Tier Three
No. 11 – Lindenwood Lions – (4-6)
The Lions have earned one, Division 1 victory this season. Three of Lindenwood’s victories have come against sub-Division 1 teams and three of their losses have come at the hands of Southeastern Conference teams. They are impossible to clearly evaluate.
During the season’s first five weeks, the OVC’s ‘Freshman of the Week’ has come from the LU roster. Three times, Jadis Jones has claimed the title and twice it was class mate Clayton Jackson. The Lindenwood future appears to be bright.
Jones leads the Lions in scoring (11.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.3).
This is the Lions’ third season as a D1 program. While the growing pains are real for the league’s lowest rated team at kenpom.com, the Lions are third in the OVC in scoring defense and fourth in scoring. There is potential on Kyle Gerdeman’s team.
No. 10 – Tennessee Martin Skyhawks – (3-7)
When Jeremy Shulman took the UTM job, he had to completely remake the Skyhawk roster. His team is filled with former junior college players, familiar to Shulman and his junior college background.
Daytona State College transfer Josue Grullon is the OVC’s top scorer (18.1 ppg). Grullon was rated as the nation’s twenty-seventh best junior college player and three times he has topped the twenty-point mark.
UC Riverside transfer Vlad Salaridze is the OVC’s second leading rebounder (7.8 per game).
After an opening night win over Illinois State, UTM is 2-7 with both wins coming against sub-D1 teams. Only two of their loses have been as close as ten points.
No. 9 – Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles – (4-6)
Tennessee Tech has lost three straight and five of its last six games. John Pelphrey’s team is ranked last among the OVC’s eleven teams in both rebounding margin and scoring defense, but they gave Georgia a rough go in an opening night loss to the Bulldogs (83-78).
Then three-straight wins gave TTU fans real optimism before the tumble of the last six games.
Leading scorer Rodney Johnson (13.6 ppg) is the OVC’s second most accurate shooter (.592) and the senior is grabbing 5.1 rebounds per game. Jaylon Johnson (no relation) is averaging 12.1 points and 5.3 assists per game.
No. 8 – Eastern Illinois Panthers – 3-6
The Panthers have just one Division 1 victory. Two wins have been against sub-D1 teams. While EIU has lost four games with ‘power conference’ teams, they did force Northwestern to overtime and lost by just nine points at DePaul.
Marty Simmons’ team’s best win is against kenpom #349 Northern Illinois. The stiff competition has influenced the Panthers’ ranking in league statistics. EIU is second worst in scoring and rebounding margin and third worst in scoring defense. The Panthers have been largely overmatched.
EIU’s most productive player is Kooper Jacobi. After missing the second half of last season, the 6’7 Jacobi is leading the OVC in rebounds (8.6 per game), free throw percentage (.857) and is tenth in scoring (15.0). Second on that free throw list (.829) and in the league scoring race (17.8) is teammate Nakyel Shelton.