Southeast Missouri (3-7) at #5 Ohio State (9-1)

Date: Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Tip-Off: 6 p.m., CT
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Arena: Value City Arena (19,049)
Series History: First Meeting
Head Coaches: Rick Ray (83-147 overall; 46-87 at SEMO; 24-44 OVC). Chris Holtmann (168-110 overall; 54-25 at OSU).

Media Coverage
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
TV: Big Ten Network (Brandon Gaudin, Andy Katz)
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Twitter: @SEMOMBB
Southeast Missouri Notes

Redhawks Head to Ohio
Southeast Missouri (3-7) completes its two-game Ohio road swing with a trip to #5 Ohio State (9-1) Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m., CT, at Value City Arena.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to Tuesday's game live on the radio at Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will call the action. The game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network with Brandon Gaudin and Andy Katz as the commentators. Live stats can be accessed at OhioStateBuckeyes.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOMBB.

Redhawks vs. Ranked Opponents
The Redhawks are 0-14 all-time against ranked opponents. #5 Ohio State is the highest ranked opponent Southeast Missouri faces. Seven of the Redhawks matchups were against Top-10 foes. SEMO's highest ranked opponent prior to this year was #6 Illinois on Dec. 28, 2005.
at #21 Cincinnati (12/11/92)    L, 58-83
at #6 Missouri (2/23/94)    L, 61-83
at #21 Illinois (12/8/95)    L, 70-89
vs. #6 Cincinnati (1/7/97)    L, 57-80
vs. #10 LSU* (3/16/00)    L, 61-64
at #20 Creighton (12/29/02)    L, 70-93
at #6 Illinois (12/28/05)    L, 64-89
at #25 Missouri (11/11/11)    L, 68-83
at #9 Murray State (2/2/12)    L, 73-81
vs. #14 Murray State (2/15/12)    L, 66-75
at #7 Kansas (11/9/12)    L, 55-74
at #11 Missouri (12/4/12)    L, 65-81
at #10 Indiana (12/4/16)    L, 55-83
at #10 Florida State (12/17/18)    L, 68-85
* - NCAA Tournament

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Big Ten Conference member Ohio State meet for the first time Tuesday. The  Redhawks visit Columbus for their seventh-straight road game.

Against the Big Ten
The Redhawks are 0-9 all-time against Big Ten opponents. Southeast Missouri last faced a Big Ten foe on Dec. 4, 2016 when it fell to then-#10 Indiana, 83-55. SEMO's records vs. Big Ten opponents:
vs. Illinois    0-3
vs. Indiana    0-1
vs. Iowa    0-1
vs. Nebraska    0-1
vs. Purdue    0-2
vs. Wisconsin    0-1

TV Exposure
Southeast Missouri plays on television for the first time this season when it faces Ohio State on the Big Ten Network. SEMO is presently 1-5 in televised games under head coach Rick Ray -- 1-1 on CBS Sports Network; 0-2 on American Sports Network; 0-1 on Big Ten Network; 0-1 on ESPN2.

Redhawks Fall at Youngstown State
The Redhawks dropped their third-straight game and fifth in their last six contests at Youngstown State Sunday. Southeast Missouri scored a season-low 50 points in its 65-60 loss. The Redhawks struggled at the free throw line to a season-low 21.4 percent on 3-of-14 attempts. 

Big Time Atmosphere
Southeast Missouri will play in Value City Arena when it faces Ohio State. Value City Arena has a seating capacity of 19,049 and is the largest arena in the Big Ten Conference. It also ranks as the ninth largest arena in all of college basketball behind Syracuse's Carrier Dome (34,616), Kentucky's Rupp Arena (23,000), Louisville's KFC Yum! Center (22,090), North Carolina's Dean Smith Center (21,750), Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678), Georgetown's Capital One Arena (20.356), St. John's Madison Square Garden (19.812) and North Carolina State's PNC Arena (19,722). No SEMO basketball team has played in a bigger venue prior to this year.

Big Ten Connection
Rick Ray spent four years as an assistant coach under Matt Painter at Purdue from 2006-10. Purdue made the NCAA Tournament all four of those seasons. The Boilermakers were a combined 103-37 overall when Ray was an assistant coach.

Life on the Road
Southeast Missouri continues its rugged eight-game road stretch when it heads to Ohio State. The Redhawks are searching for their first true road win of the season. SEMO is 0-5 in such games and has dropped seven-straight road contests dating back to last year. The Redhawks last road win was an 88-79 victory at Eastern Illinois on Feb. 16, 2019. It is SEMO's longest road stretch in a season in school history.

Current Road Trip
The Redhawks, who are on the road for over a month, hold a 1-5 record during their stretch which began on Nov. 27. Southeast Missouri went 1-2 at the Cable Car Classic in Santa Clara, California and lost at Abilene Christian (74-63, Dec. 5), Drake (78-73, Dec. 7) and Youngstown State (65-50, Dec. 15). SEMO's lone win came against Denver (66-51, Nov. 30) at a neutral site in California.

Agnew Cracks Starting Lineup
East Mississippi Community College transfer Darrious Agnew scored double figures in each of his first two career starts at Southeast Missouri. Agnew scored 11 points and had four rebounds in his first start at Drake (Dec. 7). Eight days later, he scored a season-high 17 points and pulled down six rebounds at Youngstown State (Dec. 15).

Gable Back in Home State
Forward Isaiah Gable is the only player from Ohio on Southeast Missouri's roster. Gable scored 10 points off the bench and drained a season-best three 3 pointers at Youngstown State (Dec. 15) in the return to his home state. He is from Greenville, Ohio which is just under 100 miles from Columbus.

In the Buckeye State
The Redhawks have played eight of the 13 NCAA Division I schools in Ohio during their basketball history. Southeast Missouri is 2-11 all-time against those institutions. After facing Ohio State, Akron, Kent State, Ohio University and Wright State will be the other Ohio teams remaining that SEMO has never played. 
vs. Bowling Green    0-2
vs. Cincinnati    0-2
vs. Cleveland State    1-1
vs. Dayton    0-1
vs. Miami (Ohio)    1-1
vs. Toledo    0-1
vs. Xavier    0-2
vs. Youngstown State    0-1

Ray vs. Ohio Schools
Rick Ray is 0-3 all-time against Ohio schools during his coaching career. All of those matchups came with Ray as head coach at Southeast Missouri. The Redhawks lost at Dayton (84-53) on Nov. 13, fell to Bowling Green (79-52) at home on Dec. 8 and lost at Youngstown State (65-50) on Dec. 15.

3-Point Difference
Southeast Missouri has made 54 three-pointers through nine games. The Redhawks are averaging 5.4 three-pointers per contest and made 31.8 percent (54-of-170) for a ninth-place ranking in the Ohio Valley Conference. Opponents have made 79 threes and hold a 237-162 (+75) advantage in points behind the 3-point line.

About Ohio State
Ohio State suffered its first loss of the season at Minnesota, 84-71, on Dec. 15. OSU leads the nation in scoring margin with a +22.3 mark. The Buckeyes are also sixth in the country in field goal percentage defense (.354), 12th in scoring defense (.576) and 13th in 3-point field goal percentage (.408). Kaleb Wesson leads OSU in scoring with 13.9 points per game. Duane Washington Jr., who did not play against Minnesota, follows with 11.4 and D.J. Carton is scoring 10.8 points per contest. The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten with 93 three-pointers made.