EIU, SIUE To Meet In Opening Round Play of OVC Men's Basketball Tourney Wednesday

In the opener, Tennessee State takes on Southern Indiana at 6:30 p.m.

The winner of the SIUE vs. EIU contest will advance to a 9 p.m. meeting against No. 3 Morehead State Thursday.

Drawing the top seed was Little Rock with UT Martin second, Morehead State third and Western Illinois fourth.

Tennessee State is No. 5, SIUE No. 6, EIU No. 7 and Southern Indiana No. 8.

The championship game will be Saturday at 7 p.m.

SIUE is in the OVC Tournament for the fourth straight year, which is a first in school history.

SIUE is the No. 6 seed for the second year in a row. SIUE's full tournament history is on page 5.

The Cougars tied the school record with nine OVC wins, set last year.

SIUE is fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring defense, allowing 70.3 points a game. The Cougars have held 16 of 31 opponents under 70 points. They are 13-3 in those games. 

SIUE's 28-point win over Lindenwood Feb. 15, was its largest margin of victory ever in an OVC game. 

SIUE was 15-30 in three-pointers at Lindenwood Jan. 18, setting the school single-game record for three-pointers in a Division I game.

The Cougars' 59 points in the second half Feb. 3 against UT Martin are SIUE's most ever in a half against a Division I opponent. 

The 48 points scored by Morehead State Jan. 13 are the fewest allowed this year by the Cougars. 

Damarco Minor has 10 double-doubles this year.

Minor had 31 points and 12 rebounds at Tennessee State to become the first SIUE player to have 30+ points and a double-double since Mark Yelovich in 2010.

Minor is averaging 23.2 points and 9.2 rebounds over his last four games.

Minor is fifth in rebounding in the OVC at 8.4.

Minor is No. 21 in all-time scoring at SIUE with 958 points.

Minor is the OVC leader in free throw percentage at .860.

Minor is ninth in the OVC in scoring, Shamar Wright is 11th and Ray'Sean Taylor is 15th.

Taylor scored his 6th 20-point game of the year (24th of his career) with 21 at Tennessee Tech. 

Taylor is seventh all-time in scoring at 1,259 points. He is eight points away from tying for sixth.

Taylor is No. 2 all-time in three-pointers made (200) and attempts (555).

Shamar Wright is No. 3 in career scoring at SIUE with 1,523 points. That ranks 1st in SIUE's Division I era.

Shamar Wright is SIUE's all-time leader in games played with 152.

Shamar Wright is fifth in career rebounds with 628.

Shamar Wright is one of three SIUE players with at least 1,000 points and 600 rebounds for his career.  

Shamar Wright is No. 2 in career steals at SIUE with 172.

Lamar Wright is second in career games played at 141.

Lamar Wright has 962 points for his career which ranks 20th all-time at SIUE.

Lamar Wright is No. 2 in all-time blocks (138).