The Morehead State Eagles controlled Saturday’s Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship to defeat the Little Rock Trojans 69-55 and become the first team to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament this season.

Senior guard Riley Minix scored a game-high 26 points. Minix — the OVC Player of the Year — was 10-of-16 shooting from the field, while junior guard Drew Thelwell put up 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor in the win. Senior guard Kalil Thomas added 13 points.

The Eagles — this year’s regular-season champions — will be making their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2021, when they lost in the first round to West Virginia.

How will Morehead State likely be seeded?

Morehead State profiles as a likely No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Some of that is based on the weakness of the OVC, which is not nearly as strong as it was before teams like Murray State and Belmont exited. The Eagles entered Saturday ranked 121st in KenPom and 110th in the NET. They did nearly beat Indiana this season, however, losing by a single point in Assembly Hall on Dec. 19. But they also lost to Alabama by 32, Purdue by 30 and Penn State by 23.

Morehead is led by a sharp young coach in Preston Spradlin, a former staffer at Kentucky under John Calipari who led the program to the 2021 tournament with current Auburn star Johni Broome leading the way. Minix, a 6-foot-7 wing and NAIA transfer, averages 20.6 points and 9.9 rebounds. — Brian Bennett, college basketball senior editor

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(Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today)