Southeast Missouri (5-7, 0-1 OVC) at Tennessee State (7-4, 1-0 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, December 20, 2025
Tip-Off: 3:30 p.m., CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Facility: Gentry Center (9,100)
Series: Tied, 31-31
Last Meeting: SEMO 89, TSU 87 (OT) | 2/1/25 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Last Meeting in Nashville: SEMO 67, TSU 65 | 1/2/25

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Southeast Missouri Notes | 2025-26 SEMO Basketball Media Guide

Coaches
Southeast Missouri: Brad Korn (79-92 overall; 79-92 at SEMO; 46-48 OVC)
Tennessee State: Nolan Smith (7-4 overall; 7-4 at TSU; 1-0 OVC)

Redhawks Travel to Music City
•    Southeast Missouri (5-7, 0-1) closes out its first Ohio Valley Conference road swing of the season at Tennessee State (7-4, 1-0) Saturday. Tip-off is set for 3:30 p.m., CT at the Gentry Center.
•    SEMO is on the road to start league play for the fourth time in six years with Brad Korn as its head coach.
•    The Redhawks remain in Tennessee to face the Tigers after opening league play with an 85-74loss at Tennessee Tech Thursday.

Series Notes
•    Southeast Missouri and Tennessee State hook up for the 63rd time in the first game of their home-and-home series this year.
•    The all-time series is deadlocked at 31-31 between the teams.
•    SEMO won seven of its last 10 games against the Tigers.
•    The Redhawks swept the series with a pair of two-point victories in 2024-25.
•    SEMO edged TSU, 67-65, in Nashville on Jan. 2 and, 89-87 (OT), in Cape Girardeau on Feb. 1 that season.
•    The Redhawks are 9-19 against TSU at the Gentry Center.

Merry Christmas
•    Saturday's matchup is Southeast Missouri's last game of 2025.
•    SEMO be off for 12 days before returning to action to host Eastern Illinois in its Ohio Valley Conference home-opener on Jan. 1.
•    The Redhawks look to get a win in their final game before Christmas for the second-straight season.
•    SEMO defeated SIU Edwardsville, 80-64, on Dec. 21, 2024.

Korn vs. Tennessee State
•    Brad Korn is 8-3 against Tennessee State as Southeast Missouri's head coach.
•    Korn has defeated TSU and SIU Edwardsville (8-3) the most of any Ohio Valley Conference opponents.
•    Korn's teams beat the Tigers twice in a season in both 2021-22 and 2024-25.

Redhawks Stumble in OVC Opener
•    Southeast Missouri had a double-digit lead late in the first half and led by one at halftime, but dropped an 85-74 decision to Tennessee Tech (Dec. 18).
•    SEMO fell to 12-23 all-time in Ohio Valley Conference openers.
•    The Redhawks are now 2-4 in such games under Head Coach Brad Korn.
•    This year marked only the second time SEMO and Tennessee Tech met to start OVC action.
•    The teams also began OVC play on Dec. 9, 2000. TTU won that game, 70-68, in Cape Girardeau.

Lots of Free Throws
•    Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech combined to shoot 73 free throws in Thursday's conference opener at the Eblen Center.
•    SEMO made a season-high 24-of-31 free throws and TTU hit a season-best 35-of-42.
•    It marked the second time this year where the Redhawks made over 20 free throws in a game. 
•    The other was vs. Lipscomb (23-of-30) on Nov. 29.

First December Loss
•    The Redhawks suffered their first loss in December with their 85-74 defeat at Tennessee Tech (Dec. 18).
•    Southeast Missouri saw its season-long three-game winning streak end in Cookeville.
•    SEMO is 3-1 in December with one game left before the start of 2026.
•    The Redhawks scored 88 points in two of their three December victories (vs. St. Mary of the Woods, Dec. 2; vs. Saint Xavier, Dec. 14). 

Two More
•    Brad Korn is two wins away from moving to second all-time among head coaches in victories during Southeast Missouri's NCAA  Division I era.
•    Korn has won 79 games and currently ranks third on that list behind Gary Garner (126, 1997-2006) and Dickey Nutt (80, 2009-15).
•    Korn led SEMO to 21 wins in 2024-25, its second-most in a season since the Redhawks moved to the Division I level.

About Tennessee State
•    Tennessee State is currently second in the Ohio Valley Conference standings behind Lindenwood.
•    TSU, which is 7-4 overall and 1-0 in OVC play, ranks tied for second in the league in victories.
•    The Tigers took down UT Martin, 78-71, for their OVC-opening win Thursday.
•    TSU is third in the OVC in scoring with 79.3 points per game slightly ahead of Southeast Missouri's 78.0 points per game mark.
•    The Tigers also lead the conference in steals (10.8 spg) and boast the OVC's second-best 3-point defense limiting opponents to 28.7 percent (71-of-247).
•    Travis Harper II is among the league's top scorers ranking sixth with 15 points a game.
•    Aaron Nkrumah leads the OVC with 36 steals and Jalen Pitre is fourth in rebounding (7.0 rpg).
•    TSU is under the direction of first-year Head Coach Nolan Smith. Smith won a national championship as a player at Duke and played two seasons in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers.
•    Smith was previously an assistant coach on Penny Hardaway's staff at Memphis.