Southeast Missouri (4-18, 0-9 OVC) at Eastern Kentucky (10-12, 7-2 OVC)
Date: February 1, 2020
Tip-Off: 3 p.m., CT
Location: Richmond, Ky.
Arena: McBrayer Arena (6,500)
Series History: EKU leads, 32-19
Last Meeting: EKU 85, SEMO 83 (Jan. 19, 2019 | Richmond, Ky.)
Head Coaches: Rick Ray (84-158 overall; 47-98 at SEMO; 24-53 OVC). A.W. Hamilton (23-30 overall; 23-30 at EKU; 13-14 OVC).
Media Coverage
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: EKUSports.com
Twitter: @SEMOMBB
Southeast Missouri Notes (PDF)
Redhawks Close Out Road Stretch
Southeast Missouri (4-18, 0-9) closes out its four-game road trip when it heads to Eastern Kentucky (10-12, 7-2) Saturday. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m., CT, at McBrayer Arena.
Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to Saturday's game live on the radio at Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will call the action. Video is available at ESPN+. Live stats can be accessed at EKUSports.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOMBB.
Series History
Eastern Kentucky leads its all-time series against Southeast Missouri by a count of 32-19. The Redhawks came up short in their last two trips to Richmond, Kentucky falling by a combined five points -- 91-88 on Feb 22, 2018 and 85-83 on Jan. 19, 2019. EKU won nine of the last 10 meetings between these teams.
January Ends
The Redhawks completed their third month of the season with a 90-74 loss at Morehead State (Jan. 30). Southeast Missouri dropped to 0-9 in January with all of those losses coming in Ohio Valley Conference play.
Looking for First Road Win
Southeast Missouri is 0-12 in true road games this season and has dropped 14-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.
500 in Sight
Both Skyler Hogan and Alex Caldwell are coming up on 500 points in their careers. Hogan enters Saturday's game with 495 points and Caldwell currently stands with 472.
Tolbert Eyes 300
Southeast Missouri's leading rebounder, Sage Tolbert is seven rebounds away from getting 300 in his career. Tolbert has 113 offensive rebounds and 180 defensive boards to date. He is averaging 6.2 rebounds a game this year.
A Look Ahead
After Southeast Missouri finishes its four-game road stretch this week, the Redhawks wrap up their season with five of their final eight games at home. SEMO hosts Jacksonville State (Feb. 6), Tennessee Tech (Feb. 8), UT Martin (Feb. 13) and SIU Edwardsville (Feb. 15) during a four-game home stand after this week's trek to Kentucky.
Caldwell Notches 29 Points
Alex Caldwell poured in a career-high 29 points at Morehead State (Jan. 30), the most points in a game by any Redhawk this season. Caldwell scored 22 of his points in the second half. It was his second-straight game with 20 or more. He boosted his scoring averaged to 12 points per game.
Soaring in the Second Half
Over his last two starts, Alex Caldwell has scored a combined 38 points in the second half for an average of 19 in the game's final 20 minutes. He shot 5-of-11 from the field and scored 16 points in the second half at Eastern Illinois (Jan. 25) and turned around five days later to shoot 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the field and score 22 points in the final stanza at Morehead State (Jan. 30).
Love Debuts in Starting Lineup
Redshirt-freshman Jordan Love made his first career start at Morehead State (Jan. 30). Love scored 14 points, hitting four field goals, two 3-pointers and a perfect 4-of-4 free throws in 29 minutes. He started for the injured DQ Nicholas who was out with a concussion. Nicholas is questionable for Saturday's game at Eastern Kentucky.
Russell Sees Double Again
Nygal Russell came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points at Morehead State (Jan. 30), his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season. Russell shot 6-of-10 from the field with nine of his points coming from 3-point range. He also grabbed three rebounds in 28 minutes.
OVC Member
Southeast Missouri is in its 29th season as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. SEMO first joined the league when it moved to NCAA Division I in 1991-92. The Redhawks are 188-291 all-time in OVC play. SEMO last had a winning OVC record in 2016-17 (9-7).
Coming on Strong
Nygal Russell has played well off the bench in Southeast Missouri's last five games. Russell averaged 10.6 points per game and scored double figures three times in that span.
All Twenty-Two
Guard Skyler Hogan and forward Sage Tolbert are the only two players who have started all 22 games for Southeast Missouri this year. Hogan has made 27-straight starts and Tolbert logged 30-consecutive starts dating back to last season.
Halfway Point
Southeast Missouri is 0-9 midway through its Ohio Valley Conference schedule. SEMO dropped its first nine OVC games in a season for the first time since 2008-09. Opponents are outscoring the Redhawks by a +14.6 margin in OVC play.
About Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Kentucky, currently third in the Ohio Valley Conference, enters the weekend on a four-game winning streak. EKU has heated up to win six of its last seven contests and holds a 7-2 record in league play. Defensively, the Colonels have forced a OVC-best 414 turnovers and lead the league with a +4.6 turnover margin. EKU also tops the OVC with 208 steals for an average of 9.5 per contest. Offensively, the Colonels ranks second among conference foes with 8.7 made 3-pointers per game. Sophomore Jomaru Brown is EKU's top scorer with 19.6 points a game. Brown ranks third among the league's scoring leaders.
