Morehead State University’s men’s basketball team is preparing for the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Tournament, where they will enter as the No. 2 seed and require two wins to secure the championship. The Eagles are set to play in the semifinals on Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
The team’s opponent will be determined by earlier tournament results between Southeast Missouri (SEMO), Lindenwood, and Little Rock. Little Rock and Lindenwood face off on Wednesday, with the winner advancing to play SEMO on Thursday for a spot against Morehead State.
The semifinal game will be broadcast on ESPNU with commentary from Robert Lee and Richie Schueler. Fans can also tune into the Eagle Sports Radio Network via WIVY-96.3 FM, WMST 106.9 FM, WPKE 98.1 in Pikeville, WPRT 104.5 in Prestonsburg, or stream through MSUEagles.com.
Morehead State finished the regular season with a record of 19-12 overall and 15-5 in OVC play, marking their second-highest conference win total in program history behind only the 2020-21 season’s 17 victories. The team has claimed at least a share of three out of four recent OVC regular season titles.
Jonathan Mattox, named OVC co-Coach of the Year, became the first coach in program history to lead his team to an OVC regular-season championship in each of his first two years as head coach. The coaching staff overhauled the roster this year, retaining only two players who saw minutes last season.
“Jonathan Mattox is a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award by CollegeInsider.com, honoring Division I’s top minority head coach.”
This year marks Morehead State’s eighth consecutive appearance in the OVC Tournament—the longest active streak among current teams—and they have reached the title game three times since 2021.
Individual accolades include George Marshall Jr.’s selection to First-Team All-OVC and Jon Carroll’s Second-Team all-conference and All-Newcomer honors. Marshall surpassed 1,200 career points this season and ranks second among all OVC players with both free throws made (122) and free throw percentage (84 percent). Carroll leads all tournament participants in rebounds this year.
Other notable achievements include Chase Dawson and Davion Cunningham both reaching at least 900 career college points during the regular season finale. The Eagles enter tournament play on a seven-game winning streak and have won eleven of their last thirteen games while holding opponents under 63 points three times during that stretch.
Statistically, Morehead State has scored at least 70 points in twenty-one games this season and ranks third in conference scoring offense at nearly seventy-six points per game. They also hold a strong record when making more free throws than their opponents or shooting fifty percent or better from the field.
Award recognitions throughout the season included multiple weekly honors for Davion Cunningham as Player and Newcomer of the Week; Vince Dawson III as Freshman of the Week; and Jon Carroll as Newcomer of the Week twice late in conference play.
As Morehead State awaits its semifinal opponent, it aims to continue its successful run through another postseason tournament appearance.
