Game #16
Lindenwood (6-9, 0-2 OVC)
at Southeast Missouri State (6-10, 1-2 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Show Me Center
Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m. CT
All-Time Series: 1-2
Last Meeting: L, 65-84 (OVC Tournament)
Live Stats: Stats
Live Video: Watch

Matchup
The Lindenwood men's basketball team takes on in-state rival Southeast Missouri State on Thursday at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. starting at 7:30 p.m. CT. Head coach Kyle Gerdeman will be returning home to his alma mater for the second time in his career.

Lindenwood is still looking for their first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season after dropping their first two games vs. Southern Indiana and at Western Illinois. LU dropped their first OVC road game of the season on Saturday at WIU by a final score of 57-68. Darius Beane had a team high 16 points in the loss.

The defending OVC Championships SEMO is coming into this matchup with a 1-2 OVC record including a win over USI in OT. In their last conference game, the Redhawks fell to Western Illinois on the road by a final score of 61-68. All six of SEMO's wins have come at home in the Show Me Center.

In OVC play, the Lions are averaging just 59.5 ppg in two games this season and are shooting 40.8% from the field. On the season, they are scoring 66.5 ppg behind the Lions' two leading scorers Keenon Cole (17.3) and Darius Beane (13.3). This duo combines for 46% of Lindenwood's scoring.

To begin the season, the Lions were picked to finish 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference as they begin their second Division I season in program history under head coach Kyle Gerdeman.

Player to Watch
Darius Beane has notched back-to-back double digit scoring efforts in the first two games of conference play. Against Southern Indiana on New Year's Eve, Beane had 10 points on 4-10 shooting from the floor. He backed that up with a team-high 16 points at Western Illinois.

The red-shirt senior is currently averaging 13.3 points per game, second best on the Lindenwood squad. He has scored in double digits in 10 games this season including a season high 25 points in a win over William & Mary at the Air Force Classic.

Beane has the seventh highest field goal percentage in the conference through the first 15 games at 47.9%. He is also Lindenwood's best passer averaging 2.1 assists (31 total). Beane joins Keenon Cole as the only two Lions averaging over 30 minutes per contest (30.1 mpg).

OVC Top Ten
Keenon Cole remains in the top three in scoring in the OVC with an average of 17.3 points per game. Cole has scored in double figures in every game this season, the longest streak since the 2020-21 season (TJ Crockett). He is also averaging the fourth most minutes in the conference averaging 33.3 per game. Cole's free throw percentage of 77.1% also ranks ninth.

As mentioned before, Beane has the seventh highest field goal percentage in the OVC after shooting 47.9% from the floor. He has shot over 50.0% from the field in seven contests this season including a season high 71.4% vs. Hannibal-LaGrange.

Colin Ruffin is averaging 1.5 steals per game as a freshman this season which ranks sixth in the conference. He is the only Lindenwood player with over 20 steals this season (22).

OVC Preseason Rankings
In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men's basketball coaches and communication directors, Morehead State has been picked the preseason favorites for the 2023-24 season. It marks the second-straight year the Eagles have been tabbed the favorites.
 
The Eagles picked up 20 of 22 first-place votes (teams could not vote for themselves); Tennessee State picked up the other votes.  MSU tallied 200 points and was followed by SIUE (162), who was picked second. Tennessee State (153) was picked third and followed by UT Martin (149), Southeast Missouri (124), Tennessee Tech (120), Little Rock (85), Western Illinois (80), Southern Indiana (63), Lindenwood (40) and Eastern Illinois (34).

Scouting Southeast Missouri State
The Redhawks are led by fourth year head coach Brad Korn who has a career record of 50-61. Korn led SEMO to an NCAA Appearance last season after winning the OVC Conference Championship. He helped SEMO become the first #5 seed to ever win the OVC Tournament.

Rob Martin leads a trio of Redhawks that score in double figures. Martin leads the bunch averaging 12.0 ppg. He is shooting 41.7% from downtown while making 20 triples. He is also dishing out 3.3 assists per game including a season high seven vs. Southern Indiana.

Head Coach: Kyle Gerdeman
Kyle Gerdeman enters his fifth year at the helm of the Lindenwood men's basketball program in the 2023-24 season. The Lions concluded their inaugural Division I season in 2022-23 where Gerdeman led the Lions to an appearances in the OVC Tournament after a wild finish to the season.

The Lions took down in-state rival Southeast Missouri State in double-overtime to keep their postseason hopes alive.  In the final game of the regular season, Lindenwood needed a win to move on, and Kevin Caldwell Jr. answered the call with a game-winning bucket in overtime.

Lindenwood led the OVC in free-throw percentage (75.6), and was second in the OVC in three-point percentage (39.1).  Chris Childs held the top spot in the league with a free-throw percentage of 92.7, while Keenon Cole was atop the OVC with a three-point percentage of 51.0 percent.  The Lions clawed their way to three overtime wins on the season.  Lindenwood also posted two comeback victories from 20 points down, and another 17-point comeback during OVC play.

Up Next
The Lions end their three-game OVC road trip on Saturday as they travel to Nashville, Tenn. to take on the Tigers of Tennessee State. Lindenwood will tip-off at 3:30 p.m. CT at the Gentry Center. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.