For the first time in 30 years, the Tennessee State men’s basketball team will enter the Ohio Valley Conference tournament as a top seed.
Senior guard Aaron Nkrumah poured in a game-high 20 points as the Tigers secured a dominant 67-42 win at UT-Martin Saturday afternoon.
The win clinches a share of the OVC title for the Tigers, who tied Morehead State with a 15-5 conference record. Both TSU and Morehead State have earned automatic byes to the OVC tournament semifinals.
Tennessee State also set a Division I school record for overall wins with their 21st. This is also the first time the Tigers have won a share of the OVC regular season title since 1995.
For the first time since 1995, we are @OVCSports Regular Season Co-Champions and are the NUMBER 1 seed in Tournament. pic.twitter.com/qvXrUALgJk
— Tennessee State Men’s Basketball (@TSUTigersMBB) February 28, 2026
The game was tied at 6 when Nkrumah made two free throws 5:08 into the first half to give the Tigers the lead for good.
Tennessee State continued to pour it on.
Nkrumah buried a three-pointer with 4:07 left in the first half to give TSU their largest lead (at that time) at 33-15.
Tennessee State carried it over to the second half, starting the period on a 22-9 run that opened up a 57-30 lead with 9 minutes to go in the game.
Travis Harper II joined Nkrumah in double figures with 16 points. The Tigers’ defense was another key to victory, forcing 19 Skyhawk turnovers and holding them to a miserable 15 of 46 (33 percent) shooting performance.
