GAME NOTES: The first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament kicks off Wednesday with a matchup between the eighth-seed Southeast Missouri State Redhawks and the fifth-seed Morehead State Eagles at Municipal Auditorium.

The winner of this game will advance to the OVC quarterfinal round on Thursday to take on fourth-seeded UT Martin.

Southeast Missouri State snuck into the last spot in the tournament after Jacksonville State was defeated by Eastern Kentucky on Feb. 26. The Redhawks are 13-16 this season, and ended a three-game losing streak with an 89-65 victory over Austin Peay in the regular-season finale Saturday. SEMO finished 7-9 in OVC play.

Morehead State ended the regular season on a much higher note. The Eagles won their last three games, which included an 87-55 thrashing of Jacksonville State on Saturday to head into the conference tournament. The Eagles finished the season at 15-16 overall with a 10-6 mark against league opponents.

Morehead State leads the all-time series against Southeast Missouri State, 26-17. The two sides met just once during the regular season, which saw the Eagles come away with a convincing 70-57 victory on the road at Cape Girardeau.

The Redhawks do head into the tournament on a positive note after demolishing Austin Peay over the weekend. SEMO connected on 43.7 percent of its shots in the game, which included a 14-of-28 mark from 3-point range to help the team post 89 points on the scoreboard. The Redhawks also held a 46-30 advantage in rebounding over the Governors in the lopsided win. Jarekious Bradley collected 28 points to lead the team on 11-of-18 shooting, adding in seven rebounds. Isiah Jones chipped in with 16 points, while both Marcus Wallace and Antonius Cleveland added 10 points apiece.

Bradley had a solid season in 2014-15. The senior guard posted a team-best 15.9 ppg mark, though he missed a few games early on and only started 18 this season. He finished the regular season fourth in the OVC in scoring, connecting on 42.7 percent of his shots from the field. Cleveland chipped in 10.7 ppg this season, and Nino Johnson added 10.6 ppg with a team-best 7.1 rpg to round out a trio of double-digit scorers for the Redhawks, who scored an average of 69.4 ppg on 43.9 percent shooting. The team struggled a bit defensively, allowing its opponents to make 43.6 percent of their shots for 68.4 ppg.

Morehead State put the clamps down on Jacksonville State defensively on Saturday in the Eagles' third straight win to finish off the regular season. Morehead State allowed the Gamecocks to shoot a mere 33.3 percent from the floor, while the Eagles buried 41.5 percent of their tries with a 9-of-28 mark from 3-point distance in the win huge win. Morehead State also owned a 55-33 advantage on the boards in the contest. Karam Mashour netted 15 points to lead the team in scoring, adding in eight rebounds and three steals. Billy Reader scored 13 with nine boards, Angelo Warner chipped in with 12 and five assists, and Brent Arrington tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, adding in six assists of his own.

While Warner leads the team in scoring this season with 12.7 ppg, Morehead State has built a foundation around a strong offensive effort that gets plenty of scoring from multiple different outlets. Arrington (11.5 ppg) and Mashour (10.1 ppg) round out a trio of double-digit scorers for the Eagles, but three more players are netting at least 7.4 ppg to contribute to the team's 70.6 ppg this season. Mashour tops the squad in rebounding with 5.8 rpg, and Kareem Storey adds in 124 assists to pace the Eagles. Defensively, the team is giving up 65.7 ppg to opponents on 43.4 percent shooting.

Morehead State was able to take it to Southeast Missouri State pretty easily during the regular season on the road. The neutral site location might provide an even greater opportunity for the Eagles. Expect a full team effort from Morehead State, as the Eagles should be the favorite to advance.