Southeast Missouri (15-14, 10-6 OVC) at Lindenwood (9-20, 4-12 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Thursday, February 23, 2023
Tip-Off: 8 p.m., CT
Location: St. Charles, Mo.
Facility: Hyland Arena (3,270)
Series: SEMO leads, 1-0
Head Coaches: Brad Korn (40-48 overall; 40-48 at SEMO; 27-26 OVC). Kyle Gerdeman (43-62 overall; 43-62 at Lindenwood; 4-12 OVC).

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

Redhawks Head to Lindenwood 
Southeast Missouri (15-14, 10-6) heads to Lindenwood (9-20, 4-12) Thursday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m., CT at Hyland Arena.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen live on the radio at Real Rock 99.3 FM. Rusty Hendricks will be on the call. Video can be accessed at ESPN+. Live stats are available at LindenwoodLions.com and Twitter updates will be provided @SEMOMBB. For tickets, call (573) 651-2113 or purchase online at SEMORedhawks.com/Tickets.

Series History
Thursday marks the second all-time meeting between Southeast Missouri and Lindenwood. SEMO beat the Lions, 94-71, on Jan. 12 in Cape Girardeau. LU officially became a member of the Ohio Valley Conference on July 1, 2022. The Lions begin their reclassification process to the NCAA Division I level in 2022-23. They will be included in OVC regular season schedules and are eligible to compete in OVC Championships. LU will be eligible to earn automatic berths to NCAA Championships beginning in 2026-27, its first full season of full Division I membership.

OVC Tournament Picture
Seven teams have locked up a spot in the eight-team Ohio Valley Conference Tournament field entering the final week of the regular-season. Morehead State, Southeast Missouri, UT Martin, SIU Edwardsville, Southern Indiana, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech are all headed to Evansville, Indiana. Eastern Illinois, Little Rock or Lindenwood will contend for the final spot. MSU has clinched at least a share of the OVC regular-season title.

Striking Distance
Southeast Missouri, currently in a two-way tie for second in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, is in position for one of the league's top two seeds. If SEMO can secure a #1 or #2 seed in the OVC Tournament, it will bypass the first two days to the semifinals on Mar. 3. The Redhawks last went to an OVC Tournament as a #2 seed in 1999-2000. SEMO has never been to an OVC Tournament as a #1 seed.

Korn's Crew
The Redhawks will head to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the third-straight year under Head Coach Brad Korn. In all, Southeast Missouri makes its 18th OVC Tournament appearance in program history. SEMO also made the league's postseason fling in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2022.

10 OVC Wins
With its 85-80 victory over Southern Indiana (Feb. 18), Southeast Missouri picked up its 10th Ohio Valley Conference win of the season. It is the first time in 23 years where SEMO recorded 10 or more conference wins in a season. The Redhawks last went 14-4 during the 1999-2000 campaign. Overall, it is just the fourth time SEMO won 10 or more OVC games in a season in program history. The Redhawks also went 10-8 in 1997-98, 15-3 in 1998-99 and 14-4 in 1999-00.

Winning OVC Record
For the eighth time in program history, the Redhawks claimed a winning season in Ohio Valley Conference play. Southeast Missouri's 10-6 record assured itself its first OVC winning campaign since 2016-17 (9-7). If the Redhawks get two more wins, they will reach their third-most number of conference wins in a season in program history.

Welcome to the Club
Chris Harris, Southeast Missouri's second-leading scorer with 13.8 points a game, recently went over 1,000 career points when he scored 20 vs. Southern Indiana (Feb. 18). Harris now has 1,009 points and is the 25th member of SEMO's 1,000-point club.

Senior Farewell
Seniors Israel Barnes, Nate Johnson and Chris Harris all played their final home game at Southeast Missouri when the Redhawks beat Southern Indiana, 85-80, on Feb. 18. Barnes and Harris each scored double figures with 12 and 20 points, respectively.

OVC Second-Leading Scorer
Southeast Missouri has second-leading scorer in the Ohio Valley Conference. Phillip Russell is averaging 18.4 points per game through 28 starts. He went over 500 points (515) this season. He scored double figures in 27 of his 28 starts. Along the way, Russell had 20 or more points 10 times and 30 or more points on three occasions in 2022-23.

Two-Game Winning Streak
The Redhawks carry a two-game winning streak to Lindenwood Thursday. Southeast Missouri beat Eastern Illinois, 78-64, on Feb. 16 and Southern Indiana, 85-80, on Feb. 18. Both of those games were played in Cape Girardeau. It is the fourth winning streak SEMO has been on this season.

Redhawks Wrap Up Home Slate
Southeast Missouri finished with a 9-4 record at the Show Me Center with wins over Lyon College (83-46, Nov. 12), William Woods (87-49, Nov. 22), SIU Edwardsville (82-73, Dec. 31), Lindenwood (94-71, Jan. 12), Tennessee Tech (84-77 2OT, Jan. 21), Tennessee State (92-75, Jan. 26), Little Rock (99-98, Feb. 2), Eastern Illinois (78-64, Feb. 16) and Southern Indiana (85-80, Feb. 18), and losses to Purdue Fort Wayne (89-68, Dec. 7), Southern Illinois (70-68, Dec. 21), UT Martin (80-60, Jan. 19) and Morehead State (65-59, Feb. 11). SEMO scored over 80 points in nine of its 13 home contests. SEMO's nine wins are presently the most home victories in a season under Head Coach Brad Korn.

Season-High Free Throws
The Redhawks made a season-high 31 free throws in their win over Southern Indiana (Feb. 18). Southeast Missouri shot 31-of-40 at the charity stripe. It was the most free throws SEMO made in a game since shooting 40-of-51 vs. Tennessee State on Jan. 2, 2021.

How Sweep it Is
The Redhawks chalked up their second series sweep of an Ohio Valley Conference opponent with their 78-64 win over Eastern Illinois (Feb. 16). Southeast Missouri also swept Little Rock in two games this season.

On the Road
Southeast Missouri has five true road wins this season. One more will give Brad Korn his most in a season as SEMO's head coach. The Redhawks won three of their last five on the road.

Seventh-Most Threes
The Redhawks have made 240 three- pointers through 29 games this season. That total ranks seventh all-time in Southeast Missouri's single-season history.

High Scoring Redhawks
The Redhawks scored 80 or more points in 11 of their 15 Ohio Valley Conference games. Southeast Missouri surpassed 90 points four times with a 92-75 win over Tennessee State (Jan. 26), 94-71 win vs. Lindenwood (Jan. 12), 91-86 victory at Morehead State (Jan. 14) and a 99-98 win over Little Rock (Feb. 2). SEMO leads the OVC with 80 points per game in league play.

Top of the OVC
Southeast Missouri leads the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring (80.3 ppg) and turnover margin (+2.6) in league games. SEMO scored over 80 points in 11 of its OVC contests. The Redhawks are also forcing a league-high 14.9 turnovers a game in OVC action.

About Lindenwood
Lindenwood has lost 11 of hits last 13 games and enters Thursday's game on a four-game losing skid. LU is one of three teams in the Ohio Valley Conference with 20 losses this season. The Lions are last the OVC in scoring (67.6 ppg), field goal percentage (.426), assists (11.9 apg) and assist/turnover ratio (0.9). Keenon Cole leads LU with 13.1 points per game. The Lions are coached by former Southeast Missouri assistant coach Kyle Gerdeman.