No. 8 SIUE Cougars (11-20, 5-13 OVC) vs. No. 5 Tennessee State Tigers (13-17, 8-10 OVC)

Wednesday, March 2, 6:30 p.m.
Ford Center
Evansville, Indiana

RETURN TO EVANSVILLE
SIUE is making its sixth trip to the OVC Championship and fourth since it moved to Evansville. This is the fifth time SIUE has played as the eighth seed. The Cougars have not won a game in the Tournament. More on SIUE's tournament history is on page 5.

HOW WE GOT HERE
Wins in two of its last three, including an 77-70 upset of Morehead State in the season finale, propelled SIUE into the eighth and final spot in the tournament.

DOUBLE DIGIT WINS
With 11 wins, SIUE has its second-most wins in a season at the Division I level. SIUE has won at least 10 games for the first time since the 2018-19 season and the sixth time since moving to Division I play.

LAST MEETING WITH THE TIGERS
Tennessee State completed the season sweep of SIUE Jan. 17, knocking off the Cougars 81-65 in Nashville. TSU never trailed in the game and SIUE tied the score only once, at 14-14, after a three-pointer from Shaun Doss, Jr. with 11:09 to play before halftime. The Tigers stretched the lead to 13 at the break thanks in part to nine offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points in the first 20 minutes. The Cougars did a better job on the boards in the second half, but it wasn't enough. SIUE never got closer than 12, and TSU pushed its lead to as many as 18 points.

TAYLOR INJURED A SECOND TIME
Guard Ray'Sean Taylor has not played since tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the second half of SIUE's game at Southeast Missouri Jan. 29. Taylor sat out the 2020-21 season with the same injury, which he sustained in August 2020. Taylor led SIUE in scoring 14 times, scored in double figures in 19 of 21 games, and scored 20 or more points in a game nine times. He was the leading scorer among first-year players in the country at 17.6 points per game. Taylor won the OVC Freshman of the Week award five times this season.

THREE FOR THE E
In the Cougars' last four regular season games, they combined to shoot .397 (33-83) from three-point range. SIUE hit a season-best 11 three-pointers at Belmont Feb. 19 and followed that up with 10 against Eastern Illinois Feb. 21.

TAKE GOOD CARE
The Cougars turned the ball over a season-low five times in Saturday's game against Morehead State.

SHARP SHOOTERS
SIUE shot 48 percent against Morehead State Saturday. It was the among the best marks this year and was the 12th time that the Cougars have hit at least 45 percent of its shots in a game. SIUE shot on a season-high 52 percent vs. Purdue Fort Wayne.

CARTER CASHING IN
Courtney Carter played more than 44 minutes in Thursday's overtime loss to Austin Peay, scoring a career-high 21 points while adding a career-best seven steals. Since Ray'Sean Taylor was injured, Carter has averaged 36.1 minutes, 10.2 points, 4.7
rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He has also hit 84 percent of his free throws in that time.