The Tennessee State University basketball team tops the Ohio Valley Conference regular season standings for the first time in 32 years and for the third time in history.
On February 28, the Tigers, led by first-year coach Nolan Smith, defeated host University of Texas at Martin 67-42 to tie for first place in the conference finals with Morehead State.
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TSU (21-9, 15-5 in the OVC) and Morehead State split the regular season, with TSU winning the tiebreaker to earn the No. 1 seed in the OVC tournament (March 4-7) in Evansville, Indiana.
TSU will receive a double bye into the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Tigers’ first game will be March 5 at 7 p.m. (ESPNU).
Aaron Nkrumah led TSU with 20 points and Travis Harper added 16 points to help the Tigers take a 35-21 lead late in the first half and never looked back.
Smith looks at March Madness: How Nolan Smith made Tennessee basketball a March Madness contender
Matas Deniusas scored 13 points for UT Martin.
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TSU is one of the best defensive teams in the OVC and they made a dent in UT-Martin’s offense. The Tigers had 13 steals and forced 19 turnovers from the Skyhawks.
UT Martin (21-10, 13-7) tied for first place in the OVC standings with TSU earlier this month but has lost five of its past seven games.
This was TSU’s second win over UT-Martin this season, but the previous game was much closer, with the Tigers winning 78-71 in the OVC opener on Dec. 18 at the Gentry Center. Nkhema also led TSU with 23 points in that game.
Tennessee State has most wins in NCAA history
The 21 wins are Tennessee State’s most since transitioning from the NAIA to NCAA Division I in 1977-78.
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The Tigers won 20 games in 2015-16 under coach Dana Ford and 20 games in 2011-12 under John Cooper.
TSU also set a school record with 15 OVC wins in a season.
The Tigers ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak and have won seven of their last eight games.
Tennessee looking for first NCAA tournament berth since 1994
TSU needs to win two games in the OVC Tournament to earn its second berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1993 after winning the OVC Tournament under former coach Frankie Allen. In the first round of the NCAA tournament that season, TSU lost to Seton Hall 81-59.
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In 1994, Allen led TSU back to the NCAA tournament, where the Tigers lost to Kentucky 80-73.
TSU has advanced to the OVC tournament championship five times, last advancing in 2012 when the Tigers lost 54-52 to Murray State.
Contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared in Nashville Tennessean: TSU basketball wins first OVC regular season title in 32 years
