Southeast Missouri (9-9, 4-3 OVC) at Tennessee Tech (9-8, 4-2 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Thursday, January 16, 2025
Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m., CT
Location: Cookeville, Tenn.
Facility: Eblen Center (9,280)
Series: TTU leads, 39-22
Last Meeting: SEMO 88, TTU 69 | 1/13/24 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Last Meeting in Cookeville: TTU 70, SEMO 59 | 1/13/24

Head Coaches
Tennessee Tech: John Pelphrey (209-237 overall; 60-111 at TTU; 38-59 OVC)
Southeast Missouri: Brad Korn (62-82 overall; 62-82 at SEMO; 35-45 OVC)    

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

Redhawks Travel to Tennessee Tech
•    Southeast Missouri heads to Tennessee Tech Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., CT at the Eblen Center.
•    SEMO is on the road in Ohio Valley Conference play for just the third time.
•    Each of the Redhawks first two road OVC contests were decided by a combined five points.
•    SEMO edged Tennessee State, 67-65, on Jan. 2 and dropped a close 63-66 decision at UT Martin on Jan. 4.
•    Thursday marks the beginning of a three-game road stretch for the Redhawks. SEMO is 2-5 in true road matchups this season.

Series Notes
•    Southeast Missouri meets Tennessee Tech for the 62nd time Thursday.
•    TTU holds a 39-22 lead in the all-time series between the teams.
•    SEMO is 5-26 at the Eblen Center and is looking to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Golden Eagles in Cookeville.
•    The last time the Redhawks beat TTU at the Eblen Center was Jan. 18, 2014 (83-74).
•    SEMO and TTU split their home-and-home series each of the last three seasons with the home team winning all of those games.
•    Brad Korn is 4-4 against TTU as head coach.
•    Korn's 2022-23 team beat the Golden Eagles, 89-82, in overtime to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

OVC Update 
•    The Redhawks are looking to bounce back from two-straight Ohio Valley Conference losses. 
•    Southeast Missouri fell to Morehead State, 67-56, on Jan. 11 and Little Rock, 73-71, on Jan. 14. Both of those games were in Cape Girardeau.
•    Morehead State (5-1) is at the top of the league standings, while SIU Edwardsville (4-2), Little Rock (4-2) and Tennessee Tech (4-2) are locked in a three-way tie for second.
•    SEMO is next in the standings with a 4-3 mark.
•    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 eight OVC games dating back to last year's season-ending 70-66 victory at Southern Indiana.

Six of Nine
•    Southeast Missouri won six 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 3-2 at the Show Me Center in conference play.

Nice Defense
•    Southeast Missouri has held its opponent under 70 points in six of its last seven games.
•    SEMO (67.8 ppg allowed) is second in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring defense behind SIU Edwardsville (64.7 ppg allowed).
•    SIUE's 64 points are the fewest scored by a Division I opponent against SEMO this season.

200 Assists in Sight
•    Point guard Rob Martin is 21 assists away from reaching 200 in his career.
•    Martin leads Southeast Missouri and ranks fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference with 73 assists through 18 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 three games.
•    Martin scored 15 points against Southern Indiana (Jan. 9) and followed that up with 21 vs. Morehead State (Jan. 11) and 19 vs. Little Rock (Jan. 14).
•    He is SEMO's second-leading scorer with 11.5 points per game through 18 starts this season.
•    Martin finished as the Redhawks top scorer a total of five times in 2024-25.
•    Thursday will mark Martin's 50th career game as a Redhawk.

About Tennessee Tech
•    Tennessee Tech is one of two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference with undefeated home records this season. 
•    The Golden Eagles are 6-0 at the Eblen Center.
•    TTU leads the OVC in assists with 15.8 per game. The Golden Eagles also top the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.3).
•    Rodney Johnson, Jr. is TTU's leading scorer with 14.5 points per game. Johnson, Jr. is 11th among the OVC's individual scorers.
•    Jaylon Johnson is the OVC leader with 83 assists.

Redhawks Fall in Final Seconds to Little Rock
•    Johnathan Lawson made a game-winning jumper with 1.1 seconds left to allow Little Rock to escape with a 73-71 win over Southeast Missouri Tuesday.
•    SEMO trailed, 63-53, when it put together a 13-6 run down the stretch.
•    Rob Martin made two free throws before stealing the ball and scoring on a jumper in the paint to close LR's lead to 69-66 with 57 seconds left.
•    SEMO was down three again following two free throws by Braxton Stacker.
•    Tuongthach Gatkek later missed two free throws and BJ Ward splashed in a 3-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 71-71 with 11 seconds on the clock.
•    After Lawson buried his shot, SEMO had one last chance, but Martin's halfcourt heave came off the back of the rim.

Close Games
•    Southeast Missouri has been involved in four game decided by four or less points in 2024-25.
•    Three of those matchups came in Ohio Valley Conference play -- won, 67-65, at Tennessee State (Jan. 2); lost, 66-63, at UT Martin (Jan. 4); lost, 73-71, vs. Little Rock (Jan. 14).
•    SEMO is 2-2 in games decided by four or less points. 

OVC Leader in Turnover Margin
•    The Redhawks are first in the Ohio Valley Conference with a +3.17 turnover margin.
•    Southeast Missouri committing a league low 10.7 turnovers per game while forcing 13.9.
•    SEMO turned the ball over less than 10 times a total of seven games this season.

Pulling Rank
•    In Ohio Valley Conference games, Southeast Missouri leads the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.23).
•    Overall, SEMO is first in the OVC in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.274).
•    The Redhawks are among the top three teams in the conference in scoring defense (2nd, 67.8 ppg allowed), scoring margin (3rd, +5.44), free throw percentage (3rd, .699), 3-point field goal percentage defense (1st, .274), turnover margin (1st, +3.17), assist/turnover ratio (2nd, 1.26) and rebounding defense (3rd, 35.5 rpg).

Redhawks Fourth in the Nation Defending the Three
•    Southeast Missouri ranks fourth in the nation in 3-point percentage defense behind Tennessee (.248), Rhode Island (.270) and Cincinnati (.271).
•    Opponents are shooting just 27.4 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.