Lindenwood Picked To Finish Ninth In OVC Preseason Basketball Poll

The Ohio Valley Conference released its 2024-25 men's basketball preseason predicted order of finish poll Wednesday morning. Lindenwood was picked to finish ninth, after going 9-22 and finishing in last place last season.

This year will be Lindenwood's third season as an NCAA Division I team. The Lions finished in eighth place in 2022-23 and qualified for the postseason OVC Championship Tournament.

Lindenwood received 67 points in the poll, which put them ahead of Tennessee-Martin and Tennessee Tech, who finished 10th and 11th. Arkansas-Little Rock was the team picked to win the OVC this season. The Trojans received 20 of the 22 first-place votes and 200 points in the poll.

Western Illinois was picked second (receiving 172 points), while SIU-Edwardsville picked up the other two first-place votes and 151 points to finish third. Tennessee State was tabbed fourth (134 points), followed by defending league champion Morehead State (131), Eastern Illinois (87), Southeast Missouri State (86), and Southern Indiana (79).

The OVC once again includes 11 teams and each team will play every other league team twice for a full 20-game conference schedule. League play will begin in December and go all the way until the beginning of March, which will lead into the OVC Tournament, March 5-8 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.

Junior swingman Jeremiah Talton is Lindenwood's top returning scorer, after averaging 7.5 points per game last season. (Photo: Thomas Grove -- STLBigTimeSports.com)

The Ohio Valley Conference also selected two 'Players To Watch" from each OVC school to start the upcoming season. Jeremiah Talton and newcomer Markeith Browning II were tabbed as Lindenwood's players to watch for the 2024-25 season.

Talton, a junior forward from Quincy, Ill., is in his second season at Lindenwood and will be the Lions' returning leading scorer, after averaging 7.0 points per game last season. Talton posted 10 games of over 10 points in 2023-24, including a career-high 18 vs. SIUE.

Talton will also be Lindenwood's top returning three-point shooter. Last year, he made 37.6 percent of his attempts from three anf 41 total, which was second-most on the team.

Browning II will join Lindenwood after spending the previous three seasons at Milwaukee, where he appeared in 54 games and made 29 starts. Browning averaged 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds at Milwaukee. He reached double-figures in points in 22 games in his career, including a career-high 25 points in a game last season against Green Bay.

2024-25 OVC Men’s Basketball Predicted Order of Finish
1. Little Rock (20 first-place votes) - 200 points
2. Western Illinois - 172
3. SIUE (2) - 151
4. Tennessee State - 134
5. Morehead State - 131
6. Eastern Illinois - 87
7. Southeast Missouri - 86
8. Southern Indiana - 79
9. Lindenwood - 67
10. UT Martin - 52
11. Tennessee Tech - 51

Lindenwood will begin play with an exhibition game at Hyland Arena against Hannibal-La Grange on October 29. The regular season will kick off with a game against Oklahoma on Monday, November 4.

Lindenwood's home opener will be November 7 against the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy. Tip off that evening is slated for 6 p.m.

2024-25 LINDENWOOD MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Nov. 4 at Oklahoma -- 8 pm
Nov. 7 vs. UHSP -- 6 pm
Nov. 14 vs. New Orleans in PA -- 3 pm
Nov. 15 at Robert Morris -- 6 pm
Nov. 16 vs. Stonehill in PA -- 12 pm
Nov. 21 at Valparaiso -- 7 pm
Nov. 27 at Missouri -- 5:30 pm
Dec. 4 vs. East-West -- TBD
Dec. 7 at Mississippi -- 7 pm
Dec. 10 vs. Harris-Stowe -- 6 pm
Dec. 14 vs. IU-Indy -- 3:30 pm
Dec. 19 vs. Tenn Tech* -- 7:30 pm
Dec. 21 vs. Western Illinois* -- 3:30 pm
Jan. 2 at Eastern Illinois* -- 7:30 pm
Jan. 4 at SIUE* -- 3:30 pm
Jan. 9 vs. Tenn St.* -- 7:30 pm
Jan. 11 vs. UT-Martin* -- 3:30 pm
Jan. 16 at Southern Indiana* -- 7:30 pm
Jan. 18 at Morehead St.* -- 2:30 pm
Jan. 23 vs. SEMO* -- 7:30 pm
Jan. 25 vs. Little Rock* -- 3:30 pm
Jan. 30 vs. SIUE* -- 7:30 pm
Feb. 1 vs. Eastern Illinois* -- 3:30 pm
Feb. 6 at UT-Martin* -- 7:30 pm
Feb. 8 at Tenn St.* -- TBD
Feb. 13 vs. Morehead St.* -- 7:30 pm
Feb. 15 vs. Southern Indiana* -- 3:30 pm
Feb. 20 at Little Rock* -- 7:00 pm
Feb. 22 at SEMO* -- 3:45 pm
Feb. 25 at Western Illinois* -- 7:30 pm
Mar. 1 at Tenn Tech* -- 3:00 pm
Mar. 5-8 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in Evansville, IN
* - denotes Ohio Valley Conference game