2026 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

2026 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2025–26
Teams8
SiteFord Center
Evansville, Indiana
ChampionsTennessee State (3rd title)
Winning coachNolan Smith (1st title)
MVPDante Harris (Tennessee State)
Attendance5,062 (Overall)
1,545 (Final)
TelevisionESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+
2025–26 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Tennessee State † 15 – 5   .750 23 – 10   .697
Morehead State 15 – 5   .750 20 – 13   .606
Southeast Missouri State 14 – 6   .700 20 – 13   .606
UT Martin 13 – 7   .650 22 – 11   .667
SIU Edwardsville 12 – 8   .600 19 – 13   .594
Lindenwood 11 – 9   .550 18 – 15   .545
Little Rock 9 – 11   .450 12 – 20   .375
Eastern Illinois 8 – 12   .400 13 – 20   .394
Tennessee Tech 8 – 12   .400 13 – 18   .419
Southern Indiana 4 – 16   .200 7 – 23   .233
Western Illinois 1 – 19   .050 5 – 26   .161
† 2026 OVC tournament winner

The 2026 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the final event of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in the Ohio Valley Conference. The tournament was held March 4–7, 2026, at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.[1] The tournament winner, Tennessee State received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Seeds

Only the top eight teams in the conference qualified for the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[2]

Seed School Conference
Record 		Tiebreaker
1 Tennessee State 15–5 2–0 vs. UT Martin
2 Morehead State 15–5 1–1 vs. UT Martin
3 Southeast Missouri State 14–6
4 UT Martin 13–7
5 SIU Edwardsville 12–8
6 Lindenwood 11–9
7 Little Rock 9–11
8 Eastern Illinois 8–12 2–0 vs. Tennessee Tech
DNQ Tennessee Tech 8–12 0–2 vs. Eastern Illinois
DNQ Southern Indiana 4–16
DNQ Western Illinois 1–19

Schedule

Game Time Matchup Score Attendance Television
First Round – Wednesday, March 4
1 6:00 p.m. No. 5 SIU Edwardsville vs. No. 8 Eastern Illinois 71–77 OT 929 ESPN+
2 8:30 p.m. No. 6 Lindenwood vs. No. 7 Little Rock 72–62
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 5
3 6:00 p.m. No. 4 UT Martin vs. No. 8 Eastern Illinois 66–63 1,101 ESPN+
4 8:30 p.m. No. 3 Southeast Missouri State vs. No. 6 Lindenwood 68–66
Semifinals – Friday, March 6
5 7:00 p.m. No. 1 Tennessee State vs. No. 4 UT Martin 68–55 1,487 ESPNU
6 9:30 p.m. No. 2 Morehead State vs. No. 3 Southeast Missouri State 66–61
Final – Saturday, March 7
7 8:00 p.m. No. 1 Tennessee State vs. No. 2 Morehead State 93–67 1,545 ESPN2
All game times in Central Time Zone; ranking denotes tournament seed.[3]

Bracket

First Round
Wednesday, March 4
ESPN+		Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 5
ESPN+		Semifinals
Friday, March 6
ESPNU		Final
Saturday, March 7
ESPN2
1Tennessee State68
4UT Martin664UT Martin55
5SIU Edwardsville71 OT8Eastern Illinois631Tennessee State93
8Eastern Illinois772Morehead State67
2Morehead State66
3Southeast Missouri State683Southeast Missouri State61
6Lindenwood726Lindenwood66
7Little Rock62

Source:[4]

Game summaries

First Round

March 4
6:00 p.m. CST
No. 5 SIU Edwardsville 71, No. 8 Eastern Illinois 77 (OT)
Scoring by half: 31–40, 34–25 Overtime: 6–12
Pts: 19 – T. King
Rebs: 12 – A. Sakenis
Asts: 8 – J. Campion		 Pts: 23 – Z. Fruster
Rebs: 13 – T. McMorris
Asts: 5 – M. White
Eastern Illinois advances to Quarterfinal Round
Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Referees: Steve Divine, James Gibson, Eric Lowe
ESPN+
March 4
8:30 p.m.
No. 6 Lindenwood 72, No. 7 Little Rock 62
Scoring by half: 35–21, 37–41
Pts: 24 – M. Nenadic
Rebs: 11 – Tied (2)
Asts: 4 – A. Futrell		 Pts: 17 – J. Lawson
Rebs: 11 – N. Kachi
Asts: 5 – J. Lawson
Lindenwood advances to Quarterfinal Round
Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Attendance: 929
Referees: Jason Baker, Aaron Denton, James Hicks

Quarterfinal Round

March 5
6:00 p.m. CST
No. 4 UT Martin 66, No. 8 Eastern Illinois 63
Scoring by half: 27–22, 39–41
Pts: 17 – Tied (2)
Rebs: 10 – A. Bukumirović
Asts: 4 – F. Radaković		 Pts: 18 – P. Turner
Rebs: 12 – T. McMorris
Asts: 3 – M. White
UT Martin advances to Semifinal Round
Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Referees: James Curran, Blake Harris, Kevin Mathis
ESPN+
March 5
8:30 p.m.
No. 3 Southeast Missouri State 68, No. 6 Lindenwood 66
Scoring by half: 25–34, 43–32
Pts: 16 – B. Stacker
Rebs: 5 – Tied (3)
Asts: 3 – Tied (2)		 Pts: 17 – A. Futrell
Rebs: 9 – Tied (2)
Asts: 2 – Tied (2)
Southeast Missouri State advances to Semifinal Round
Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Attendance: 1,101
Referees: Steve Divine, James Hicks, Craig Murley

Semifinal Round

March 6
7:00 p.m. CST
No. 1 Tennessee State 68, No. 4 UT Martin 55
Scoring by half: 36–28, 32–27
Pts: 19 – A. Nkrumah
Rebs: 10 – A. Lorick III
Asts: 4 – Tied (2)		 Pts: 17 – A. Bukumirović
Rebs: 6 – P. Santos
Asts: 3 – Tied (2)
Tennessee State advances to Final Round
Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Referees: Kevin Driver, Chris Fuller, Barry Mathis
ESPNU
March 6
9:30 p.m.
No. 2 Morehead State 66, No. 3 Southeast Missouri State 61
Scoring by half: 29–36, 37–25
Pts: 22 – A. Mellouk
Rebs: 14 – J. Carroll
Asts: 2 – C. Dawson		 Pts: 17 – B. Stacker
Rebs: 8 – M. Bell
Asts: 6 – B. Ward
Morehead State advances to Final Round
Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Attendance: 1,487
Referees: Kyle Bottoms, Jabir Walker, Bryan Washer

Final Round

March 7
8:00 p.m. CST
No. 1 Tennessee State 93, No. 2 Morehead State 67
Scoring by half: 55–34, 38–33
Pts: 18 – A. Lorick III
Rebs: 11 – D. Harris
Asts: 6 – A. Nkrumah		 Pts: 17 – G. Marshall
Rebs: 10 – J. Carroll
Asts: 3 – J. LeGree
Championship
Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Attendance: 1,545
Referees: Kevin Driver, Jabir Walker, Bryan Washer

Awards and honors

All-Tournament Team

Player Team
Travis Harper II Tennessee State
Dante Harris MVP Tennessee State
George Marshall Morehead State
Aaron Nkrumah Tennessee State
Braxton Stacker Southeast Missouri State

MVP denotes Most Valuable Player

References

  1. ^ Glasscock, Griffin (January 8, 2026). "OVC Basketball Championships returning to Ford Center in March". WEVV 44News. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
  2. ^ "Men's & Women's Basketball Tiebreaker". ovcsports.com. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
  3. ^ "2026 OVC Men's & Women's Basketball Championship - Ohio Valley Conference". ovcsports.com. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
  4. ^ "(PDF) - Ohio Valley Conference" (PDF). ovcsports.com. March 1, 2026. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
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