Little Rock (9-7, 3-2 OVC) at Southeast Missouri (9-8, 4-2 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Facility: Show Me Center (7,000)
Series: LR leads, 5-3
Last Meeting: LR 83, SEMO 61 | 2/22/24 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Head Coaches
Little Rock: Darrell Walker (136-124 overall; 91-106 at LR; 53-58 OVC)
Southeast Missouri: Brad Korn (62-81 overall; 62-81 at SEMO; 35-44 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) 

Redhawks Host Little Rock
•    Southeast Missouri concludes its three-game homestand against Little Rock Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., CT at the Show Me Center.
•    Replica basketball jerseys will be given to the first 1,500 fans.
•    The Redhawks current three-game homestand is their second-longest of the year.
•    SEMO split its first two games of the homestand beating Southern Indiana, 77-66, on Jan. 9 and falling to Morehead State, 67-56, on Jan. 11.
•    The Redhawks' seven home wins are tied for the most in the OVC in 2024-25.

Series Notes
•    Tuesday marks the ninth meeting between Southeast Missouri and Little Rock.
•    Little Rock is in its third year as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference after initially joining the league in 2022-23.
•    LR holds a 5-3 lead in the all-time series.
•    SEMO is 2-2 against the Trojans at the Show Me Center.
•    The Trojans shared the OVC regular-season title with Morehead State and UT Martin in 2023-24. LR then lost to MSU in the OVC Tournament final.
•    Brad Korn is 2-2 against the Trojans as the Redhawks head coach.

Redhawks Tied for Second in OVC
•    The Redhawks fell to their first Ohio Valley Conference home loss of the season when they dropped a 67-56 decision to Morehead State (Jan. 11).
•    Southeast Missouri is in a three-way tie for second in the conference standings behind Morehead State (5-1). 
•    SEMO, SIU Edwardsville and Tennessee Tech have identical 4-2 league records.
•    The Redhawks began the 2024-25 season with a 3-0 record in OVC play marking the first time they 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 this year.
•    The Redhawks won five of their last seven OVC games dating back to last year's season-ending 70-66 victory at Southern Indiana.

Seven of Nine
•    Southeast Missouri won seven of its last nine 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 had a six-game home winning streak until their 67-56 loss to Morehead State (Jan. 11).
•    SEMO is 3-1 at the Show Me Center in conference play.

Nice Defense
•    Southeast Missouri has held its opponent under 70 points in six-straight games.
•    Opponents averaged just 61 points against the Redhawk defense in that stretch.
•    SEMO (67.5 ppg allowed) is second in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring defense behind SIU Edwardsville (64.7 ppg allowed).

200 Assists in Sight
•    Point guard Rob Martin is 23 assists away from reaching 200 in his career.
•    Martin leads Southeast Missouri and ranks fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference with 69 assists through 17 games this season.
•    He averages four assists per game and has dished out five or more a total of five times.
•    Martin finished with a career-high nine assists in SEMO's OVC opener against Eastern Illinois (Dec. 19).
•    Jonathan Dalton was the last Redhawk to get 200 or more assists in a career (315, 2016-19).

Martin Leads the Way
•    Rob Martin led Southeast Missouri in scoring each of the last two games.
•    Martin scored 15 points against Southern Indiana (Jan. 9) and followed that up with a game-high 21 vs. Morehead State (Jan. 11).
•    He is SEMO's second-leading scorer with 11.1 points per game through 17 starts this season.
•    Martin finished as the Redhawks top scorer a total of four times in 2024-25.

About Little Rock
•    Little Rock ended a two-game losing streak with a 78-58 win over Southern Indiana Sunday.
•    LR is last in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring offense averaging just 68.2 points per game this season.
•    Defensively, the Trojans lead the league in field goal percentage defense with opponents shooting only 37.6 percent against them.
•    LR has the second-best 3-point field goal percentage defense (.286) behind Southeast Missouri and leads the OVC with 79 blocks.
•    Johnathan Lawson and Mwani Wilkinson are tied for ninth in the OVC in scoring with 14.8 points per game. Wilkinson is also the league's top shot blocker with 27 in 2024-25.
•    Tuongthach Gatkek, who ranks second on the team with 18 swats, returns Tuesday after serving a three-game suspension.

Pulling Rank
•    In Ohio Valley Conference games, Southeast Missouri leads the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.24).
•    Overall, SEMO tops the OVC in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.266).
•    The Redhawks are among the top three teams in the conference in scoring defense (2nd, 67.5 ppg allowed), scoring margin (3rd, +5.88), field goal percentage (3rd, .443), 3-point field goal percentage defense (1st, .266), field goal percentage defense (3rd, .407), turnover margin (2nd, +2.94), assist/turnover ratio (2nd, 1.27) and defensive rebound percentage (2nd, .727).

Redhawks Second in the Nation Defending the Three
•    Southeast Missouri ranks second in the nation only behind Tennessee (.248) in 3-point percentage defense.
•    Opponents are shooting just 26.6 percent from downtown against Southeast Missouri this season.
•    SEMO has held its opponent to five or less 3-pointers made in 11 of its 17 games in 2024-25.
•    There are a total of 355 NCAA Division I basketball teams.