• OVC Men’s Basketball Report – February 9 (PDF)
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, February 10
*Eastern Illinois at Western Illinois, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Thursday, February 12
*Tennessee Tech at Morehead State, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at Lindenwood, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Western Illinois, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at SIUE, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee State at Southern Indiana, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+).
Saturday, February 14
*Tennessee State at Morehead State, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Little Rock at Eastern Illinois, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Southeast Missouri at Lindenwood, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*UT Martin at SIUE, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
*Tennessee Tech at Southern Indiana, 4:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
OVC Players of the Week
PLAYER
Tyler King, G • 6-4, 185, Jr. • St. Louis, Mo. • SIUE
King, a transfer from North Central Missouri College, averaged 20.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals/game while hitting 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field and 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from 3-point range in two road victories. He opened the week with 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting (4-of-7 3-pointers) in a 78-72 win at Lindenwood. He followed that with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting (3-of-8 3-pointers) in a 71-61 win at Little Rock. King added five rebounds, an assist and steal in that win. In 57 minutes of court time he had only one turnover.
Others Nominated: Zion Fruster, Eastern Illinois; Anias Futrell, Lindenwood; Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock; Brendan Terry, Southeast Missouri; Amaree Brown, Southern Indiana; Aaron Nkrumah, Tennessee State; JaJuan Nicholls, Tennessee Tech; Matas Deniusas, UT Martin.
NEWCOMER
Tyler King, G • 6-4, 185, Jr. • St. Louis, Mo. • SIUE
King, a transfer from North Central Missouri College, averaged 20.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steals/game while hitting 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field and 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from 3-point range in two road victories. He opened the week with 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting (4-of-7 3-pointers) in a 78-72 win at Lindenwood. He followed that with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting (3-of-8 3-pointers) in a 71-61 win at Little Rock. King added five rebounds, an assist and steal in that win. In 57 minutes of court time he had only one turnover.
Others Nominated: Meechie White, Eastern Illinois; Mekhi Cooper, Lindenwood; Luke Almodovar, Southeast Missouri; Amaree Brown, Southern Indiana; Brandon Muntu, Tennessee Tech.
FRESHMAN
Matas Deniusas, F • 6-9, 220, Fr. • Vilnius, Lithuania • UT Martin
Deniusas led first-place UT Martin to a 2-1 week by averaging 15.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals/game while hitting 50 percent (16-of-32) from the field and 45.5 percent (10-of-22) from 3-point range. He tallied a game-high 17 points (on 6-of-9 shooting) in a win over Little Rock to begin the week. Two days later he had 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds in just 22 minutes of action against Southern Indiana. He capped the week with 15 points, nine rebounds and four steals against Morehead State. In Conference games the freshman ranks fifth in rebounding (6.7/game) and blocks (1.2/game) and 12th in scoring (12.9 points/game). It marks the 10th award of the season for Deniusas, tied for third-most in OVC history, two away from tying the record.
Others Nominated: Markus Blackwell, Eastern Illinois
Other Notable Performances
Below are other notable performances from the past week.
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Brendan Terry (F, Sr.), Southeast Missouri. Led SEMO to a pair of wins by averaging 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists/game and hitting 70 percent (14-of-20) from the field.
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Luke Almodovar (G, Jr.), Southeast Missouri. Averaged 17.0 points/game in two wins and had No. 3 Play of the Day on SportsCenter with dunk in win over USI.
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Aaron Nkrumah (G, Sr.), Tennessee State. Averaged 20.0 points and 6.0 rebounds/game over three games, including hitting 14-of-15 (93.3%) at the free throw line. He had 23 points in a win over EIU.
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Anias Futrell (G, Sr.), Lindenwood. Shot 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from 3-point range while averaging 20.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals/game in two contests.
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Johnathan Lawson (G, R-Sr.), Little Rock. In three contests, averaging 16.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals/game.
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Zion Fruster (G, Sr.), Eastern Illinois. Had 20 points in road victory over Tennessee Tech, putting Panthers into a tie for seventh place in the league standings.
Notes From Around the League
OVC Overview/This Week’s Highlights: UT Martin won two of its three games last week to maintain its spot in first place in the OVC ... The Skyhawks are 11-3, one game ahead of Southeast Missouri and Tennessee State with six games to play ... UTM’s 19 wins are already the sixth-most in the program’s NCAA Division I Era (since 1992) while UT Martin’s 11 OVC victories already rank third in school history ... The Skyhawks are the topped ranked OVC team in the NET (177) ... Tennessee State has 16 overall victories entering the week; the Tigers have two of the top three scorers in the League in Aaron Nkrumah (17.5 points/game) and Travis Harper II (16.9 points/game) ... Lindenwood has six road wins this season, the most of its Division I era; the team is one win away from securing its first .500 season at the D1 level ... Lindenwood’s Anias Futrell is 36 points away from 2,000 points in his collegiate career (he played at St. Louis Community College and Christian Brother before playing the last two years for the Lions); he is tied for first in the OVC in scoring (17.5 points/game) ... SIUE is now 8-5 on the road-setting a new program high for road wins at Division I ... UTM’s Andrija Bukumirovic is first in the OVC with nine double-digit rebound games this season; his seven double-doubles is tied for first in the League (with Lindenwood’s Jadis Jones) ... Seven different OVC players have dished out at least 10 assists in a game in 2025-26 ... Western Illinois hosts Eastern Illinois on Tuesday in the 173rd meeting all-time between the schools with the series is currently even at 86 wins apiece; the two schools first played in 1927 and then routinely since as both conference and non-conference foes (WIU holds a 3-2 lead in games played as OVC rivals since WIU joined the league in 2023-24) ... Nationally, UT Martin ranks fifth in field goal defense (37.9%), sixth in 3-point defense (27.9%), 10th in rebounding (41.6/game) and 14th in rebounding margin (+9.1/game), Tennessee State is 14th in steals (9.5/game) and 19th in fastbreak points (15.8/game) and Lindenwood is 10th in fastbreak points (17.4/game) ... Individually, TSU’s Aaron Nkrumah is third in steals (2.8/game), Lindenwood’s Dontrez Williams is ninth in steals (2.6/game), while teammate Jadis Jones is 19th in field goal percentage (62.2%), Little Rock’s Johnathan Lawson is 12th in minutes/game (36:30) and SIUE’s Arnas Sakenis is 18th in total blocks (53).
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.