Southeast Missouri (8-7, 3-1 OVC) at Southern Indiana (3-11, 0-4 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Thursday, January 8, 2026
Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m., CT
Location: Evansville, Ind.
Facility: Liberty Arena (4,800)
Series: SEMO leads, 6-1
Last Meeting: SEMO 79, USI 74 | 2/8/25 | Evansville, Ind.

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X: @SEMOMBB
Southeast Missouri Notes | 2025-26 SEMO Basketball Media Guide

Coaches
Southeast Missouri: Brad Korn (82-92 overall; 82-92 at SEMO; 49-48 OVC)
Southern Indiana: Stan Gouard (295-202 overall; 67-85 at USI; 42-51 OVC)

On the Road
•    Southeast Missouri (8-7, 3-1) hits the road for the first time in 2026 when it heads to Southern Indiana (3-11, 0-4) Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., CT at Liberty Arena.
•    After Thursday's matchup, SEMO travels to Morehead State for a Saturday afternoon tilt.
•    The Redhawks are 1-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play on the road with their first league road win coming at Tennessee State (Dec. 20).

Series Notes
•    Thursday marks the eighth meeting between Southeast Missouri and Southern Indiana.
•    SEMO holds a 6-1 lead in the all-time series.
•    The Redhawks won five-straight against the Screaming Eagles and swept USI each of the last two seasons.
•    SEMO's only loss to USI in the series was on Dec. 29, 2022 (86-81 in Evansville, Ind.).
•    Four of the last five matchups have been close with SEMO winning all of those by no more than five points.

Happy New Year!
•    The Redhawks are 2-0 in 2026 after beating Eastern Illinois (Jan. 1) and Western Illinois (Jan. 3) at home.
•    Southeast Missouri started the New Year with a win for the fifth time under Head Coach Brad Korn.
•    SEMO moved to 4-2 in its first game of the New Year with Korn at the helm.
•    SEMO beat Tennessee State (67-65, Jan. 2, 2025; 83-79, Jan. 2, 2021) and Austin Peay (98-79, Jan. 1, 2022) for those other victories.

Korn Second Among SEMO's Division I Head Coaches in Wins
•    With Southeast Missouri's 68-59 win over Eastern Illinois (Jan. 1), Brad Korn moved to second all-time among the school's head coaches in the program's Division I era.
•    Korn has won 82 games and surpassed Dickey Nutt (80, 2009-15) on that list.
•    Gary Garner (126, 1997-2006) has the most wins of any head coach in SEMO's Division I history.
•    Korn led SEMO to 21 wins in 2024-25, its second-most in a season since the Redhawks moved to the Division I level. 

Nice OVC Start
•    Southeast Missouri is off to a 3-1 start in Ohio Valley Conference play.
•    After dropping its OVC opener at Tennessee Tech (Dec. 18), SEMO won three-straight with victories over Tennessee State (Dec. 20), Eastern Illinois (Jan. 1) and Western Illinois (Jan. 3).
•    It is the second-straight year where the Redhawks have gone 3-1 in their first four OVC games.

Korn vs. Southern Indiana
•    Brad Korn is 5-1 all-time against Southern Indiana.
•    Korn has a 2-1 record vs. the Screaming Eagles in Evansville, Indiana.
•    His only loss to USI was at Liberty Arena on Dec. 29, 2022 (86-81).

Three-Game Winning Streak
•    The Redhawks carry a season-long three-game winning streak to Southern Indiana Thursday.
•    Southeast Missouri recently posted its largest win of the year against an NCAA Division I foe with a 73-50 home victory over Western Illinois (Jan. 3).
•    SEMO is one of three OVC teams on a conference winning streak of three or more games.
•    OVC leader Lindenwood (4) and UT Martin (3) are the others.

You Got Mossed!
•    Landren Blocker's posterizing dunk over Eastern Illinois' Kooper Jacobi was featured as the top play during NFL Sunday Countdown's You Got Mossed on Jan. 4.
•    It was the first time SEMO basketball landed on the You Got Mossed segment.
•    That play earned Blocker a pair of receiving gloves from legendary wide receiver Randy Moss.
•    Blocker leads the team with 13 dunks this season.

OVC Log Jam
•    Southeast Missouri is currently in a four-way tie for second in the Ohio Valley Conference standings early on in league action.
•    Lindenwood is atop the OVC with a 4-0 record, while UT Martin, Tennessee State, SEMO and Morehead State follow at 3-1.
•    The Redhawks head to Morehead State on the back end of this week's road trip Jan. 10.

Redhawks Heating Up
•    The Redhawks have won six of their last seven games and look to extend their three-game winning streak.
•    Southeast Missouri averaged 79.4 points per game and held its opponents under 70 (66.9) during that stretch.
•    The Redhawks held Western Illinois to just 50 points on Jan. 3. It was the lowest point total by an NCAA Division I opponent against SEMO this year.

Ward Closing in on 200 Assists
•    BJ Ward is 10 assists away from getting 200 in his career.
•    Ward ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference with 61 assists through 15 starts this season.
•    Ward is averaging four per game and has dished out five or more assists in five of his starts.
•     He matched his career-high of seven assists three times this year, as well.
•    Ward went over 150 assists at Iowa (Nov. 18) and has 190 in his career.
•    He also ranks sixth in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.65).

Approaching 50
•    With one more win, Brad Korn will get his 50th career Ohio Valley Conference victory as Southeast Missouri's head coach.
•    Korn is 49-48 all-time in OVC play with one OVC regular-season title (2024-25) and one tournament championship (2022-23).
•    Meanwhile, Thursday's game at Southern Indiana will mark BJ Ward's 50th career start.
•    Ward has played in 77 games and logged 49 starts as a Redhawk.

Career-High for Ward
•    BJ Ward scored a career-high 23 points, including 15 in the first half vs. Western Illinois (Jan. 3). 
•    Ward shot 8-of-13 from the field, 3-of-3 from 3-point range and 4-of-4 at the free throw line.
•    He also had nine rebounds, dished out five assists and collected two steals.
•    It was the first 20-point game for Ward this season and second of his career.
•    Ward has scored double figures in four-straight starts.

On the Road
•    Southeast Missouri looks to earn its second-straight road win when it travels to Southern Indiana.
•    SEMO's last road victory was at Tennessee State (91-82) on Dec. 20.
•    The Redhawks are 2-5 in true road games and 1-1 on the road in Ohio Valley Conference play this year.

Stacker Second in the OVC in Free Throw Percentage
•    Braxton Stacker ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference in free throw percentage.
•    Stacker has missed just seven free throws through 15 starts.
•    He is 44-of-51 for 86.3 percent.
•    Stacker did not miss a free throw with a minimum of four attempts in five games this year.

Winning the Second Half
•    Southeast Missouri won the second half in seven of its last nine games. 
•    Most recently, SEMO outscored Eastern Illinois, 38-22, in the second half on Jan. 1 and Western Illinois, 39-23, in the final 20 minutes on Jan. 3.
•    The Redhawks outscored their opponent by double figures in the second half a total of four times in 2025-26.
•    SEMO is outscoring opponents, 612-563 (+49) in the second half this year.

Idada and Bell in Starting Lineup
•    Since David Idada and Marqueas Bell joined the starting lineup, Southeast Missouri has gone 6-1.
•    Idada and Bell made their first starts of the season vs. St. Mary of the Woods (Dec. 2).
•    It was the first time both were in the starting lineup since Mar. 2, 2024 (at Southern I Indiana).

Double-Digit Margins
•    Ten of the Redhawks first 15 games this season have been decided by double-digits.
•    Southeast Missouri's double-digit wins thus far include an 87-41 victory vs. Webster (Nov. 12), an 84-68 win over Cal Poly (Nov. 25), an 88-57 win over St. Mary of the Woods (Dec. 2), an 88-65 victory over Saint Xaiver (Dec. 14) and a 73-50 win over Western Illinois (Jan. 3).
•    SEMO fell to Saint Louis (92-67, Nov. 3), Iowa (99-70, Nov. 18) and Tennessee Tech (85-74, Dec. 18) on the road, and St. Thomas (84-72, Nov. 15) and Lipscomb (88-77, Nov. 29) at home in the other five matchups.

Nice Defense
•    Southeast Missouri ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference in turnover margin 15 games into its 2025-26 season.
•    SEMO is forcing 15 turnovers per game and turning the ball over 12.7 times per contest for a +2.3 margin.
•    The Redhawks forced 225 turnovers, second-most in the OVC.
•    Opponents turned the ball over 19 or more times in four games against SEMO's defense this season.

About Southern Indiana
•    Southern Indiana is presently last in the Ohio Valley Conference standings as one of two teams without a win in Ohio Valley Conference play.
•    USI is 4-11 overall and 0-4 in the league.
•    The Screaming Eagles are on a six-game losing streak with their last win coming vs. NCAA Division II member Kentucky State (93-56) on Nov. 29.
•    USI is shooting just 39.8 percent from the field and 62.8 percent at the free throw line. The Screaming Eagles do, however, lead the OVC with 8.5 three-pointers made per game.
•    Ismail Habib is tied for first in that category with 2.7 made threes per contest.