#1 Southeast Missouri (20-11) vs. #8 UT Martin (13-18)/#5 Tennessee Tech (15-16)/#4 Little Rock (18-13)

OVC Tournament Semifinals
Date: Friday, March 7, 2025
Tip-Off: 7 p.m., CT
Location: Evansville, Ind.
Facility: Ford Center (11,000)
OVC Tournament Record: 16-16
OVC Tournament Record at the Ford Center: 5-2
Last OVC Tournament Meeting: #5 SEMO 89, #2 Tennessee Tech 82 OT | Mar. 4, 2023 | Evansville, Ind.

Head Coach
Southeast Missouri: Brad Korn (73-84 overall; 73-84 at SEMO; 46-47 OVC) 

Follow the Redhawks
TV: ESPNU (Robert Ford, Richie Schueler)  
Live Stats: OVCSports.com
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
X: @SEMOMBB
SEMO OVC Tournament Notes

2025 OVC Basketball Championship Schedule

First Round: Wednesday, March 5
Game 1: #5 Tennessee Tech (15-16) vs. #8 UT Martin (13-18), 6 p.m., CT
Game 2: #6 Lindenwood (15-16) vs. #7 Morehead State (15-16), 8:30 p.m., CT

Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 6
Game 3: #4 Little Rock (18-13) vs. Winner Game 1, 6 p.m., CT
Game 4: #3 Tennessee State (16-15) vs. Winner Game 2, 8:30 p.m., CT

Semifinals: Friday, March 7
Game 5: #1 Southeast Missouri (20-11) vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m., CT
Game 6: #2 SIU Edwardsville (20-11) vs. Winner Game 4, 8:30 p.m., CT

Championship: Saturday, March 8
Game 7: Semifinal Winners

OVC Tournament Information
Tournament Central | Bracket 
 

OVC Tournament
•    #1 Southeast Missouri opens postseason play against either #5 Tennessee Tech, #8 UT Martin or #4 Little Rock in the  semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Friday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., CT at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
•    Both of Friday's semifinal matchups will be televised live on ESPNU.
•    The Redhawks are in the OVC Tournament semifinals for the third time under Head Coach Brad Korn.
•    This year, SEMO got there with a double bye for the first time in its OVC Tournament history.

Double Bye to the Semifinals
•    Top-seeded Southeast Missouri will await its opponent for the first two days of the OVC Tournament.
•    #5 Tennessee Tech, #8 UT Martin and #4 Little Rock are on SEMO's side of the eight-team merit based bracket.
•    SEMO will face the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal matchup between #4 Little Rock and the winner of #5 Tennessee Tech/#8 UT Martin.

Back in the OVC Tournament
•    The Redhawks went from finishing 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference and not making the league's postseason tournament in 2023-24 to winning the OVC regular-season title and claiming the #1 seed in this year's event.
•    Southeast Missouri is in the OVC Tournament four the fourth time in five years with Brad Korn as its head coach.
•    The Redhawks won the OVC Tournament the last time they were in Evansville during the 2022-23 campaign.
•    This is the second-straight year the #1 seed was not in the tournament the previous season.     
•    Little Rock did not make the tournament in 2022-23 and was the #1 seed in 2023-24. SEMO did not make the tournament in 2023-24 and is the #1 seed in 2024-25.

OVC Tournament Appearances
•    This year marks Southeast Missouri's 19th Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearance.
•    SEMO made the tournament in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025.
•    The Redhawks make the tournament for the fourth time since it moved to the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
•    SEMO is 16-16 all-time in OVC Tournament games. The Redhawks are 5-2 in OVC Tournament games at the Ford Center.
•    The Redhawks won two OVC Tournament titles in their program history. SEMO won in 1999-2000 under Gary Garner and 2022-23 under Brad Korn.
•    In 2022-23, SEMO became the first #5 seed to win the OVC Tournament after winning four games in four days.
•    Korn coached in every one of SEMO's OVC Tournament appearances in Evansville.

#1 Seed
•    For the first time in program history, Southeast Missouri is the #1 seed in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
•    SEMO locked up the tournament's top seed with a road win over SIU Edwardsville (83-68) on Feb. 27.
•    The highest seed the Redhawks had prior to this season was #2 in both the 1999 and 2000 tournaments. 
•    SEMO lost to Murray State in the championship game of the 1999 tournament before upending the Racers to win the title in 2000. Both of those tournaments were played at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

SEMO vs. the Field
•    The 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament field includes Southeast Missouri, SIU Edwardsville, Little Rock, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Lindenwood, Morehead State and UT Martin.
•    SEMO is a combined 7-6 at the OVC Tournament against the teams in this year's eight-team field.
•    The Redhawks have never played Little Rock or SIUE in the league's postseason tournament.
•    Here are SEMO's records against the teams who qualified this season:
Lindenwood    1-0
Morehead State    1-3
Tennessee State    3-0
Tennessee Tech    1-3
UT Martin    1-0

Records vs. Seeds
•    Southeast Missouri will play either #4 Little Rock, #5 Tennessee Tech or #8 UT Martin in Friday's semifinal matchup.
•    The Redhawks eliminated both the #4 (Tennessee State) and #8 (Lindenwood) seeds in their last Ohio Valley Conference Tournament during the 2022-23 campaign.
•    Here are SEMO's records against those seeds at the OVC Tournament:
vs. #4 Seed    1-4
vs. #5 Seed    1-1
vs. #8 Seed    3-0
•    The rest of the Redhawks records against the other seeds they faced are:
vs. #2 Seed    1-4    
vs. #3 Seed    2-4
vs. #6 Seed    2-0
vs. #7 Seed    4-0

2024-25 OVC Champions
•    With its 83-68 win at SIU Edwardsville (Feb. 27), Southeast Missouri won its first outright Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title and locked up the OVC Tournament's #1 seed for the first time in program history.
•    It was SEMO's second OVC Championship in three years under Head Coach Brad Korn. The Redhawks won the 2022-23 OVC Tournament for their other title.
•    The Redhawks won their second OVC regular-season title in program history and first in 25 years.
•    SEMO's 1999-2000 team was the last to win the league's regular-season crown.
•    SEMO shared the 1999-2000 OVC regular-season title with Murray State and won the OVC Tournament as the #2 seed that season.
•    In 2022-23, the Redhawks became the first #5 seed to ever win an OVC Tournament. SEMO won four games in four days to hoist the trophy that year.

#1 Seeds in the OVC Tournament
•    Since seeding began in 1975, the #1 seed has won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament a total of 24 times.
•    The #1 seed did not win the tournament each of the last two seasons. #3 Morehead State (2024) and #5 Southeast Missouri (2023) won the tournament those years.
•    Murray State was the last #1 seed to win the OVC Tournament when it beat Morehead State, 71-67, in 2022.  

First Time Experience
•    All 13 players on Southeast Missouri's roster will experience the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament for the first time in 2024-25.
•    Marqueas Bell, TJ Biel, David Idada, Rob Martin, Braxton Stacker and BJ Ward are in their second year at SEMO, while Troy Cole, Jr., Saxton Hoepker, Elliot Lowndes, Jay Reynolds, Brendan Terry, Damarion Walkup and Teddy Washington, Jr. are in their first season as Redhawks. 

Korn Voted OVC Coach of the Year
•    After leading Southeast Missouri to its best one-year turnaround in program history, Brad Korn was named Ohio Valley Coach of the Year.
•    For Korn, it is the first OVC Coach of the Year honor in his career.
•    He is only the second head coach in SEMO's program history to win the coveted award joining Gary Garner (1998-99).
•    SEMO was picked seventh in this year's OVC Preseason Poll and went 20-11 overall and 15-5 in league play en route to claiming its first outright OVC regular-season title and #1 OVC Tournament seed in program history.
•    The Redhawks were 10-10 midway through the season when they won 10-straight games for their longest winning streak during their NCAA Division I era and longest in 35 years.
•    SEMO's 15 OVC wins tied a school record.
•    The Redhawks were 9-22 overall and 4-14 in the OVC in 2023-24 before posting their +11 increase in overall and OVC victories this season. 
•    SEMO went undefeated in February (8-0) and 9-1 during the second half of OVC play.

Martin, Washington, Jr. and Terry Garner All-OVC Honors
•    Guards Rob Martin and Teddy Washington, Jr. earned First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference honors and forward Brendan Terry garnered Second-Team accolades.
•    The three All-OVC selections are Southeast Missouri's most in a season in program history.
•    SEMO has two First-Team All-OVC players for the first time in 20 years (Dainmon Gonner, Reggie Golson, 2004-05).
•    Martin took over as the Redhawks leading scorer after his 18-point effort at Eastern Illinois (Mar. 1). He is averaging 14.5 points per game and leads the team with 142 assists, the most in a season during his career.
•    Washington, Jr. is right behind Martin with 14.4 points per game and leads SEMO in rebounds (5.4 rpg), steals (56) and 3-pointers made (57). He was also named to the league's All-Newcomer Team.
•    Terry is third on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg) and ranks second in rebounding (4.3 rpg) and first in blocks (23).

20 Wins
•    With its 83-68 win over SIU Edwardsville (Feb. 27), Southeast Missouri picked up its 20th victory of the season.
•    That win gave Brad Korn his most in a season as SEMO's head coach. 
•    Korn has led the Redhawks to 19 or more victories in two of his five years at the helm. SEMO went 19-17 overall and won the OVC Tournament in 2022-23.
•    Both of Korn's 19 or more win teams won an OVC title.
•    Korn's 2024-25 team won the OVC regular-season title outright.
•    It is SEMO's first 20-win season in 25 years (24-7, 1999-2000) and just the third in program history during the school's NCAA Division I era. The Redhawks other 20-win season was in 1998-99 (20-9).
•    SEMO now has two winning seasons since Korn took over as head coach.

15 Conference Victories
•    Southeast Missouri's 15 Ohio Valley Conferencevictories tied a program record.
•    The 2024-25 team (15-5) matched the 1998-99 team (15-3) for most conference wins in a season. 
•    SEMO reached double-digit conference victories for the fifth time in program history.
•    It is also the second time in three years where SEMO won 10 or more OVC games with Brad Korn as its head coach.
•    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 (15-5).
•    SEMO is 16-5 in its previous 21 conference games dating back to last year's season-ending 70-66 win at Southern Indiana.
•    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 the outright OVC regular-season title and claiming the #1 seed in the league's postseason tournament.
•    Southeast Missouri was 9-22 overall and 4-14 in the OVC a year ago.
•    This season, the Redhawks are 20-11 and 15-5 in league play.
•    In terms of wins, SEMO's +11 margin is its best one-year turnaround in program history since the Redhawks went from going 5-24 in 2015-16 to 15-18 in 2016-17 (+10).
•    In OVC play, the Redhawks' +11 jump in wins is their best one-year turnaround in conference play since it became a league member in 1991-92.

Winning Streak Ends at 10 Games
•    Southeast Missouri saw its NCAA Division I era record 10-game winning streak end with a 73-58 loss at Eastern Illinois (Mar. 1) on the final day of the regular-season.
•    The 10-game winning streak surpassed the 2004-05 team which had won seven in a row.
•    It was SEMO's first loss since falling, 72-68, at Lindenwood on Jan. 23.

Korn  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 46-47 record in OVC games.

Road Show
•    Southeast Missouri finished with an 8-7 record in true road games this season.
•    SEMO posted its first winning record on the road in 25 years.
•    The Redhawks, at one time, won five-straight away from home for their longest road winning streak in their NCAA Division I era.
•    SEMO's last winning record on the road was 7-5 in 1999-2000.
•    The Redhawks went 24-straight seasons with a losing record on the road prior to this year.

Strong at Home
•    Brad Korn registered 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 tied for 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).

400th NCAA Division I Win
•    Southeast Missouri claimed ts 400th victory as an NCAA Division I program at Southern Indiana (79-74) on Feb. 8.
•    SEMO became an NCAA Division I school in 1991-92 and is in its 34th year at that level.
•    The Redhawks are 405-573 all-time in their NCAA Division I era. 

Last 22 Games
•    The Redhawks are 17-5 in their last 22 games.
•    SEMO won 10 of its last 11 games and has scored 80 or more points in six of its last 10 outings.
•    The Redhawks won eight of their last 11 games by double figures.

Hot Shooting
•    Southeast Missouri shot 50 percent or better from the field in eight of its last 11 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 is second in the OVC with a .461 field goal percentage.
•    The Redhawks shot 53.7 percent or better in the second half each of during four of their last five contests.

Winning Halves
•    The Redhawks have won 11 of their last 13 halves of basketball over the last seven games.
•    Southeast Missouri won 11-straight halves before trailing Eastern Illinois, 36-32, at halftime on Mar. 1.

OVC Sweeps
•    The Redhawks completed five sweeps of Ohio Valley Conference opponents in 2024-25.
•     Southeast Missouri swept its home-and-home league series against SIU Edwardsville, Southern Indiana, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and Western Illinois.
•    The Redhawks had only one OVC series sweep in 2023-24 (vs. Southern Indiana).

Martin is Rolling
•    Rob Martin scored double figures in 16-straight games.
•    It is the longest double-digit scoring streak of his career.
•    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), 26 vs. Lindenwood (Feb. 22),  a career-high 31 at SIU Edwardsville (Feb. 27) and 18 at Eastern Illinois (Mar. 1).
•    For the first time this season, Martin is SEMO's leading scorer with 14.5 points per game through 31 starts this season. Martin also ranked fifth in scoring during OVC play with 16.3 points per game.
•    Martin finished as the Redhawks top scorer a total of 11 times in 2024-25.
•    Martin had 31 points at SIU Edwardsville (Feb. 27) for the first 30-point game of his career. He became the first SEMO player to get over 30 points in a game since Phillip Russell (37, at Little Rock, Feb. 2, 2023).
•    He is ninth among SEMO's all-time single-season leaders in assists (142).

2024-25 Team Single-Season Rankings
•    Southeast Missouri's 2024-25 team is ranked among the top 10 in four categories in the program's single-season rankings.
•    SEMO presently rank eighth in 3-pointers made (231), tied for first in Ohio Valley Conference wins (15), seventh in 3-point field goals attempted (684) and tied for third in steals (250).

OVC Leader in Turnover Margin
•    The Redhawks are first in the Ohio Valley Conference with a +2.97 turnover margin.
•    Southeast Missouri is committing a league low 10.6 turnovers per game while forcing 13.6.
•    SEMO turned the ball over less than 10 times a total of 14 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 20 of its 31 games in 2024-25.