Southeast Missouri (19-10, 14-4 OVC) vs. SIU Edwardsville (19-10, 12-6 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025
Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m., CT
Location: Edwardsville, Ill.
Facility: First Community Arena (4,000)
Series: SEMO leads, 28-14
Last Meeting: SEMO 80, SIUE 64 | 12/21/24 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Last Meeting in Edwardsville: SIUE 80, SEMO 76 | 2/17/24

Head Coaches
Southeast Missouri: Brad Korn (72-83 overall; 72-83 at SEMO; 45-46 OVC) 
SIU Edwardsville: Brian Barone (71-96 overall; 71-96 at SIUE; 35-57 OVC)

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Live Stats: SIUECougars.com
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X: @SEMOMBB
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF) 

Final Swing
•    Southeast Missouri hits the road for its final two-game stretch of the season. SEMO first heads to SIU Edwardsville Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., CT at First Community Arena.
•    SEMO wraps up its 20-game Ohio Valley Conference slate this week at SIUE (Feb. 27) and Eastern Illinois (Mar. 1).
•    The Redhawks carry a four-game road winning streak to Edwardsville, Illinois Thursday.
•    A victory Thursday will give SEMO its longest road winning streak during its NCAA Division I era.

Series Notes
•    Southeast Missouri holds a 28-14 lead in its all-time series against SIU Edwardsville.
•     SEMO is 9-9 against the Cougars in Edwardsville.
•     The Redhawks are 8-2 in their previous 10 meetings with the Cougars.
•    SEMO goes for the series sweep of SIUE after beating the Cougars, 80-64, in Cape Girardeau on Dec. 21.
•    The Redhawks are 2-2 in their last four trips to First Community Arena.
•     SEMO is 7-2 all-time vs. SIUE under Head Coach Brad Korn.

2024-25 OVC Champions
•    With its 74-58 win over Lindenwood (Feb. 22) and SIU Edwardsville's 82-68 road loss to Southern Indiana, Southeast Missouri clinched at least a share of the 2024-25 Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title.
•    SEMO won its second OVC regular-season championship in program history and first in 25 years (last was 1999-2000).
•    The Redhawks also claimed a double bye in the eight-team OVC Tournament.
•    SEMO can win its first-ever outright OVC regular-season championship and lock up the #1 seed in the OVC Tournament with one win this week.

OVC Tournament Scenarios
•    The eight reams who will compete in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament have already been decided and include Southeast Missouri, Lindenwood, Little Rock, Morehead State, SIU Edwardsville, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin.
•    SEMO will be either the #1 or #2 seed.
•    SIUE has claimed the #3 seed and Little Rock could finish as high as #1 and as low as #4.
•    This year will be the Redhawks fourth OVC Tournament appearance in five years under Head Coach Brad Korn.
•    The 2024-25 season could be the first time SEMO is a #1 seed in its OVC Tournament history. 
•    The Redhawks have never been higher than a #2 seed in their previous 18 OVC Tournament appearances.
•    This year's OVC Tournament will be played Mar. 5-8 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
•    SEMO will play in the semifinals at 7 p.m. (if #1 seed) or 9:30 p.m., CT (if #2 seed) on Friday, Mar. 7.

Two Games to Go
•    The Redhawks are 14-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play with just games left.
•    Southeast Missouri is undefeated at 8-0 in the second half of league action with home wins over UT Martin (90-79, Jan. 30), Tennessee State (89-87, Feb. 1), Tennessee Tech (83-69, Feb. 15), Western Illinois (87-66, Feb. 20) and Lindenwood (74-58, Feb. 22), and road victories at Morehead State (80-51, Feb. 6), Southern Indiana (79-74, Feb. 8) and Little Rock (57-45, Feb. 11).     

19 Wins
•    With its 74-58 win over Lindenwood (Feb. 22), SEMO picked up its 19th victory of the season.
•    That win matched the most in a season under Head Coach Brad Korn who also led the 2022-23 team to 19 victories (19-17).
•    Both of Korn's 19-win SEMO teams won an OVC title. 
•    The 2022-23 team was a #5 seed and won four games in four days to claim the OVC Tournament crown and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
•    Two years later, Korn's 2024-25 team was 10-10 midway through the season when it ripped off nine-straight wins to garner at least a share of the OVC regular-season title.
•    One more victory will give SEMO its first 20-win season in 25 years (24-7, 1999-2000) and only its third in program history during the school's NCAA Division I era. SEMO's other 20-win season was in 1998-99 (20-9).
•    SEMO now has two winning seasons with Korn as its head coach.

14 Conference Victories
•    The Redhawks' 14 Ohio Valley Conference victories are their most in a season with Brad Korn at the helm.
•    The 14 league wins are tied for second-most in program with the 1999-2000 (14-4) team.
•    One more OVC win will tie SEMO's program record of 15 conference wins in 1998-99 (15-3).
•    Southeast Missouri reached double-digit conference wins for the fifth time in program history.
•    It is also the second time in three years where SEMO won 10 or more OVC games under Korn.
•    The Redhawks conference seasons with 10 or more wins include 1997-98 (10-8), 1998-99 (15-3), 1999-00 (14-4), 2022-23 (10-8) and 2024-25 (14-4).
•    SEMO is 15-4 in its previous 19 conference games dating back to last year's season-ending 70-66 win at Southern Indiana.
•    The Redhawks have not lost an OVC game since Jan. 23 (72-68, at Lindenwood).
•    SEMO began the 2024-25 season with a 3-0 record in OVC play marking the first time it won three-straight games to start a conference season since 2011-12.
•    The Redhawks won only four OVC contests in 2023-24.

What a Turnaround
•    The Redhawks went from finishing 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference and missing the league's postseason tournament in 2023-24 to winning at least a share of the OVC regular-season title and getting a double bye in the league's postseason tournament.
•    Southeast Missouri was 9-22 overall and 4-14 a year ago.
•    This season, the Redhawks are 19-10 and 14-4 with three regular-season games left.
•    In terms of wins, SEMO's +10 margin is its biggest one-year turnaround since the Redhawks went from going 5-24 in 2015-16 to 15-18 in 2016-17 (+10).
•    In OVC play, the Redhawks' +10 jump in wins is their best one-year turnaround in conference play in program history.
•    Another win will give SEMO its biggest turnaround in program history with a +11 increase in the win column.

Record Winning Streak in NCAA Division I Era
•    Southeast Missouri remains the hottest team in the Ohio Valley Conference.
•    With its 74-58 win over Lindenwood (Feb. 22), SEMO extended its winning streak to nine games.
•    SEMO is one of seven teams in the nation on winning streaks of nine or more games in NCAA Division I basketball.
•    Yale (12 games), High Point (10 games), Central Connecticut State (10 games), UC San Diego (9 games), Chattanooga (9 games) and Montana (9 games) are the others.
•    The nine-game winning streak is the longest in SEMO's NCAA Division I era. This year's team surpassed the 2004-05 squad for the record. The 2004-05 team previously won seven in a row.
•    It is also the Redhawks' longest OVC winning streak of all-time.
•    The Redhawks are 7-0 in February alone.
•    SEMO began its current winning streak with a 72-51 road victory at Western Illinois (Jan. 25).
•    A victory Thursday, will give the Redhawks their first 10-game winning streak since the 1989-90 team won 11 games in a row under then-Head Coach Ron Shumate.
•    SEMO joined the NCAA Division I ranks in 1991-92.

Korn  Ranks Second in OVC Wins
•    Brad Korn picked up his 42nd Ohio Valley Conference win when Southeast Missouri beat Little Rock, 57-45, on Feb. 11.
•    With that win, Korn surpassed Dickey Nutt (41-59) for second all-time among SEMO head coaches in OVC wins.
•    Korn is second only to Gary Garner (73-81) in that category with his 45-46 record in OVC games.

Road Show
•    Southeast Missouri needs just one more road win to secure a winning record in true away games this season.
•    If that happens, SEMO will get its first winning record on the road in 25 years.
•    The Redhawks have gone 24-straight seasons with a losing record on the road.
•    SEMO is currently 7-6 away from home with trips to SIU Edwardsville (Feb. 27) and Eastern Illinois (Mar. 1) remaining.
•    The Redhawks last winning road record was 7-5 in 1999-2000.
•    SEMO is on a four-game road winning streak.
•    A win Thursday would give the Redhawks their longest road winning streak in their NCAA Division I era.

Strong at Home
•    Brad Korn finished with a winning record at home for the fifth-straight year as Southeast Missouri's head coach.
•    After SEMO's 74-58 win over Lindenwood (Feb. 22), Korn improved to 44-25 all-time at the Show Me Center.
•    The Redhawks went 7-6 (2020-21), 8-5 (2021-22), 9-4 (2022-23), 8-7 (2023-24) and 12-3 (2024-25) at home with Korn as head coach.
•    SEMO's 12-3 record in Cape Girardeau this season marked the best under Korn.
•    The 12 home victories are the Redhawks most in a season since the 1999-2000 team went 14-1.
•    SEMO's 12 home wins are currently the most in the Ohio Valley Conference this season.
•    The Redhawks played in front of their largest home crowd (3,920) during their final home game of the season vs. Lindenwood (Feb. 22).

Last 20 Games
•    The Redhawks are 16-4 in their last 20 games.
•    SEMO won nine games in a row and has scored 80 or more points in five of its last eight outings.
•    The Redhawks won seven of their last nine games by double figures.

Hot Shooting
•    Southeast Missouri shot 50 percent or better from the field in seven of its last nine games.
•    SEMO went five-straight games shooting 50 percent or better during Ohio Valley Conference play for the first time since 2011-12.
•    That streak ended when the Redhawks shot 38.3 percent at Little Rock (Feb. 11).
•    SEMO ranks second in the OVC with a .462 field goal percentage.
•    The Redhawks shot 58 percent or better in the second half each of their last two games.

Winning Halves
•    The Redhawks have won nine-consecutive halves of basketball over their last five games.
•    Southeast Missouri last lost a half when it trailed Southern Indiana, 36-35, at halftime on Feb. 8.

Strong at the Free Throw Line
•    The Redhawks did not miss a free throw in two of their last four games.
•    Southeast Missouri went a perfect 16-of-16 at the free throw line to key its victory over Little Rock (Feb. 11) and went 4-of-4 in its win over Tennessee Tech (Feb. 15).
•    SEMO made 14-of-14 free throws in the second half, including eight in the final 1:42 of the Little Rock contest.
•    It was the first time SEMO did not miss a free throw in a game with a minimum of 10 attempts since it finished 12-of-12 vs.Austin Peay on Feb. 21, 2019.

OVC Sweeps
•    The Redhawks completed their fourth sweep of an Ohio Valley Conference opponent when they beat Western Illinois on Feb. 20.
•     Southeast Missouri also defeated Southern Indiana, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech twice this season. 
•    The Redhawks had only one OVC series sweep in 2023-24 (vs. Southern Indiana).

Terry Garners OVC Player and Newcomer of the Week Honors
•    Forward Brendan Terry won the first Ohio Valley Conference weekly honors of his career when he was named both Player and Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 24.
•    Terry averaged 23.5 points and seven rebounds, and scored over 20 points in two starts.
•    He narrowly missed a double-double with career-highs of 25 points and nine rebounds vs. Western Illinois (Feb. 20).
•    Two days later, Terry had 22 points and five boards vs. Lindenwood (Feb. 22). 
•    He shot 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the field and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) at the free throw line for the week.

Martin is Rolling
•    Rob Martin scored double figures in 14-straight games.
•    Martin scored 15 points against Southern Indiana (Jan. 9) and followed that up with 21 vs. Morehead State (Jan. 11), 19 vs. Little Rock (Jan. 14), 13 at Tennessee Tech (Jan. 16), 12 at Lindenwood (Jan. 23), 16 at Western Illinois (Jan. 25), 18 vs. UT Martin (Jan. 30), 22 vs. Tennessee State (Feb. 1), 27 at Morehead State (Feb. 6), 15 at Southern Indiana (Feb. 8), 17 at Little Rock (Feb. 11), 17 vs. Tennessee Tech (Feb. 15), 10 vs. Western Illinois (Feb. 20) and 26 vs. Lindenwood (Feb. 22).
•    He is SEMO's second-leading scorer with 13.8 points per game through 29 starts this season.
•    Martin finished as the Redhawks top scorer a total of nine times in 2024-25.
•    It is the longest double-digit scoring streak of his career.

OVC Leader in Turnover Margin
•    The Redhawks are first in the Ohio Valley Conference with a +3.14 turnover margin.
•    Southeast Missouri is committing a league low 10.5 turnovers per game while forcing 13.6.
•    SEMO turned the ball over less than 10 times a total of 13 games this season.
•    The Redhawks had a season-low six turnovers at Western Illinois (Jan. 25).
•    SEMO forced 18 turnovers in its 57-45 win at Little Rock (Feb. 11).

Redhawks Sixth in the Nation Defending the Three
•    Southeast Missouri is sixth in the nation in 3-point percentage defense.
•    Opponents are shooting just 28.5 percent from downtown against Southeast Missouri this season.
•    SEMO has held its opponent to five or less 3-pointers made in 18 of its 29 games in 2024-25.
•    There are a total of 355 NCAA Division I basketball teams.

Four-Straight Double-Digit OVC Wins
•    For the first time this season, Southeast Missouri has posted four-straight double-digit victories over Ohio Valley Conference opponents.
•    SEMO won at Little Rock (57-45, Feb. 11) and best Tenneseee Tech (83-69, Feb. 15), Western Illinois (87-66, Feb. 20) and Lindenwood (74-58, Feb. 22) at home.
•    Overall, the Redhawks have 13 double-digit victories in 2024-25.
•    SEMO has won seven of its last nine games by double figures.
•    The last time the Redhawks won four consecutive games by double figures was during the 1999-2000 campaign.

Pulling Rank
•    In Ohio Valley Conference games, Southeast Missouri leads the league in scoring margin (+8.56), free throw percentage (.748), field goal percentage (.474), rebounding defense (31.1 rpg), turnover margin, (+2.94) and assist/turnover ratio (1.36).
•    Overall, SEMO is first in the OVC in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.285), scoring margin (+8.00), turnover margin (+3.14) and assist/turnover ratio (1.33).
•    The Redhawks are among the top three teams in the conference in scoring offense (3rd, 75.0 ppg), scoring margin (1st, +8.00), scoring defense (3rd, 67 ppg allowed), field goal percentage (2nd, .462), 3-point field goal percentage defense (1st, .285), turnover margin (1st, +3.14), assist/turnover ratio (1st, 1.33), rebounding defense (2nd, 33.4 rpg) and free throw percentage (2nd, .725).

3-Pointer Streak
•    The Redhawks have made at least one 3-pointer in 518 consecutive games.
•    The last time Southeast Missouri did not make a 3-pointer was vs. Western Illinois (0-of-6) on Dec. 10, 2008.
•    SEMO has made 210-of-631 threes at a 33.3 percent rate this season.
•    The Redhawks drained 10 or more threes in a game six times this year.

Two OVC Titles in Five Years for Korn
•    Fifth-year Southeast Missouri Head Coach Brad Korn has already led the Redhawks to one Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title (2023-24), one OVC Tournament championship (2022-23) and one NCAA Tournament berth (2022-23).
•    Korn led his 2024-25 team, which was picked seventh in the OVC Preseason Poll, to at least a share of this year's regular-season title.
•    Korn's position at SEMO is his first as a head coach.
•    SEMO became the first #5 seed to win the OVC Tournament winning four games in four days along the way during the 2022-23 campaign.
•    Korn is 72-83 overall and 45-46 in the OVC.
•    He ranks third behind Gary Garner (126) and Dickey Nutt (80) in all-time wins during the program's NCAA Division I era.
•    Korn is second behind Garner (73) in OVC victories.
•    He was hired as the seventh head coach in SEMO's NCAA Division I era on Mar. 23, 2020.
•    Korn has coached in eight NCAA Tournaments -- seven as an assistant coach and one as a head coach -- during his career.