#5 Southeast Missouri (15-17) vs. #4 Jacksonville State (17-14)

OVC Tournament (Quarterfinals)
Date: Thursday, March 2, 2017
Tipoff: 6:30 p.m., CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Arena: Municipal Auditorium (9,654)
Series History: JSU leads, 14-6
Last Meeting: JSU 74, SEMO 62 (Feb. 1, 2017 / Jacksonville, Ala.)
Head Coaches: Rick Ray (57-101 overall; 20-41 at SEMO; 11-21 OVC). Ray Harper (448-141 overall; 17-14 at JSU; 9-7 OVC).

2017 OVC Tournament Schedule
First Round: Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Game 1: #5 Southeast Missouri 78, #8 Tennessee State 75 (OT)
Game 2: #7 Murray State 85, #6 Tennessee Tech 84 (2 OT)

Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 2, 2017
Game 3: #4 Jacksonville State vs. #5 Southeast Missouri, 6:30 p.m. (OVCDN)
Game 4: #3 Morehead State vs. #7 Murray State, 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
Southeast Missouri Notes | Southeast Missouri Statistics

Music City Madness
Fifth-seeded Southeast Missouri (15-17) faces fourth-seeded Jacksonville State (17-14) in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Thursday. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m., CT, at 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 theaction 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.

Ray Gets First OVC Tournament Win
Second-year Southeast head coach Rick Ray picked up a win in his first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament game when the Redhawks came back to beat #8 Tennessee State, 78-75, in overtime Wednesday. It marked Ray's 20th victory as Southeast's head coach and 15th this season.

Freshman Sensations
In their first career Ohio Valley Conference Tournament starts, guards Denzel Mahoney and Tahj Eaddy keyed Southeast's first round tournament victory over #8 Tennessee State (Mar. 1). Mahoney dropped in a career-high 34 points, while Eaddy scored 10 points and buried the game-winning 3-pointer with two seconds left in overtime.
 
Familiar Territory
Southeast is in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals for the fifth time in six years. The Redhawks did not make it past the quarterfinals in each of those appearances. Southeast's last quarterfinals loss was to #3 Eastern Kentucky (84-76) in 2014.  

Welcome to the OVC Tournament
Seven different players made their Ohio Valley Conference Tournament debut against Tennessee State Wednesday. Trey Kellum, Tahj Eaddy, Denzel Mahoney, Milos Vranes, Jonathan Dalton, Jaylen Benton and Daniel Simmons formed that group. Seniors Antonius Cleveland and Jamaal Calvin appeared in the OVC Tournament for the third time in their careers.

What a Game
Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Denzel Mahoney started his postseason with a bang. Mahoney scored 34 points to lead Southeast in its first round win over #8 Tennessee State. He shot 8-of-19 from the field, made four 3-pointers and went a near-perfect 14-of-15 at the free throw line. Mahoney made his first 14 free throws of the game and pulled down five rebounds, as well. He became the first Redhawk to score 34 or more points in a game since Tyler Stone had 37 at SIU Edwardsville on Feb. 6, 2014.

Comeback Kids
Southeast overcame a 14-point deficit to edge #8 Tennessee State Wednesday. It marked the second time this year where Southeast overcame a double-digit deficit to win a game.

Cleveland Moves into Top-Five
First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference guard Antonius Cleveland scored 16 points against Tennessee State (Mar. 1) and, as a result, moved to fifth on Southeast's all-time career scoring list. Cleveland, who has 1,549 career points, surpassed Tyler Stone (1,546 pts., 2011-14) for the fifth-place spot.

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 Record
Southeast is 11-13 all-time in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Redhawks advanced to the quarterfinals in five of their previous six trips. Southeast last made the 2015 OVC Tournament as a #8 seed, falling to #5 Morehead State, 79-74, in the first round.

Against the #4 Seed
Southeast faces #4 seed Jacksonville State in the quarterfinals of this year's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Thursday. The Redhawks play the #4 seed for the fourth time in their OVC Tournament history. Southeast has never beaten a #4 seed in the tournament (0-3). Tennessee Tech was the last #4 seed the Redhawks faced in the tourney -- L, 77-73, in 2012.

Southeast's OVC Tournament Record As:
#2 Seed    5-1
#5 Seed    2-3
#6 Seed    3-5
#7 Seed    1-2
#8 Seed    0-2
Tournament Record    11-13

OVC Tournament Rundown
Southeast meets Jacksonville State in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the first time Thursday After Thursday, the Redhawks will have faced nine of the league's current 11 members in the OVC Tournament. Belmont and SIU Edwardsville are the only other teams Southeast has never 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
Tennessee State (last played in 2017)    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 5-5 all-time at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. All five 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.

Strong Surge
Southeast won eight of its last 12 games. 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.

Cleveland Among Single-Season Scoring Leaders
Antonius Cleveland ranks 18th among Southeast's all-time single-season scoring leaders. Cleveland currently has a career-best 542 points in 32 starts this season. He is the Redhawks top scorer with 16.9 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 1,549 points, 567 rebounds, 241 assists, 157 steals and 76 blocks in 120 games and 108 starts in his outstanding Southeast career. He scored double figures in 47 of his last 50 starts and leads the team with 84 double-digit scoring games, 11 double-doubles and nineteen 20-point performances. Cleveland is ranked among the school's all-time career leaders in points (5th), field goals made (5th, 582), field goals attempted (1,170), free throws made (4th, 323), free throws attempted (3rd, 527), steals (2nd, 159) and starts (1st, 108).

Series History
Jacksonville State leads the all-time series against Southeast by a count of 14-6. The Gamecocks won three of the last four meetings between these teams. JSU beat the Redhawks, 74-62, in Jacksonville on Feb. 1.

Last Time vs. Jacksonville State
Southeast saw a four-game winning streak end at the hands of Jacksonville State when it fell, 74-62, on Feb. 1. Freshman Denzel Mahoney led the Redhawks with 18 points in that contest. Southeast shot 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from the field in the second half, while the Gamecocks hit 55 percent of their shots in the final 20 minutes. The Redhawks also buried 11 three-pointers in the loss.

Games Started
Antonius Cleveland broke Southeast's all-time career record in games started when he took the court for his 108th start against Tennessee State (Mar. 1). Cleveland surpassed Lucas Nutt (106, 2009-14) for the new mark.

Cleveland Advances to Semifinals of Dark Horse Dunker Competition
Southeast Missouri's Antonius Cleveland and St. Bonaventure's Denzel Gregg are battling for votes in the semifinals of the Dark Horse Dunker competition. Both players are in the running to compete in the State Farm College Slam Dunk Championship Final Four weekend in Phoenix. The field, which started at 16 finalists, is now down to four. Semifinals voting is from Mar. 2-Mar. 9. Fans can vote using an interactive bracket by visiting DarkHorseDunker.com. The player with the most votes in each matchup will move on to the Final Four round. Fans can vote once per day on multiple devices (example: computer and phone = 2 votes).

Mahoney in College Court Report Freshman of the Year Contest
Denzel Mahoney was added to the College Court Report Mid-Major Freshman of the Year Contest. Sixty-four of the top freshmen in the country who play for programs outside of the power conferences are in the contest. Fans can vote on social media and online at CollegeCourtReport.com.