Redhawks MBB looks to clinch OVC regular-season title Thursday against SIU Edwardsville

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — It’s the final week of Ohio Valley Conference regular-season play, and Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball approaches the final two games of the year needing just one victory to wrap up an uncontested league championship.

On the heels of a nine-game winning streak, SEMO has already broken its old Division I win streak by two games and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Now, entering the final week of the league year with games against SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois, these Redhawks have a chance to live up to the hype. A win would not only bring a championship plaque, but a bye into the OVC Tournament semifinals.

That would put them just two wins away from something even greater: An NCAA Tournament berth, the third for the Redhawks in their Division I era.

Entering Thursday night against SIU Edwardsville, it’s a de facto championship duel with the Cougars needing a win to keep their hopes of a conference title tie alive.

These two squads met up back in the second game of the league year, with SEMO taking an emphatic 80-64 victory on the Show Me Center floor to advance to 2-0 in the OVC — many, many moons ago.

SIU Edwardsville had won five of its last six before a crushing road loss at Southern Indiana (10-18, 5-13) last Saturday.

The Cougars’ Ray’Sean Taylor has made his name known as an All-OVC level talent, averaging over 19 points per game. Brian Taylor, the team’s second-leading scorer, puts up north of 12 points per game on a ridiculous 49% rate from beyond the arc — good for fifth in the nation among all 3-point shooters with more than 50 attempts this year.

If SEMO loses Thursday, it’ll trickle down to a road matchup Saturday with Eastern Illinois (10-19, 6-12).

The Redhawks began their conference season with a seven-point victory over EIU at the Show Me Center over two months ago.

The Panthers are underwhelming shooters, ranking 362nd of 364 teams in field goal percentage this season. Incrementally better from long distance than short, it’s been a very rough go at it for Eastern this year, anchored by a strong defensive unit.

That defense ranks top 50 in the nation in takeaways, matching up with a top-50 squad in handling the ball as SEMO has so highly valued the rock this season.

Nakyel Shelton leads EIU in scoring this season, putting up 16.3 points per game, while Kooper Jacobi’s 12 points and nine rebounds have him on the cusp of a double-double average.

A victory would guarantee a conference title for the Redhawks. With two wins, a 16-4 season won’t get them into the NCAA Tournament without a big performance in the conference tourney, but it’s a lofty goal right in SEMO’s wheelhouse.