EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball hits the road for an important Ohio Valley Conference road trip this week when it visits the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Thursday and Southeast Missouri State University Saturday. Tipoff at Little Rock Thursday is set for 7:30 p.m., while the start time at SEMO is slated for 4 p.m.
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The Screaming Eagles (14-13, 7-7 OVC) begins this week in sole possession of seventh in the OVC standings, but one game out of the five-way tie for second in the league. USI also has a two-game lead on eighth place Eastern Illinois University and a three-game lead on Lindenwood University and Little Rock, which are tied for ninth.
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The Eagles hope the momentum generated by their Senior Night victory over Lindenwood will carry over to the road trip. The 74-64 victory over Lindenwood broke a four-game losing streak that had been reached following the 84-69 loss on the road to Tennessee Tech University.
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Senior forward Jacob Polakovich (Grand Rapids, Michigan) led the way last week with 18.5 points and 11.5 rebounds.
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For the season, sophomore guard Isaiah Swope (Newburgh, Indiana) and senior guard Jelani Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) lead the way in the USI scoring column with 14.2 points per game each. Polakovich is averaging 12.4 points per outing along with grabbing a team-best and OVC-best 12.7 rebounds per game.
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The Trojans of Little Rock (8-19, 4-10 OVC) earned a split last week in the OVC, defeating Morehead State University, 72-68, at home and falling to the University of Tennessee at Martin, 84-61. Little Rock has lost three of its last four games.
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Senior guard Myron Gardner leads four Trojans in double-figures with 13.3 points per game. He also is grabbing a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game.
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USI won the first meeting of the series with Little Rock and in OVC play with a 74-67 victory at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Eagles were led by graduate forward Trevor Lakes (Lebanon, Indiana) with 22 points, while Polakovich had a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
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The SEMO Redhawks (13-14, 8-6 OVC) welcome the Eagles to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for the first time since the 1990 NCAA Division II Central Regional. SEMO was swept last week, falling to Tennessee State University, 86-65, and Morehead State University, 65-59. The Redhawks, who host Eastern Illinois Thursday, also have lost three-straight games.
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USI broke a two-game losing skid to SEMO with an 86-81 victory in the OVC opener in December. Polakovich was dominating in the first meeting with 27 points and 26 rebounds.
