Morehead State (9-7, 4-1 OVC) at Southeast Missouri (9-7, 4-1 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, January 11, 2025
Tip-Off: 3:45 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Show Me Center (7,000)
Series: MSU leads, 38-21
Last Meeting: MSU 72, SEMO 50 | 2/29/24 | Morehead, Ky.
Last Meeting in Cape Girardeau: MSU 83, SEMO 64 | 12/31/23

Head Coaches
Morehead State: Jonathan Mattox (9-7 overall; 9-7 at MSU; 4-1 OVC)
Southeast Missouri: Brad Korn (62-80 overall; 62-80 at SEMO; 35-43 OVC)    

Follow the Redhawks
Video: ESPN+  
Live Stats: SEMORedhawks.com
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean, Tom Schuberth)
X: @SEMOMBB
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF) 

Homestand Continues
•    Southeast Missouri continues its three-game homestand when it hosts Morehead State Saturday. Tip-off is set for 3:45 p.m., CT at the Show Me Center.
•    Saturday is Kids Day at the Show Me Center. The first 250 kids age 14 & under will receive a full-size basketball courtesy of The Bank of Missouri. Kids can also hang around after the game to shoot free throws.
•    SEMO's three-game home stand is its second-longest of the season.
•    The Redhawks also host Little Rock on Jan. 14 to close out that stretch.

Series Notes
•    Southeast Missouri and Morehead State hook up for the 60th time.
•    MSU holds a 38-21 advantage in the all-time series between the teams.
•    The teams have split the last six matchups of the series. All three of SEMO's wins in that span were outside of Cape Girardeau.
•    The Redhawks beat the Eagles in Morehead on Feb. 19, 2022 (92-84) and Jan. 14, 2023 (91-86), and eliminated MSU in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Mar. 3, 2023 (65-58) in Evansville, Indiana.
•    MSU won in each of its last four trips to Cape Girardeau.
•    Head Coach Brad Korn is 3-7 all-time against the Eagles. 

Three-Way Tie for First
•    Three teams, including Southeast Missouri (4-1), Morehead State (4-1) and Tennessee Tech (4-1) are tied for first in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
•    TTU is currently the hottest team in the OVC with a five-game winning streak.

Redhawks 4-1 in OVC Play
•    Southeast Missouri began the 2024-25 season with a 3-0 record in Ohio Valley Conference play marking the first time it won three-straight games to start a conference season since 2011-12.
•    SEMO beat Eastern Illinois (79-72, Dec. 19) and SIU Edwardsville (80-64, Dec. 21) at home, Tennessee State (67-65, Jan. 2) on the road and Southern Indiana (77-66,  Jan. 9) at home for its OVC wins.
•    The Redhawks won five of their last six OVC games dating back to last year's season-ending 70-66 victory at Southern Indiana.
•    SEMO's only loss in league play came at UT Martin (66-63, Jan. 4).

Heating Up
•    Southeast Missouri won seven of its last eight games with five of those victories coming in Cape Girardeau.
•    SEMO saw a season-long five-game winning streak end with a three-point (66-63) loss at UT Martin (Jan. 4).
•    The Redhawks have won six in a row at the Show Me Center and finished December undefeated at home (4-0).
•    SEMO is 3-0 at the Show Me Center in conference play.

Season-High in Free Throws
•    The Redhawks made a season-high 25 free throws in their latest win over Southern Indiana (Jan. 9). 
•    Southeast Missouri made 25-of-32 free throws against the Screaming Eagles. 
•    It was the first time SEMO finished with 25 or more made free throws since it went 27-of-33 at the line in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title game vs. Tennessee Tech (Mar. 4, 2023).

Nice Defense
•    Southeast Missouri has held its opponent under 67 points in five-straight games.
•    Opponents averaged just 60 points against the Redhawk defense in that stretch.
•    SEMO (67.5 ppg allowed) is second in the Ohio Valley Conference behind SIU Edwardsville (65.1 ppg allowed) in scoring defense.

About Morehead State
•    Morehead State has won six of its last seven games and is coming off a 59-53 road victory at Little Rock Thursday.
•    MSU is led by Kenny White Jr. and Jerone Morton who are averaging 13.9 and 12.4 points per game, respectively.
•    The Eagles are 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference in both scoring offense and free throw percentage. MSU is averaging under 70 points (69.7) points per game is shooting just 64.2 percent (233-of-363) at the free throw line.
•    MSU is under the director of first-year Head Coach Jonathan Mattox. 

Pulling Rank
•    In Ohio Valley Conference games, Southeast Missouri leads the league scoring offense (73.2 ppg).
•    Overall, SEMO tops the OVC in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.262).
•    The Redhawks are among the top three teams in the conference in scoring defense (2nd, 67.5 ppg allowed), scoring margin (2nd, +6.94), field goal percentage (3rd, .445), 3-point field goal percentage defense (.262), field goal percentage defense (.403), turnover margin (3rd, +2.88), assist/turnover ratio (3rd, 1.27) and defensive rebound percentage (2nd, .736).

Redhawks Second in the Nation Defending the Three
•    Southeast Missouri ranks second in the nation only behind Tennessee in 3-point percentage defense.
•    Opponents are shooting just 26.2 percent from downtown against Southeast Missouri this season.
•    SEMO has held its opponent to five or less 3-pointers made in 10 of its 16 games in 2024-25.
•    There are a total of 355 NCAA Division I basketball teams.