Opening Weekend Surprises
(St. Louis, MO) – Ohio Valley Conference teams are winning on the road. Six of nine conference play opening weekend winners did it away from their own campuses. Sometimes opening league play at home is a disadvantage. The openers all take place while the students are on Christmas break.
Six OVC teams took advantage of largely student-less arenas to claim victories.
Undefeated Winning on the Road
High scoring UT Martin swept the opening weekend with wins at Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech. Six different Skyhawks reached double figures during the two victories. League leader Jordan Sears (19.9 ppg) added to his conference-best eighth 20-point game with 22 against Tennessee Tech.
Morehead State and Western Illinois went on the road and won their only OVC games so far. While Western (8-6) won its fifth straight game by knocking off Southern Illinois Edwardsville 78-70, defending league champion Morehead State (10-4) was taking care of business at Southeast Missouri.
WIU crushed the Cougars on the boards (34 to 22) Ryan Myers (21 points) and Jesiah West (15 points and ten rebounds) shined. During Morehead’s win in Cape Girardeau the league’s second leading scorer (Riley Minix) poured 34 points through the Show Me Center nets.
Stealing Road Wins
Little Rock and Southern Indiana claimed road wins and are both 1-1 in league play. Jamir Chaplin scored 25 points during the Trojans’ win at Tennessee Tech and A.J. Smith scored 27 during the Screaming Eagles’ win at Lindenwood. USI grabbed 43 rebounds in the road conquest.
All five of those road warriors return home for games on Thursday.
Those other five OVC squads need to learn the secret to winning on the road.
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ICYMI: Semifinal # 2 today at #ArchMadness will feature a contrast of styles as # 5 @UIC_MBB faces # 4 @RacersHoops in the 2:30 game.
It's final: @UNImbb 68 @UEAthletics_MBB 59. The Panthers get @Redbird_MBB on Friday night. Campbell finishes with 23 points. Smith with a double-double. AJ Casey was great with 23 & 10. Panthers with 16 assists.
4:05 left: @UNImbb 57 @UEAthletics_MBB 54. Aces' ball. UNI upside? Campbell with 21 points. Down side - Bond 0/6 from deep. UE upside? Casey with 20 & 9. Down Side? 2/11 from deep in the second half. Anybody's game at #ArchMadness
7:25 left: @UNImbb 55 @UEAthletics_MBB 52. Trey Campbell with 21 points for the Panthers and AJ Casey with 18 for the Aces. Tristan Smith is such a game changer. He has 8 pts & 9 rebounds, but that doesn't tell the story. #ArchMadness
