#5 Southeast Missouri (14-17) vs. #8 Tennessee State (17-12)

OVC Tournament (First Round)
Date: Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Tipoff: 6:30 p.m., CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Arena: Municipal Auditorium (9,654)
Series History: TSU leads, 25-19
Last Meeting: TSU 65, SEMO 62 (Jan. 5, 2017 / Nashville, Tenn.)
Head Coaches: Rick Ray (56-101 overall; 19-41 at SEMO; 11-21 OVC). Dana Ford (42-49 overall; 42-49 at TSU; 21-27 OVC).

2017 OVC Tournament Schedule
First Round: Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Game 1: #5 Southeast Missouri vs. #8 Tennessee State, 6:30 p.m. (OVCDN)
Game 2: #6 Tennessee Tech vs. #7 Murray State, 8:30 p.m. (OVCDN)

Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 2, 2017
Game 3: #4 Jacksonville State vs. Winner of Game 1, 6:30 p.m. (OVCDN)
Game 4: #3 Morehead State vs. Winner of Game 2, 8:30 p.m. (OVCDN)

Semifinals: Friday, March 3, 2017
Game 5: #1 Belmont vs. Winner of Game 3, 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 6: #2 UT Martin vs. Winner of Game 4, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)

Championship: Saturday, March 4, 2017
Game 7: Semifinal Winners, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

2017 OVC Tournament Bracket

Media Coverage
Radio: SEMO ESPN 92.9 FM, Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
Video: OVC Digital Network
Live Stats: OVCSports.com / GoSoutheast.com
Twitter Updates: @SEMOMBB
OVC Tournament Central
2017 Southeast Missouri OVC Tournament Guide

Music City Madness
Fifth-seeded Southeast Missouri (14-17) opens postseason play against eighth-seeded Tennessee State (17-12) in the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m., CT, at Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

Follow the Redhawks
All of Southeast's games at the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will be broadcast on the radio at ESPN 92.9 FM and Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will call the action from Municipal Auditorium. Live stats can be accessed online at OVCSports.com and GoSoutheast.com. Video for the first round and quarterfinal games is available online at the OVC Digital Network. The semifinals will be televised live on ESPNU, with the championship airing on ESPN2. Twitter updates provided @SEMOMBB.

Eight-Team Field
This year's tournament field includes overall Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion and #1 seed Belmont, #2 UT Martin, #3 Morehead State, #4 Jacksonville State, #5 Southeast Missouri, #6 Tennessee Tech, #7 Murray State and #8 Tennessee State. Belmont won its fourth OVC regular-season title in five years in the league. Southeast, which was one win away from clinching the OVC West Division and #2 seed, dropped its final game of the regular-season at home to Austin Peay, 88-79, on Feb. 25.

Back in the Postseason
After a one-year absence, Southeast Missouri is back in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Redhawks make their 15th all-time OVC Tournament appearance and sixth in seven years.

History of Appearances
Prior to this year, Southeast advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. This year marks the first time both the Southeast men's and women's basketball teams are in the conference tournament since 2007.

OVC Tournament History
For the seventh year in a row, all eight men's and women's teams will play every game of the Championship at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. the men's bracket is a merit-based format that gives the #1 and #2 seeds a double bye to the semifinals, while the #3 and #4 seeds get a single bye to the quarterfinals. Southeast will participate in the first round matchups on Mar. 1. This year marks the 23rd time in the past 24 years that the tournament has been held in Nashville. This year will be the last year the tournament is held in Nashville for the time being, as the event moves to the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana next season. This year is the 12th time the combined men's and women's championship has been held at Municipal Auditorium; the men also held tournaments in Municipal in 1967 and 1989. The 2017 season marks the 54th time the OVC Men's Basketball Championship has been held; the event is the fourth-oldest Division I basketball championship tournament.

OVC Tournament Record
Southeast is 10-13 all-time in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Redhawks advanced to the quarterfinals in four of their previous five trips. Southeast last advanced to the 2015 OVC Tournament as a #8 seed, falling to #5 Morehead State, 79-74, in the first round.

As a #5 Seed
The Redhawks make their fourth appearance at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as a #5 seed in 2017. Southeast is 1-3 all-time as a #5. The only time the Redhawks advanced to the quarterfinals as a #5 seed was when they beat #8 Eastern Kentucky, 75-65, in 2012.

Against the #8 Seed
Southeast faces #8 seed Tennessee State in the first round of this year's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Wednesday. The Redhawks play the #8 seed for only the second time in their OVC Tournament history. Southeast is 1-0 against the #8 with its only win coming against Eastern Kentucky (75-65) in 2012.

Southeast's OVC Tournament Record As:
#2 Seed    5-1
#5 Seed    1-3
#6 Seed    3-5
#7 Seed    1-2
#8 Seed    0-2
Tournament Record: 10-13

OVC Tournament Rundown
Southeast meets Tennessee State in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the first time in 2017. After Wednesday, the Redhawks will have faced eight of the league's current 11 members in the OVC Tournament. Belmont, Jacksonville State and SIU Edwardsville are the only three teams Southeast has not yet played at the OVC Tournament.
Austin Peay (last played in 2011)    0-3
Eastern Illinois (last played in 2014)    3-0
Eastern Kentucky (last played in 2014)     2-3
Morehead State (last played in 2015)    0-2
Murray State (last played in 2005)    2-1
Tennessee Tech (last played in 2012)    0-3
UT Martin (last played in 2000)    1-0
Note: Southeast also had a record of 2-1 against Middle Tennessee (last played in 2000)

2000 OVC Tournament Champs
Southeast has just one Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title in its program history. The Redhawks earned a share (with Murray State) of the OVC regular-season crown and later beat Murray State in the postseason tournament final to advance to the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Southeast went 24-7 overall and 14-4 in the OVC under head coach Gary Garner that year.

First Appearance for Ray
Second-year head coach Rick Ray makes his first trip to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament this postseason. Ray, along with Jacksonville State's Ray Harper, Morehead State's Preston Spradlin and UT Martin's Anthony Stewart are the OVC head coaches making their first appearance at the league's postseason fling. Southeast went from last in the Ohio Valley Conference and not making the tournament last season to second in the OVC West Division and earning the #5 seed this year. The Redhawks fell just one win shy of clinching the OVC West and #2 seed when they lost to Austin Peay on the final day of the regular-season. Ray led Southeast to a 14-17 overall record and 9-7 OVC mark after the Redhawks were 5-24 and 2-14 in the OVC last season.

Record at Municipal Auditorium
Southeast is 4-5 all-time at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. All four of those wins were in first round games. The Redhawks have never made it further than the quarterfinals in all of their tournament appearances at that facility.

Cleveland and Calvin Return to Postseason
Guards Antonius Cleveland and Jamaal Calvin, the only four-year seniors on the team, make their third trip to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament this week. Cleveland and Calvin are the only Redhawks with postseason experience as the remainder of Southeast's roster has never played in the OVC Tournament. Cleveland averaged 12.3 points per game in three games and one start at the OVC Tournament, while Calvin averaged 9.3 points per contest in three postseason games off the bench.

Winning OVC Record
The Redhawks finished Ohio Valley Conference play with a 9-7 record, clinching their first winning season in league action since 2011-12 (9-7). Southeast was no better than 8-8 in the OVC since the conference split into divisions in 2012-13. The Redhawks were among the top three teams in OVC games only in scoring margin (3rd, +3.2), free throw percentage (3rd, .758), field goal percentage (2nd, .481), 3-point field goal percentage (2nd, .396), steals (1st, 7.2 spg) and turnover margin (1st, +1.8) this season.

Strong Push
Southeast won seven of its final 11 games of the season. The Redhawks scored 80 or more points six times and recorded four double-digit victories during that stretch. Additionally, Southeast shot 51.1 percent or better from the field on six occasions.

Good at Home
The Redhawks went 10-4 overall and 6-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference at home this season. Southeast finished the year with seven wins in their final nine games at the Show Me Center. It was the Redhawks best home record since they also went 10-4 in 2011-12.

Cleveland Among Single-Season Scoring Leaders
Antonius Cleveland enters the postseason ranked 18th among Southeast's all-time single-season scoring leaders. Cleveland currently has a career-best 526 points in 31 starts this season. He is the Redhawks top scorer with 17 points per game. Cleveland's scoring average this season is the highest by a Southeast player since Tyler Stone averaged 19.3 points a game in 2013-14.

Pulling Rank
Antonius Cleveland has accumulated 1,533 points, 561 rebounds, 239 assists, 157 steals and 74 blocks in 119 games and 107 starts in his outstanding Southeast career. He scored double figures in 46 of his last 49 starts and leads the team with 83 double-digit scoring games, 11 double-doubles and nineteen 20-point performances. Cleveland heads into the postseason ranked among the school's all-time career leaders in points (6th), field goals made (5th, 576), field goals attempted (1,158), free throws made (4th, 320), free throws attempted (3rd, 522), steals (2nd, 157) and starts (1st, 107).

Series History
Tennessee State leads the all-time series against Southeast by a count of 26-19. The Redhawks won two of the last four meetings between these teams.

Last Time vs. Tennessee State
Tahjere McCall scored a game-high 27 points and Tennessee State hung on to beat Southeast Missouri, 65-62, at the Gentry Center on Jan. 5. Southeast had a number of chances down the stretch, but came up short in a see-saw battle that included four ties and six lead changes. Neither team led by more than four points in the last 9:13 of the tight contest. Things were even more interesting in the final 31 seconds when Daniel Simmons drained a 3-pointer to cut TSU's lead to 61-60. McCall followed with two free throws and Tahj Eaddy's 3-pointer to tie the game fell short with 20 seconds. Immediately after A'Torey Everett split two free throws to give the Tigers a 64-60 cushion with 17 seconds on the clock, Antonius Cleveland cut their lead in half with a layup five ticks later. On the next possession, Simmons stole the ball from Darreon Reddick and was open for a 3-pointer that would have given Southeast the lead, but his shot came off the rim. A double technical foul was issued to Cleveland and Everett. McCall then made one of his two free throws to put TSU ahead, 65-62. The Redhawks had one last chance, but McCall stole the ball from Cleveland as time expired.

20s All-Around
Antonius Cleveland, Trey Kellum and Denzel Mahoney each scored 20 points in Southeast's season-finale against Austin Peay (Feb. 25). Kellum had a double-double 20 points and 12 rebounds. It marked the first time the Redhawks had three 20-point scorers in a game since Feb. 16, 2013 (Marland Smith, 22; Nick Niemczyk, 21; Lucas Nutt, 20; at UT Martin).