Southeast Missouri at Vanderbilt

Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Tip-Off: 7 p.m., CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Arena: Memorial Gymnasium (14,316)
Series History: Vanderbilt leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Vanderbilt 76, SEMO 71 (Dec. 5, 2001 / Nashville, Tenn.)
Head Coaches: Rick Ray (81-140 overall; 44-80 at SEMO; 24-44 OVC). Jerry Stackhouse (First Season)

Media Coverage
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
Video: SEC Network+/WatchESPN
Live Stats: VUCommodores.com
Twitter: @SEMOMBB
Southeast Missouri Notes

Redhawks Open Season This Week
Southeast Missouri opens its season at Southeastern Conference member Vanderbilt Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., CT, at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to Wednesday's game live on the radio at Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will call the action. The game will air live on SEC Network+/Watch ESPN. Live stats can be accessed online at VUCommodores.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOMBB.

SEC Ties
Former Mississippi State and current Southeast Missouri head coach Rick Ray is 2-3 all-time against Vanderbilt. Ray coaches against a Southeastern Conference opponent for the second time as the Redhawks head coach. The last time Ray faced a SEC foe was on Dec. 12, 2015 -- lost to Ole Miss, 75-64, in Cape Girardeau. Ray coached three years at Mississippi State before being hired as SEMO's head coach on Apr. 13, 2015.

Ray in the SEC
Rick Ray is 15-45 all-time against SEC opponents. His last win against a SEC member was on Mar. 7, 2015 in Starkville, Mississippi (beat Missouri, 52-43). Ray's best coaching record against a SEC school is 3-2 vs. Auburn.  

SEMO vs. the SEC
Southeast Missouri is looking to snap a 21-game losing streak against SEC opponents. SEMO enters Wednesday's game with a 1-21 record in such games. The Redhawks only win over a SEC foe came in 1924-25 (28-21 vs. Arkansas). Here are SEMO's records against SEC teams.
Arkansas    1-8
LSU    0-1
Mississippi    0-2
Mississippi State    0-1
Missouri    0-8
Vanderbilt    0-1

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Vanderbilt meet for just the second time. The teams last squared off 18 years ago. Vanderbilt holds a 1-0 edge in the series after beating SEMO, 76-71, in Nashville, Tennessee on Dec. 5, 2001. 

OVC vs. SEC
The Ohio Valley Conference has a 13-game losing streak against the SEC entering the 2019-20 season. The OVC's last win came against Vanderbilt when Belmont beat the Commodores, 69-60, on Nov. 13, 2017. The OVC went 0-9 against SEC teams a year ago.

Redhawks Beat Lincoln in Exhibition Play
Quatarrius Wilson turned in a double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Sage Tolbert and Alex Caldwell each added 12 points to lead Southeast Missouri to a 73-56 exhibition win over Lincoln University on Nov. 2. SEMO shot just under 50 percent (49.1) from the field and outrebounded LU by a +18 margin (48-30). The Redhawks opened the game on a 17-3 run and never looked back against the NCAA Division II Blue Lions.

Season 113
Southeast Missouri begins its 113th season of basketball when it faces Vanderbilt Wednesday. This year marks SEMO's 29th as an NCAA Division I program. The Redhawks are 336-481 all-time at the Division I level. SEMO joined the Division I ranks in 1991-92.

Redhawks in Season-Openers
The Redhawks are 10-18 in season-opening games during their NCAA Division I era. Southeast Missouri opens a season on the road for the 13th time in 14 years. Rick Ray is 1-3 in season-openers as SEMO's head coach. The Redhawks have never opened their season with a road win in 28 years as a Division I program.

Welcome to Division I Basketball
Five of the 15 players on Southeast Missouri's 2019-20 roster make their NCAA Division I debuts this season. Jordan Love, Chris Harris, Evan Morrison, Jakob Medina and Darrious Agnew form that group. Love redshirted as a true freshman in 2018-19. Harris (John A. Logan College) and Agnew (East Mississippi CC) are both junior college transfers, and Morrison and Medina are walk-ons.

Owens and Crump Join Coaching Staff
Southeast Missouri added assistant coaches Tarrance Crump and Jason Owens to its staff in June. Crump spent three years as an assistant coach at fellow Ohio Valley Conference member SIU Edwardsville (2016-18). SEMO head coach Rick Ray coached Crump when he was a student-athlete at Purdue. Owens joined the Redhawks after working two years as an assistant coach on Kim Anderson's staff at Pittsburg State.

Worth Noting
Of the 353 NCAA Division I men's basketball programs in the nation and discounting the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Southeast Missouri is one of only five programs that have full-time coaching staffs comprised entirely of African-Americans. SEMO joins Georgetown, North Carolina State, Houston and Detroit Mercy

Ready to Go
McNeese State transfer forward Quatarrius Wilson sets to make his Southeast Missouri debut in 2019-20. Wilson sat out the 2018-19 season due to NCAA Division I transfer regulations. He had surgery on his right thumb in early July and missed six weeks before returning to the court in mid-August. Wilson earned Third-Team All-Southland Conference honors after averaging a double-double 10.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in 28 starts for McNeese State in 2017-18. Wilson was projected to be a Second-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection in Athlon Sports' preseason picks.

Starting Five
Guards Alex Caldwell, Skyler Hogan and DQ Nicholas, and forwards Quatarrius Wilson and Sage Tolbert are expected to start Southeast Missouri's season-opener at Vanderbilt. Hogan, Caldwell and Tolbert each had starting experience a year ago. Hogan is SEMO's top returning scorer after finishing the 2018-19 campaign second on the team with 10.6 points a game. Caldwell was behind Hogan with 8.7 points per contest in 24 games and five starts, while Tolbert was the team's second-leading rebounder (5.0 rpg). Wednesday marks the first career start in a Redhawk uniform for Wilson and Nicholas.

Ray Enters Fifth Year
Rick Ray enters his fifth year as head coach at Southeast MIssouri. The Redhawks finished their 2018-19 season with an overall record of 10-21 and 5-13 Ohio Valley Conference mark. Prior to his first head coaching job at Mississippi State, Ray made the NCAA Tournament as an assistant coach with three different programs, including Purdue, Clemson and Indiana State.

Returning Scorers
Southeast Missouri brings back three of its top four scorers from last season. Skyler Hogan (10.6 ppg), Alex Caldwell (8.7 ppg) and Isaiah Gable (8.1 ppg) ranked second, third and fourth on the team in 2018-19, respectively. The trio accounted for 35 percent of the Redhawks scoring output.

Roster Makeup
The Redhawks 2019-20 roster consists of 15 players, including two seniors, six juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen. Southeast Missouri has a total of six newcomers on this year's squad. SEMO's roster is comprised of players from nine different states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina).

OVC Top-Five
The Redhawks ranked among the top-five in the Ohio Valley Conference in five categories a year ago. Southeast Missouri was second in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.320), third in 3-point field goals made (8.6 per game), fourth in both 3-point field goal percentage (.370) and defensive rebounding percentage (.717), and fifth in defensive rebounds (25.7 rpg).

About Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt enters the 2019-20 campaign under first-year head coach Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse took over as head coach in April. He previously served as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies. Stackhouse appeared in 970 games (564 starts) for eight teams during his 18 year NBA career and averaged 16.9 points, 3.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 31.2 minutes. A two-time All-Star with the Detroit Pistons (2000, 2001), Stackhouse posted career highs of 29.8 points (second in the NBA) during the 2000-01 season, leading the league in total points and free throws made. He reached the 2006 NBA Finals as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. The Commodores are coming off a 9-23 overall record and 0-18 finish in the SEC in 2018-19. Saben Lee (12.7 ppg) and Aaron Nesmith (11 ppg) are the top returning scorers for VU. Scotty Pippen Jr. is a freshman on the Commodores roster. He is the son of Scottie Pippen, who played 17 seasons in the NBA and won six NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls. Pippen was named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.