Nashville's top college basketball players heading into conference action

With college basketball teams heading into conference play, it's time to take a look at some of the area's top players who will be depended on now more than ever.

The pre-conference schedule provided the opportunity for some players to pick up where they left off last season while others took advantage of the time to step into more prominent roles.

Ben Sheppard, Belmont

The Bruins are leaning heavily on Sheppard, a 6-foot-6, senior guard from Atlanta, after making the move to the Missouri Valley Conference without two of their best players in Nick Muszynski and Grayson Murphy, both of whom chose not to return for their final year of eligibility.

Sheppard has improved his scoring average by nearly two points to 18.1 per game and is ranked third in the conference.

He is also in the top 10 in the conference in steals (1.73), assists (3.5) and average minutes (34.9).

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Jr. Clay, Tennessee State

Clay is one of those players who carried over the momentum he gained last season. The difference is that Clay switched teams. After spending four seasons at Tennessee Tech, where he became one of the best players in the program's history, Clay is now lighting it up at TSU.

The 6-foot guard from Chattanooga became Tech's eighth all-time leading scorer with 1,661 career points and was a three-time All-OVC second-team selection.

At TSU, Clay is leading the OVC in scoring (17.1 ppg.) and assists (4.9), and ranks in the top 10 in seven other statistical categories. He moved to 10th on the OVC career steals (221) list last week.

Clay has teamed with former Pearl-Cohn star Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. (15.0 ppg., 3.7 rebounds) to give the Tigers the most productive backcourt in the OVC.

DeAndre Dishman, MTSU

Dishman is one of just seven NCAA Division I players in the nation in his seventh season. He will turn 24 on Jan. 13.

The muscular 6-6, Lexington, Kentucky, native, who began his career in 2016 at Eastern Kentucky, is the Blue Raiders' leading scorer (12.2) and rebounder (5.6) and is second in assists (2.4) and blocked shots (0.9).

In an 85-75 win at Belmont, Dishman had a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) along with three steals.

Jacob Ognacevic, Lipscomb

In his first game at Lipscomb after transferring from Valparaiso last season, Ognacevic had 30 points and seven rebounds in a win over Birmingham Southern. He cracked the starting lineup six games later and has been one of the Bisons' best players since then.

The 6-7 sophomore from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, scored the winning bucket against Belmont with one second left on Nov. 14 and then had 19 points in a 66-65 loss to Notre Dame in the next game. He was 9-of-12 from the field against the Fighting Irish.

Ognacevic is sixth in the Atlantic Sun in scoring (15.1 ppg.) and tied for fourth in field goal percentage (59.1).

Elijah Hutchins-Everett, Austin Peay

The 6-11 Hutchins-Everett was the OVC freshman of the year last season, made the All-OVC second team and became the first freshman to lead Austin Peay in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage in a season.

The Governors are no longer in the OVC but Hutchins-Everett is still dominating. He is leading Austin Peay in scoring (14.3) and rebounding (6.7). He recorded his first double-double of the season (17 points, 11 rebounds) on Dec. 16 in a 68-60 loss at Murray State.

Hutchins-Everett was a four-star recruit from Orange, New Jersey, who originally committed to play at Penn State.

Jaylen Sebree, Tennessee Tech

The Golden Eagles have struggled this season but feature one of the top players in the OVC in Sebree. The 6-7 graduate senior began his career at Florida Atlantic where he played two seasons and then spent the last two seasons at Morehead State.

Sebree was never able to secure a starting position until this season. He has started in 14 of the Golden Eagles' 15 games and is the leading scorer (12.7) and rebounder (6.5).

Sebree scored a season-high 25 points against Lipscomb on Dec. 14 and posted his second double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) against Kentucky Christian on Dec. 20.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's top college basketball players heading into conference play