Moving Day in the OVC

Tournament Positioning Going On

(St. Louis, MO) – It is ‘moving day’ in the Ohio Valley Conference. Ten of the current league members are in action and shifts in the standings are paramount. As OVC schools angle for a postseason birth at the conference tournament and others are vying for an enviable seed, tonight’s games are very meaningful.

Battling At The Top

Six of the 12 league teams have better than .500 records. The top two teams receive a double bye at the OVC Tournament and teams three and four obtain a single bye. First place Belmont (16-1, 10-0) travels to Austin Peay (8-5, 4-3) while Morehead State (11-6, 8-2) visits Jacksonville State (10-5, 6-3).

Eastern Kentucky (13-2, 7-1) and Southern Illinois Edwardsville (5-5, 3-1) are the other two teams with winning records.

The Belmont/Austin Peay game features three Lou Henson Award finalists in the Bruins’ Nick Muszyinsky and Grayson Murphy and APSU’s Terry Taylor. As a preseason favorite to win the regular season title, the Governors have faced numerous hurdles. Head coach Matt Figger was infected with coronavirus and then the whole team went on a pause. Highly regarded recruit Devon McCain left the team and all conference guard Jordyn Adams has battled injuries and diminished effectiveness.

If the season ended today, to Governors would be playing during the tournament’s opening night.

The surprising Morehead State Eagles are one game out of second place. MSU was picked eighth in the preseason poll and will be visiting a JSU team that was picked seventh. The Gamecocks’ strong start has them in the thick of a race for one of those byes.

Newcomers have boosted both teams’ hopes for success. Outstanding freshman Johni Broome has sparked the Eagles’ revival and transfers Amanze Ngumezi, Darian Adams and Brandon Huffman have lifted JSU. Huffman is the OVC’s reigning ‘Player of the Week‘ and ‘Newcomer of the Week‘.

Moving Day Nearer the Bottom

The struggle to qualify for the tournament and to fight for a favorable bid has never been more competitive. All of the bottom six teams have two or three victories. Co-favorite Murray State (6-7, 3-5) hosts Tennessee State (3-10, 2-8). Surprisingly, Eastern Illinois (5-11, 2-7) has lost six straight games and hopes to right the ship at Tennessee Tech (2-15, 2-8). While SIUE has a winning record, their limited schedule means they have a long way to go. Their game at Southeast Missouri (4-9, 2-6) could go a long way to determining the direction of this race.

SIUE, SEMO, Eastern Illinois and UT Martin are playing on short rest after playing Tuesday night.

Do Good

Editor: Featured photo, courtesy of msueagles.com.