Southeast Missouri at South Florida

Game Information
Date: Monday, November 7, 2022
Tip-Off: 7 p.m., CT
Location: Tampa, Fla.
Facility: Yuengling Center
Series: USF leads, 2-0
Head Coaches: Brad Korn (25-34 overall; 25-34 at SEMO; 17-20 OVC). Brian Gregory (313-269 overall; 65-89 at USF; 25-61 AAC).

Follow the Redhawks
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoUSFBulls.com
Twitter: @SEMOMBB
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)

Redhawks Open 2022-23 Season 
Southeast Missouri tips off its 2022-23 season at American Athletic Conference member South Florida Monday. Start time is set for 7 p.m., CT at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen live on the radio at Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will be on the call. Watch on ESPN+. Live stats are available at GoUSFBulls.com and Twitter updates will be provided @SEMOMBB.

Series History
Southeast Missouri and South Florida meet for just the third time in 2022-23. USF holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series. The teams played a home-and-home series in 1994-95 and 1995-96 for the only two meetings of the series. The Bulls won, 75-48, on Mar. 4, 1995 in Tampa and, 67-41, on Jan. 25, 1996 in Cape Girardeau.

Season-Openers
The Redhawks are 12-19 in season-opening games during their NCAA Division I era. Southeast Missouri opens a season away from home for the 16th time in 17 years when it travels to South Florida. SEMO is 2-0 in season-opening games under Head Coach Brad Korn. Both of those wins came outside of Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks have never won three-straight season-openers away from home.

Season 116
Southeast Missouri begins its 16th season of basketball when it heads to the Sunshine State Monday. This year marks SEMO's 32nd as an NCAA Division I program. The Redhawks are 368-539 since joining the Division I ranks in 1991-92. SEMO has a total of eight winning seasons as an NCAA Division I program with its last coming in 2013-14 (18-14).

Starting Five
Phillip Russell, Chris Harris, Nate Johnson, Kobe Clark and Aquan Smart are expected to start Monday's season-opener at South Florida. Russell (30) and Harris (32) have combined for 62 starts in their careers thus far. Meanwhile, Johnson, Clark and Smart make their first career SEMO starts.

Lots of New Faces
Southeast Missouri's 2022-23 roster consists of five returnees and 10 newcomers. Guards Phillip Russell and Dylan Branson are the only returning starters back from a year ago. SEMO added four Division I transfers in Aquan Smart (Florida International), Kobe Clark (Georgetown), Josh Earley (Tulsa) and Gavyn Elkamil (Tulsa). The Redhawks also have a pair of 7-footers with centers David Idada (Netherlands) and Mason Hanback (Jackson, Tenn.) joining the team. Idada, however, is currently not eligible due to NCAA Division I regulations.

Russel and Harris Named Preseason All-OVC
Guards Phillip Russell and Chris Harris earned Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference honors ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. A native of St. Louis, Russell claimed Second-Team All-OVC accolades in his first year at Southeast Missouri in 2021-22. He ranked second on the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game in 30 starts. Russell led the team with 95 assists and 37 steals. He rated ninth in the OVC in scoring, 10th in assists (3.2 apg), 11th in free throw percentage (.733), 12th in steals (1.2 spg), 13th in 3-point field goals made (1.6 per game), 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and 15th in minutes played (30.4 mpg). Harris, who hails from Antioch, Illinois, secured Preseason All-OVC laurels for the second- straight year. He was SEMO's third-leading scorer with 9.4 points per game last season. Harris also ranked second on the team with 76 assists and tied for fourth with 20 steals. He was 13th in the league in assists (2.7 apg), eighth in free throw percentage (.763) and 14th in 3-point field goal percentage (.347).

Redhawks Fourth in OVC Preseason Poll
Southeast Missouri was picked fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll selected by the league's Coaches and Communication Directors. SEMO accumulated a total of 115 points and two first-place votes. Morehead State is the preseason favorite with 138 points and seven first-place nods. Tennessee State (130 pts., 2 first-place votes) and UT Martin (120 pts., 7 first-place votes) were also picked ahead of the Redhawks. SIU Edwardsville (111 pts., 2 first-place votes), Little Rock (102 pts.), Southern Indiana (68 pts.), Tennessee Tech (62 pts.), Eastern Illinois (31 pts.) and Lindenwood (23 pts.) completed the predicted order of finish.

Korn Enters Third Year
Brad Korn has the Southeast Missouri basketball program trending in the right direction entering his third year as head coach in 2022-23. Korn guided SEMO to its first Ohio Valley Conference Tournament semifinal appearance in 17 years and fourth in program history last season. The Redhawks finished fourth in the OVC with an overall record of 14-18 and 8-9 against league foes. SEMO's win total increased by a +3 margin from 11 (2021-22) to 14 (2022-23) victories since Korn took over the helm. Statistically, the Redhawks finished in the top three in the OVC in scoring offense (3rd, 75.6 ppg), free throw percentage (2nd, .732), turnover margin (3rd, +0.41) and 3-point field goals made (1st, .281).

3-Point Precision
The Redhawks led the Ohio Valley Conference with 281 three-pointers made in 2021-22. Southeast Missouri fell just nine 3-pointers made of breaking its program record (289, 2017-18). SEMO brings back two of its top three 3-point shooters in Phillip Russell and Chris Harris. Russell (48) and Harris (35) accounted for 83 made threes.

Return to Florida
Nate Johnson is the only player from Florida on Southeast Missouri's 15-man roster. Johnson will make his first career start in his home state against South Florida Monday. He is in his third year with the Redhawks. Johnson is from Broward County, approximately three hours and 25 minutes from Tampa.

Redhawks Win Two Exhibition Games 
Southeast Missouri went 2-0 in exhibition play with wins over Fontbonne (67-52, Oct. 25) and Aurora University (84-51, Oct. 30). Chris Harris led SEMO in both games with 18 and 15 points, respectively. Phillip Russell also scored double figures in each of those preseason contests.

2022-23 Schedule
Southeast Missouri's 2022-23 schedule includes 31 games with 13 at the Show Me Center. SEMO tips off its third season under Head Coach Brad Korn at South Florida on Nov. 7. The Redhawks start a season in the Sunshine State for the first time in their NCAA Division I era. SEMO last faced a Florida school in 2018-19 (at Florida State). The Redhawks four home non-conference matchups include non-Division I foes Lyon College (Nov. 12) and William Woods (Nov. 22) along with Purdue Fort Wayne (Dec. 7) and longtime rival Southern Illinois (Dec. 21). SEMO and SIU square off for the 120th time on the hardwood in 2022-23, while PFW comes to Cape Girardeau on the back end of a home-and-home series. The rest of the Redhawks non-league games feature trips to Missouri Valley Conference members Evansville (Nov. 16) and Bradley (Nov. 19), SEC opponent and in state foe Missouri (Dec. 4), Arkansas State (Dec. 14) and Big Ten affiliate Iowa (Dec. 17). SEMO also plays three games at the Milwaukee Tournament over Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 26-28). Iowa is the only team on SEMO's 2022-23 schedule that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago. The Hawkeyes went 26-10 over all and finished fourth in the Big Ten. The 2022-23 campaign, which is the 75th year of competition in the Ohio Valley Conference, marks the first in the league for Lindenwood, Little Rock and Southern Indiana who became official members on July 1. They join Eastern Illinois, Morehead State, SEMO, SIU Edwardsville, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin to make up the 10-team league. Each school will play an 18-game schedule which will begin on Thursday, December 29 and conclude on Saturday, February 25. SEMO begins OVC play when at Southern Indiana on Dec. 29. The 2023 OVC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament is slated for March 1-4 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. It marks the sixth year in a row the event will be held at the venue. Each OVC school is eligible to compete and win the OVC Tournament Championship, including Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, who are beginning the reclassification process to Division I. It was previously announced that should a transitioning school win an OVC Tournament Championship, the AQ shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up. Should the tournament runner-up also be a transitioning school, the AQ representative shall be the highest seed going into the tournament. All Conference games and home non-conference contests can be seen on ESPN networks, with the majority of games broadcast on ESPN+. Additional linear exposures on ESPNU and ESPN2 will be announced at a later date.

Up Next
Southeast Missouri plays host to NAIA member Lyon College in its home-opener on Nov. 12. SEMO will then hit the road to face back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference opponents in Evansville (Nov. 16) and Bradley (Nov. 19).