Ohio Valley Conference Championship
SIUE Cougars (21-11, 13-7 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri Redhawks (21-11, 15-5 OVC)
March 7, 8:00 p.m.
Ford Center
Evansville, Indiana
- Tonight marks the Cougars' first appearance in the Championship game. SIUE is 3-8 in nine all-time appearances.
- The No. 2 seed is the highest seed SIUE has earned at the OVC Tournament.
- SIUE is one of only two OVC programs to appear in the tournament in five consecutive years. Morehead State is the other. More on SIUE's tournament history is on page five.
- With 21 wins, SIUE has a program high at the Division I level.
- The Cougars' 13 Ohio Valley Conference wins also are a program high.
- SIUE was 12-3 at home this year, tying the Division I-era mark for home wins.
- The Cougars were 7-8 on the road, also equaling their Division I-era record.
- The Cougars' boast the league's best defense in terms of points allowed. SIUE is tied with Little Rock, allowing 66.7 points per game, which ranks 42nd nationally.
- Including last night, SIUE has held its opponent under 70 points 19 times this year and is 17-2 in those games.
- The Cougars are second in the league in field goal percent defense at .404, which ranks 24th in the NCAA.
- SIUE is scoring 72.7 points per game, which is fourth best in the OVC.
- The Cougars' scoring margin (+6.03) is second best in the league.
- SIUE averages 38.1 rebounds per game, which ranks third in the league.
- The Cougars' rebounding margin (+2.5) is fourth.
- SIUE is second in the league in turnovers, averaging just 11.4 per game.
- The Cougars' turnover margin (+1.5) is fourth in the league.
- The Cougars knocked down a school-record 17 three-pointers against Eureka Dec. 15.
- The win over Eureka was the first time SIUE hit the 100-point mark since December 2014.
- Brian Barone is in his sixth season as Head Coach. He has a career record of 85-102 at SIUE.
- With the win at Morehead State, Barone passed Lennox Forrester for fifth in total wins. He has a record of 48-63 in the OVC.
