0 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals/game while hitting 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field, 50 percent (3-of-6) from 3-point range and 100 percent (4-of-4) from the free throw line. The transfer from Memphis had 19 points and three assists against SIE to begin the week. In that game he did not have a turnover in 37 minutes of action. He capped the week with 20 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds in a 10-point road win over Lindenwood. Harris hit 9-of-14 (64.3%) field goals, including 2-of-3 3-pointers, in that victory. Harris ranks second in the OVC in assists (4.2/game) and sixth in steals (1.95/game).
Others Nominated: Preston Turner, Eastern Illinois; Davion Cunningham, Morehead State; Luke Almodovar, Southeast Missouri; Tyler King, SIUE; Amaree Brown, Southern Indiana; Dante Harris, Tennessee State.
FRESHMAN
Matas Deniusas, F • 6-9, 220, Fr. • Vilnius, Lithuania • UT Martin
Deniusas had 11 points, six rebounds and a block in UT Martin’s lone game last week, which was at Southeast Missouri. The freshman led the Skyhawks in scoring for the ninth time this season, hitting 4-of-10 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws in 23 minutes of action. This marks his ninth award of the season, which is tied for the fourth-most in OVC history (three off the record).
Others Nominated: none
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Travis Harper II (G, R-Sr.), Tennessee State. Scored 30 points in win over Lindenwood and averaged 23.5 points/game for the week, hitting 11-of-11 at the free throw line.
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Zion Fruster (G, Sr.), Eastern Illinois. Helped Panthers to a road split, including scoring 25 points in overtime win against USI. He scored the final 13 points of the game.
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Kyle Thomas (F, Sr.), SIUE. Led SIUE to a pair of wins, averaging 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks/game while hitting 64.7 percent from the field. Had career-best 20 against TSU.
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Johnathan Lawson (G, R-Sr.), Little Rock. Played all 40 minutes at SEMO, scoring 21 points and adding five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
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JaJuan Nicholls (F, Jr.), Tennessee Tech. Averaged 16.0 points and 3.5 rebounds/game while hitting 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field in two road games.
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Davion Cunningham (G, R-Jr.), Morehead State. Part of balanced attack that led MSU to a 2-0 week. Had 18 points and career-best six rebounds against Western Illinois.
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Amaree Brown (G/F, Jr.), Southern Indiana. Had team-high 17 points in overtime game with Eastern Illinois. For the week averaged 14.0 points and 2.5 rebounds/game.
Notes From Around the League
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: Mother Nature played havoc on this past week’s schedule, including two postponements, a game moved up a day and three other time changes this past Saturday ... UT Martin won its lone game last week and is 7-2 overall, half a game ahead of Morehead State and Tennessee State ... Lindenwood, Little Rock, Southeast Missouri and SIUE all have six OVC wins ... Eastern Illinois has now won four of its last six OVC and is 5-5 in League action ... TSU’s Travis Harper II became the 10th different OVC player to score 30 or more points in a game this season when he hit the 30-point plateau in a win at Lindenwood; eight different teams have had a 30-point scorer (Lindenwood & TSU have each had two different players reach the mark) ... At the top of the league scoring leaders, there are six players between 17.7 points/game (TSU’s Travis Harper II) and USI’s Ismail Habib (16.3 points/game) ... Nationally, UT Martin is seventh in 3-point defense (27.7%), eighth in field goal defense (38.6%), 10th in scoring defense (64.3 points/game allowed), 17th in rebounding (41.45/game) 18th in rebounding margin (+8.6/game), Tennessee State is eighth in steals (10.0/game) and Lindenwood is 11th in fastbreak points (17.6/game) ... Individually, TSU’s Aaron Nkrumah is fourth nationally in steals/game (2.85), Lindenwood’s Jadis Jones is 11th in field goal percentage (63.5%) and SIUE’s Arnas Sakenis is 14th in blocks (46).
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, Cleveland Cavaliers (Morehead State)
• Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies (Murray State)
• Taelon Peter, Indiana Pacers (Tennessee Tech)
• Will Richard, Golden State Warriors (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.