Tennessee State visits SIU-Edwardsville after Nkrumah’s 24-point outing

By Canadian Press on January 21, 2026.

Tennessee State Tigers (12-6, 6-2 OVC) at SIU-Edwardsville Cougars (11-8, 4-4 OVC)

Edwardsville, Illinois; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Tennessee State plays SIU-Edwardsville after Aaron Nkrumah scored 24 points in Tennessee State’s 73-67 win over the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles.

The Cougars have gone 5-4 at home. SIU-Edwardsville is sixth in the OVC scoring 73.3 points while shooting 44.3% from the field.

The Tigers are 6-2 in OVC play. Tennessee State is fourth in the OVC with 14.1 assists per game led by Dante Harris averaging 4.3.

SIU-Edwardsville scores 73.3 points per game, 3.2 fewer points than the 76.5 Tennessee State gives up. Tennessee State averages 6.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.7 fewer makes per game than SIU-Edwardsville gives up.

The Cougars and Tigers face off Thursday for the first time in OVC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ring Malith is scoring 17.0 points per game with 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the Cougars. Arnas Sakenis is averaging 10.1 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 67.2% over the last 10 games.

Travis Harper II is scoring 17.1 points per game and averaging 4.6 rebounds for the Tigers. Nkrumah is averaging 15.8 points and 4.5 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cougars: 5-5, averaging 70.2 points, 30.0 rebounds, 13.9 assists, 8.4 steals and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.7 points per game.

Tigers: 7-3, averaging 78.6 points, 32.9 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 9.2 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press