New faces, young talent lead Redhawks to new heights in OVC Tournament

The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks did the unthinkable this past weekend.

The Redhawks rallied out of the first round as the five seed and danced all the way to the Ohio Valley Conference championship game for the first time since 2000 before taking down second-seeded Tennessee Tech to claim a guaranteed bid to the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

While it’s easy to see how statistics could lean in the favor of the Redhawks, such as being a top-10 fastest team in the nation at 72.7 possessions per game, it’s not exactly a situation that many Redhawks fans saw the team being in one year ago.

The Redhawks placed fourth in the 2021-22 Ohio Valley Conference regular season before going 1-1 at the conference tournament, taking a 24-point win against Tennessee State before falling short against the top-seeded Murray State in the semifinal stage.

Following the season, leading scorer Eric Reed Jr. announced his intent to transfer to Mississippi State University out of the Southeastern Conference, taking his 16.1 point-per-game contributions for the Redhawks with him.

The losses kept adding up. DQ Nicholas, the Redhawks’ leader in offensive rating, transferred to Gardner-Webb University out of the Big South. Nygal Russell, the best rebounder statistically on the team, transferred to Towson.

The Redhawks graduated Manny Patterson and Nana Akenten, who combined to play 60% of the team’s minutes in the post in the 2021-22 season.

In total, of the 75.6 points that the Redhawks scored per game in the 2021-22 season, the Redhawks retained just 30.5 points per game of it.

The four returners for the Redhawks are Phillip Russell, Chris Harris, Nate Johnson, and Dylan Branson.

After finishing second on the team in points scored per game with 13.4 in his freshman season, Russell stepped into his role as the primary scorer for the 2022-23 campaign.

Russell scored 18.2 points per game across the full season while scoring 19.9 points per game in Ohio Valley Conference play while also leading the team in assists per game at 5.0, becoming far and away the best passer on the team.

Chris Harris’ 15.4 points per game put him in second in team scoring, while Nate Johnson’s 35 games started leads the team, shooting 64.9% from the field and scoring 6.5 points per game. Dylan Branson, on 24 minutes per game, scores 6.8 points, grabs 4.5 rebounds, and dishes out 1.9 assists to remain an all-around threat for the Redhawks.

It’s the new additions for the Redhawks, however, that have coach Brad Korn’s squad flying high into March Madness for the first time since 2000.

Aquan Smart immediately stands out as a big-name transfer, initially committing to Maryland out of high school before making a stop at Florida International for the 2021-22 season and finally ending up in Cape Girardeau. Smart has the third-highest steal rate in the conference with 3.2% of opposing possessions ending in an Aquan Smart steal.

After initially ending up at Weber State for two years and spending another two at Division II Newman in Wichita, Kansas, redshirt senior Israel Barnes played a large role in the Redhawks’ overtime win against Tennessee Tech, converting an and-1 and drilling a 3-pointer to propel the Redhawks past the Golden Eagles.

Barnes has proven himself to be among the most reliable offensive threats for the Redhawks this season, turning the ball over on just 9.2% of involved possessions, ranking third in the Ohio Valley Conference while stretching as high as 47th in the country.

Josh Earley transferred in from Tulsa, spending three seasons with the Golden Hurricanes before coming to Southeast Missouri State, helping to fill a chunk of time in the post.

Kobe Clark, previously at Georgetown for two seasons, fills in at the forward positions for the Redhawks after being worked out of the Hoyas’ system. Clark reaches the floor at a clip of roughly 15 minutes per game.

Last is Adam Larson, a redshirt freshman who has worked his way into a couple of tight spots for the Redhawks. Larson comes in with an offensive rating of 115.3, scoring 5.0 points per game across his average of 13.4 minutes per game – a consistent, efficient, and lengthy young forward with promise in his Redhawk future.

With an arsenal of weapons moving in for the Redhawks, the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appeared to be a tough task, but the squad overcame the seemingly steep odds and punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

According to current projections, it appears that the Redhawks are headed for an automatic bid to the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. With a win, the Redhawks would advance to face one of the top two teams in the country, with Houston, UCLA, Kansas, and Alabama being the likely favorites to face the Redhawks.

With Southeast Missouri State controlling its destiny with an automatic qualifier bid, the Redhawks anxiously await Selection Sunday at the Show Me Center.