SIUE Heads to Evansville; Aims for First-Ever OVC Tournament Championship

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The SIUE Cougars men's basketball team wrapped up its regular season on Saturday, March 1, defeating the Little Rock Trojans by a score of 73-65. However, by all accounts the win wasn't just another victory for the Cougars. The win marked the 20th of the season for SIUE, a program record for wins in a single season, along with the most OVC wins in a season since becoming a D1 school. The Cougars finished the regular season with a 20-11 record, as well as 12-3 in the OVC, and heads to the OVC tournament as the No. 2 seed, ensuring two bye games.

Standout guard Ray'Sean Taylor was also named OVC Player of the Year and was named to the All-OVC First Team, a first for SIUE. The Collinsville, IL native led the Cougars in scoring, averaging 19.2 points per game, while also grossing the most points in the conference in the 2024-2025 season. Taylor is only 41 points away from the all-time scoring record at SIUE.

OVC Tournament

Regardless of the regular season, the Cougars are hungry for more. They head to Evansville, Indiana, already assured a program-best semifinal finish in the OVC tournament, but look to claim their first-ever OVC tournament win. The Cougars will have to win two games, first against the winner of the No. 3 seed Tennessee State and No. 6 Lindenwood vs. No. 7 Morehead state game, and then against the winner of the opposite side of the bracket. Notably, SIUE will not have to endure OVC regular-season champ SEMO until the championship game, should they make it that far--the Cougars fell to SEMO twice in the regular season.

The Cougars will play their semifinal match on Friday, March 7, at 9:30 PM CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. Should the Cougars win, they will play in the championship game on Saturday, March 8, at 8:00 PM CT, televised on ESPN2.

The winner of the OVC tourney will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which would be the first for SIUE in the D1 era.