Game #17
Lindenwood (7-9, 1-2 OVC)
at Tennessee State (8-9, 1-3 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Venue: Gentry Center
Tip-Off: 3:30 p.m. CT
All-Time Series: 0-2
Last Meeting: L, 66-83
Live Stats: Stats
Live Video: Watch

Matchup
The Lindenwood men's basketball team ends their three-game conference road trip as they head to Nashville, Tenn. to take on Tennessee State at 3:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. Lindenwood is looking to even their conference record at 2-2 after picking up a win at SEMO on Thursday by a score of 74-68.

Keenon Cole was a big reason for Lindenwood's success against the Redhawks after he posted a career-high 42 points in 36 minutes of action. He became the first Lindenwood player in their Division I history to score over 40 points in a game. Darius Beane also chipped in 20 points marking the second time both players have scored over 20 in the same game.

Tennessee State comes into Saturday's matchup with a 1-3 conference record and a 8-9 overall record. The Tigers are 6-1 at home including winning their last home conference game against Little Rock by a final score of 90-82. This is the first of two straight home games for TSU.

In OVC play, the Lions are averaging just 64.3 ppg in three games this season and are shooting 44.2% from the field which ranks fourth in conference only stats. On the season, they are scoring 66.9 ppg behind the Lions' two leading scorers Keenon Cole (18.8) and Darius Beane (13.7). This duo combines for 48.5% 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
After a monster performance on Thursday, Keenon Cole now comes into Saturday's matchup as the second leading scorer in the OVC averaging 18.8 points per game. With 42 points at SEMO, he becomes only the third player in the conference to eclipse 300 points scored this season.

It was the first 40 point game by an OVC player since Tennessee State's Jr Clay scored 40 last season on February 28. Cole's 42 points was also the most by an OVC player since Austin Peay's Terry Taylor scored 42 points during the 2018-19 season. Taylor is now a member of the Chicago Bulls.

Cole leads the team this season in points per game (18.8), free throws made (77), total rebounds (96), rebound average (6.0) and minutes played averaging 33.5 this season. During Thursday's performance, he shot 13-23 from the field while making 13-16 from the foul line including ending the game making 10 straight.

OVC Top Ten
Keenon Cole now improves his stats as he only trails UT Martin's Jordan Sears as the leading scorer in the OVC. 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 (33.5) and ranks ninth in free throw percentage (77.8%).

Beane is no slouch either averaging 13.7 points per game, ranking just outside the top ten. His field goal percentage does in fact rank fifth in the OVC at 48.9%. Beane is second in most statistical categories on the team behind Cole.

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 (24).

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 Tennessee State
The Tigers are led by Brian "Penny" Collins who is entering his sixth season at the helm of TSU. He has a career record of 71-96 at Tennessee State. Last season, he led the Tigers to a 10-8 conference record and locked in the #4 seed at the OVC Tournament.

Tennessee State's offense can come at you with a lot of different players including four who average over 10 points a night. Their leading scorer is Christian Brown averaging 14.1 points a game. Brown, a former Georgia transfer, has scored in double digits 12 times this season including 10 straight games.

E.J. Bellinger can also score for the Tigers after averaging 12.5 points this season while also grabbing a team high 5.9 rebounds per game. He leads the Lions team in total rebounds (100) and offensive rebounds (28).

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 return home for two games next week as they host SIUE on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m. CT and Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 3:30 p.m. CT. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.