2011-12 Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Report February 27, 2012 Ohio Valley Conference FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 215 Centerview Drive, Suite 115 Contact: Kyle Schwartz Brentwood, Tennessee 37027 Phone: (615) 690-6685 www.OVCSports.com Email: [email protected] www.OVCSports.TV OVC STANDINGS (In Games Through Feb. 26) CONFERENCE OVERALL W L Pct. Home Away Streak W L Pct. Home Away Neutral Streak Murray State #* 15 1 .938 7-1 8-0 W4 28 1 .966 13-1 13-0 2-0 W5 Tennessee State* 11 5 .688 7-1 4-4 L1 19 11 .633 11-2 7-8 1-1 L1 Morehead State* 10 6 .625 6-2 4-4 W4 17 14 .548 9-4 6-9 2-1 W2 Tennessee Tech* 9 7 .563 5-3 4-4 L1 18 12 .600 9-5 7-7 2-0 L1 Southeast Missouri* 9 7 .563 6-2 3-5 L3 14 15 .483 10-4 4-11 0-0 L4 Austin Peay* 8 8 .500 5-3 3-5 W2 12 19 .387 8-5 4-12 0-2 W3 Jacksonville State* 8 8 .500 5-3 3-5 W2 14 17 .452 9-4 3-10 2-3 W3 Eastern Kentucky* 7 9 .438 5-3 2-6 W1 16 15 .516 11-3 4-11 1-1 W1 SIUE % 6 10 .375 4-4 2-6 L1 9 17 .346 7-6 2-9 0-2 L1 Eastern Illinois 5 11 .313 2-6 3-5 L2 12 17 .414 7-7 5-10 0-0 L3 UT Martin 0 16 .000 0-8 0-8 L16 4 27 .129 2-12 2-15 0-0 L3 # - OVC Regular Season Champions * - Clinched Spot in OVC Tournament Field % - SIUE joined the OVC in July 2008. The program is reclassifying to Division I and is playing a full OVC schedule for the fi rst time in 2011-12. The Cougars are eligible for the regular season championship, however, they are not eligible for the OVC or NCAA postseason play until 2012-13. THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE LAST WEEK’S RESULTS 2012 OVC Basketball Championship Thursday, February 23 Municipal Auditorium - Nashville, Tenn. *SIUE 63, @Eastern Kentucky 58 *@Morehead State 75, Eastern Illinois 39 Wednesday, February 29 *#12 Murray State 80, @Tennessee State 62 First Round *Austin Peay 85, @UT Martin 67 #5 Southeast Missouri vs. #8 Eastern Kentucky, 6:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV) *@Jacksonville State 69, Southeast Missouri 59 #6 Austin Peay vs. #7 Jacksonville State, 8:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV) Saturday, February 25 Thursday, March 1 *@Jacksonville State 77, UT Martin 46 Quarterfi nals *@Eastern Kentucky 86, Eastern Illinois 74 #4 Tennessee Tech vs. Game One Winner, 6:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV) *@Morehead State 76, SIUE 61 #3 Morehead State vs. Game Two Winner, 8:00 p.m. (OVCSports.TV) *@Austin Peay 68, Southeast Missouri 59 *#12 Murray State 69, @Tennessee Tech 64 Friday, March 2 Semifi nals #1 Murray State vs. Game Three Winner, 6:00 p.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3) #2 Tennessee State vs. Game Four Winner, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN3) Saturday, March 3 Championship Semifi nal Winners, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN2/ESPN3/Westwood One Radio) * Indicates OVC Contest ALL TIMES CENTRAL 2011-12 OVC Men’s Basketball Weekly Release - Feb. 27 • 1 THIS WEEK’S adidas® OVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK OVC MEDIA INFORMATION PLAYER Kyle Schwartz Isaiah Canaan, G • Jr., 6-3, 193 • Biloxi, Miss. • Murray State Asst. Commissioner/Media Relations Phone: (615) 690-6685 Canaan won his sixth OVC Player of the Week honor of the season after averaging 21.0 points, E-mail: [email protected] 4.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals/game while hitting 52 percent (13-of-25) from the fi eld, Web: http://www.OVCSports.com 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from 3-point range and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. In helping Murray State avenge its only loss of the season at Tennessee State last Thursday, Canaan hit 5-of-7 ONLINE PRESS BOX: The OVC Basketball Online Press Box is a one-stop shop for gathering information about the OVC and its member 3-pointers and scored 24 points as MSU won 80-62 and ended TSU’s nine-game winning streak. schools. Media can access it on the Basketball page at OVCSports. The junior also had three rebounds, four assists and a steal in the victory. He capped the week by com and will fi nd important related fi les and links. scoring 18 points, dishing out four assists, grabbing three rebounds and netting two steals in a win at Tennessee Tech. The two wins helped the Racers improve to 13-0 in true road games this year, SOCIAL MEDIA: Get breaking news about the OVC by following the OVC through Social Media. Check out the OVC sites at http://www. the most of any Division I team; Murray State is the only team undefeated on the road this season. twitter.com/OVCSports and http://www.facebook.com/ovcsports. Also check out www.YouTube.com/ohiovalleyconference and the Others Nominated: TyShwan Edmondson, Austin Peay; Jeremy Granger, Eastern Illinois; Jaron league’s blog at ovcinsider.blogspot.com. Jones, Eastern Kentucky; Ronnie Boggs, Jacksonville State; Drew Kelly, Morehead State; Mark WEEKLY NOTES: The OVC will release its Players of the Week and Yelovich, SIUE; Robert Covington, Tennessee State; Kevin Murphy, Tennessee Tech; Mike Liabo, weekly notes report each Monday throughout the season by 5 p.m. UT Martin. CT. The report is available via e-mail, and is posted on the league’s Web site in text and PDF versions. Statistics are updated after each CO-NEWCOMER gameday on the OVC Web site. Ronnie Boggs, G • Jr., 6-3, 170 • Kansas City, Mo. • Jacksonville State Boggs was named OVC Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season after averaging 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals/game and hitting 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from OVC SID DIRECTORY the fi eld and 5-of-6 (83.3%) from the free throw line in a pair of Jacksonville State victories. Boggs AUSTIN PEAY had 13 points, six rebounds and two steals in the team’s win over Southeast Missouri and added Brad Kirtley (931) 221-7561 14 points (10 in the second half), seven rebounds, six assists, a block and a steal in Saturday’s Cell Phone (931) 801-7875 victory over UT Martin. The two wins propelled the Gamecocks into the OVC Tournament, its fi rst Email [email protected] Web site LetsGoPeay.com trip to the neutral site in Nashville since 2006. Press Row Number (931) 221-7155 Others Nominated: D’Mitri Riggs, Eastern Kentucky; Tyler Stone, Southeast Missouri; Jerome EASTERN ILLINOIS Jones, SIUE; Kellen Thornton, Tennessee State; Corderio Maclin, UT Martin. Rich Moser (217) 581-7480 Cell Phone (217) 508-8317 Email [email protected] CO-FRESHMAN Web site EIUpanthers.com Herdie Lawrence, G • Fr., 6-0, 170 • Lawrenceville, Ga. • Austin Peay Press Row Number (217) 581-7770 In two games last week Lawrence averaged 11.0 points, 5.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 rebounds/ game while hitting 58.3 percent (7-fo-12) from the fi eld and 50 percent (4-of-8) from 3-point range. EASTERN KENTUCKY The freshman came off the bench against UT Martin to hit 7-of-9 fi eld goal attempts (4-of-5 from Michael Clark (859) 622-6170 Cell Phone (859) 358-8360 3-point range) and score a career-high 19 points while also dishing out fi ve assists in 28 minutes Email [email protected] of action. That performance earned him a start in the team’s Saturday win over Southeast Missouri Web site EKUSports.com where he once against dished out fi ve assists. Press Row Number (859) 622-5908 CO-FRESHMAN JACKSONVILLE STATE Josh Underwood (256) 782-5915 Darion Rackley, G • Fr., 6-2, 160 • St. Louis, Mo. • Jacksonville State Cell Phone (256) 453-0545 Rackley was named OVC Freshman of the Week for the second week in a row and third time in Email [email protected] the last fi ve weeks after averaging 11.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 blocks/game in Web site JSUGamecockSports.com a pair of Jacksonville State victories. On Saturday he scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half Press Row Number (256) 782-5583 as Jax State topped UT Martin and clinched a spot in the OVC Tournament fi eld. He also added MOREHEAD STATE fi ve rebounds, four assists and a block in the victory. Rackley began the week by with nine points, Matt Segal (606) 783-2557 three rebounds, three assists and a block in a victory over Southeast Missouri. Cell Phone (606) 207-5120 Email [email protected] Others Nominated: Angelo Warner, Morehead State; Zay Jackson, Murray State. Web site www.MSUEagles.com Press Row Number (606) 783-2500 MURRAY STATE ® Dave Winder (270) 809-7044 2011-12 adidas OVC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Cell Phone (270) 293-0566 PLAYER Email [email protected] Web site GoRacers.com Nov. 14 Jeremy Granger, Eastern Illinois Jan. 9 Isaiah Canaan, Murray State Press Row Number (270) 809-5551 Nov. 21 Robert Covington, Tennessee State Jan. 16 Donte Poole, Murray State SOUTHEAST MISSOURI Nov. 28 Isaiah Canaan, Murray State Jan. 23 Isaiah Canaan, Murray State Jeff Honza (573) 651-2933 Dec. 5 Jeremy Granger, EIU; Isaiah Canaan, MUR Jan.