Ohio Valley Conference Notebook
The Best
Austin Peay (9-6, 6-1 OVC)
Surprise, surprise
No one was expecting Dave Loos’ bunch to make much noise this season. But the Governors have shocked the OVC with a balanced attack and solid defense.
Youth is served
With no seniors on the roster, sophomore Drake Reed has led the way with 15.4. points per game. Also, fellow sophomore Landon Shipley is shooting 39 percent from beyond the arc. And the young bunch has proven they can win in any way possible. They defeated Southeast Missouri 68-67 in a game that included 41 turnovers for both sides.
On the “Loos”
When the season began, it looked like APSU was heading for a fall, and the future didn’t look bright either. Then after a disappointing loss to Morehead State left them at 2-4, it looked like the season was about to spiral out of control. But Loos kept his team confident, and a month later he is one of the main reasons that they are tied for the OVC lead.
A long road ahead
Although APSU has been impressive, they are yet to enter the teeth of the schedule. The Governors still haven’t faced perennial favorite Murray State or preseason favorites Tennessee State and Samford.
Morehead State (10-6, 6-2)
Rookie coach leads the way
Donnie Tyndall came to MSU last summer preaching discipline and an up-tempo style. After a season where the Eagles won only four games, it appeared any significant progress would take some time. But Tyndall has already helped the Eagles to a 6-1 conference record. If his bunch stays the course, Tyndall will be the obvious choice for coach of the year honors.
Williams getting help
Everyone knew that Shaun Williams was a force to be reckoned with, but the Eagles struggled finding a second option in previous seasons. This year, Williams’ numbers have dropped off, but that’s a good thing. Quentin Pryor and Cordaryl Ballard are both averaging double-figure point totals and also shoot over 50 percent from the field.
Upset City
The Eagles have pulled out victories over the league-leading Governors and also beat Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech in back-to-back games to start the new year. One-point losses to MAC opponents Marshall and Central Michigan have also turned some heads.
Big Matchup
If the Eagles are truly as strong as their record, they will have to beat the best. A trip to Samford looms this Thursday. If Tyndall’s team can pull off yet another shocker, they will have confirmed their presence among the conference’s elite teams.
Samford Bulldogs (10-6, 6-2)
Juggernaut Offense
Everyone knew that the Bulldogs had some prolific shooters, but no one thought they would be this good. Jimmy Tillete’s version of the Princeton offense has resulted in an astonishing 48 percent clip from the field and the Bulldogs also lead the lead in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Inside-and-outside
Guard Randall Gulina is one of the best players in the league with close to 18 points per game. But the key to the Bulldog offense has been the emergence of 6-10 center Travis Peterson, who has been a consistent scorer and also leads the team in rebounds and blocks. His mere presence has opened up the perimeter for a team that was already strong at three-point shooting.
Close wins
The Bulldogs have won three conference games by just one point and another by three. Junior Curtis West capped off one of the great finishes of the season last week against Jacksonville State. The Bulldogs trailed 63-58 with nine seconds remaining before West’s back-to-back three’s gave them a stunning victory.
Recent struggles
Despite the hot start to the conference-season, the Bulldogs have lost their last two against Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech, and neither game was close. Even more disturbing was the sudden offensive struggles; the Bulldogs notched just 41 points against TSU and shot a lowly 34 percent. Gulina and Peterson combined for 9-24 shooting in a disappointing 14-point loss to TTU.
Second-tier
Eastern Kentucky (10-6, 5-3)
Inconsistency
Despite notching impressive wins over Murray State and Morehead State, the Colonels have yet to win more than two consecutive games in the conference. They lost a head-scratcher by 14 points to Southeast Missouri and were blown away by 22 at Tennessee Tech last week. A big reason for that has been the lack of a consistent scoring option. Mike Rose, Julian Mascoll and Adam Leonard are the top scorers, but none of the three has emerged as an obvious threat.
Big victories
As bad as the blowouts to TTU and SEMO were, the Colonels have also notched some impressive victories against perennial powerhouse Murray State and Morehead State. They also gave Kentucky a run for their money in an impressive non-conference performance.
Defending home-court
Although they’ve had some nice victories at McBrayer Arena, two of the three conference losses have been on their home court. In order to move up the standings, they must win in Richmond.
Murray State (7-9, 5-3)
Turning things around
After squeaking by Eastern Illinois in the conference opener, the Racers lost three of four and were primed for one of their worst seasons in recent memory. But they have rebounded to win four of six since then.
Offensive emergence
Although Shawn Witherspoon is one of the conference’s best players, he does most of his work on the boards and on defense. In light of that, asking him to be the first option in the offense was probably too much to ask. But guards Bruce Carter and Tyler Hollaway have picked up the slack in previous weeks. Carter is averaging 20.5 points over his last four contests. Meanwhile, Holloway has dropped totals of 22, 29, and 24 points during his last three contests.
Are they back?
With Holloway and Carter taking some of the pressure off Witherspoon, normalcy has returned to Murray. But the Racers have to deal with a rare problem: less talent than the other top OVC teams. But they’re still Murray State, so you can’t count them out. Trips to Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech are on deck for the Racers over the next seven days. We should have a better idea of this team’s worth after those games.
Tennessee State (7-9, 4-3)
Underachieving
The Tigers looked primed for a great season after the coaches pick them to finish third in the conference. A 2-0 start to OVC play in December seemed to justify that. But the Tigers only won one game after that before a nice win over Samford ended the slump. Despite having a wealth of offensive firepower, Cy Alexander’s team has shot a putrid 39 percent from the field. Top scorer LaDarious Weaver is shooting just 42 percent, and talented Andrae Belton is averaging just 11 points a night. He showed his potential by dropping 35 in a loss to Murray State just after New Years, but he is averaging just 9 points per game since that explosion.
Are they back?
Alexander is too good of a coach to allow his team to underachieve so drastically. He may have helped to get his team headed in the right direction after an impressive 18-point win over Samford heading into last weekend, one which they capped off with a victory over Jacksonville State.
Road trip
The Tigers will have to continue to play solid basketball if they want to stay in the conference race thanks to a brutal schedule. After a breather against non D-1 school Fisk, they go on the road for three straight OVC games at Eastern Illinois, Southeast Missouri, and Eastern Kentucky. The Tigers have much more talent than all three, but if they continue to struggle with their shooting they might have problems. Losing two of those games would put their hopes of a regular season title in serious doubt.
Tennessee Tech (8-9, 4-4)
Where’s the talent?
Much like their cross-state rivals Tennessee State, TTU has struggled to play up to their ability. They may have the most individual talent in the conference, which showed in an early season win over Bradley. But a frustrating 2-4 start in OVC play left the Golden Eagles scratching their heads.
Righting the ship
TSU had their way at home against Samford in an excellent 73-59 victory. The win got them back to .500 in the conference and may have been what they needed to get back on track. The Golden Eagles also turned in their first good defensive game in some time against the hot-shooting Bulldogs.
Offensive trio
Belton Rivers leads the conference with 19 points per game, but Anthony Fisher might be the most important offensive force. The point guard is averaging close to 18 points and also over 4 assists per outing. But Amadi McKenize is the most well-rounded player on the team, as he has been a triple-double machine all season long.
The basement
Southeast Missouri (5-12, 4-5)
Bad start
Poor stretches have been a theme for many conference teams, but the disastrous 2-11 (1-4) start for SEMO was downright embarrassing. Despite having two low-post forces in Brandon Foust and Michael Rembert, the Redhawks haven’t gotten the job done. With enough talent to be in the top half of the conference, the Redhawks were unable to get anything going.
Murray State beatdown
An impressive 96-85 win over the Racers proved that SEMO does have the talent to be a force. It also capped off an impressive three-game winning streak, one that ended when Redhawks failed to hold a second-half lead against conference leaders Austin Peay en route to a 68-67 loss. But by beating MSU and hanging with APSU, Scott Edgar’s team may have finally turned the corner.
Tennessee-Martin (5-14, 3-6)
No offense
The Skyhawks have still not recovered from the losses of Jared Newson and Jeremy Kelly. The Skyhawks are averaging just 62 points a game and only have one player (Gerald Robinson) averaging double-figures. In addition to that, the Skyhawks have only two players averaging more turnovers than assists and are shooting just 40 percent from the field. It’s been a recipe for disaster all season, and it doesn’t look like it will be getting better any time soon.
Now or never
Samford, Murray State, and APSU all face the Skyhawks in the next ten days. UT-Martin must make some noise over that span to make up some ground in the conference. Otherwise, just qualifying for the conference tourney might be in doubt.
Jacksonville State (3-14, 1-7)
No help for Bradley
The Gamecocks have a real talent in senior forward Courtney Bradley. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much else. Junior Dorien Brown has been an adequate secondary option, but no one else has stepped up. Bradley has also been one of the only players to excel defensively. The Cocks are allowing 71 points per game.
Backcourt struggles
Bradley and Brown have been solid. But both play forward. Will Ginn is the top scoring guard, but he is shooting just 36.6 percent from the floor. Ginn is also the only guard with over one steal per game, and the lack of defense from guards has allowed teams to light up JSU on the perimeter.
Eastern Illinois (5-14, 1-9)
Conference collapse
EIU looked like they were ready to surprise some folks after they opened up MVC play with a close loss to Murray State and a victory over Tennessee Tech. Not the case: the Panthers have lost 9 of their last 10 and haven’t won an OVC game since the win over TTU.
Only getting worse
Five of the next six games are against teams with conference records of .500 or better. Things might be about to get much, much worse before they get better in Charleston.
