SEMO Mens Basketball

John McGowan did not expect to be the proud owner of a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle after Thursday's Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks men's basketball game. But he said he isn't sure anyone else was expecting it, either. The competition, sponsored by Lawless Harley-Davidson in Scott City and Cape Air, had a Harley-Davidson Street 750 model motorcycle as the prize. Entrants had 30 seconds to sink a free throw, a three-point shot and finally a half-court shot...

The Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball team released its complete 2016-17 schedule Thursday, and it includes 14 games at the Show Me Center. "Our young men will get the chance to compete in historic arenas at Illinois and Indiana, and those games give our fan base the freedom to travel and support us," Southeast coach Rick Ray said in a press release...

Just days from now -- months after wrapping up his basketball-playing career at Southeast Missouri State -- Isiah Jones will cross the Atlantic Ocean to begin a new life as professional basketball player in Cyprus. But before he left the place he's called home for the past two years, the man they call "Hoopie" wanted to try to make a difference in Cape Girardeau...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team wrapped up its signings for the season as it announced the addition of guard Jaylen Benton on Friday. The Redhawks have now filled all of their scholarships for the upcoming season. Benton (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) hails from Columbus, Ohio, and last played in 2014-15 at Monroe College, a junior college in New York City, where he averaged 8.5 points per game and 2.5 assists while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from outside the arc. ...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball assistant Chris Moore and senior forward Joel Angus III are headed to Europe. Southeast announced Thursday that the pair were invited by Global Sports Academy, a not-for-profit that has participated in domestic and international competition for more than 20 years, to compete on the tour, which will span Holland, Germany and Belgium...

Southeast Missouri State punter Alex Knight was one of eight Ohio Valley Conference football players named a STATS Preseason FCS All-American on Monday morning. Knight, whose senior season kicks off September 3 at Memphis, was a third-team selection...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team has released its 2016-17 non-conference schedule, which includes five home games and road trips to some high-profile programs. The season will open Nov. 11 at Illinois, and the Redhawks face another Big Ten foe on the road Dec. 4 when they take on Indiana for the first time...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray filled the vacancy on his staff, announcing the promotion of Nick Lagroone to assistant coach Wednesday. Lagroone, formerly the Redhawks' director of basketball operations, will take over the spot vacated by Benjy Taylor, who left last month to move closer to his family in Hawaii...

Southeast Missouri State forward Joel Angus probably won't forget the way his first season with the Redhawks went last year. The senior described the near-constant losing that occurred in the 5-25 season as, "the worst feeling ever," after he and teammates Antonius Cleveland, Jamaal Calvin and Eli Sample wrapped up a summer basketball workout Tuesday at the Student Recreation Center-North...

It's been just over six months since Benjy Taylor's hiring as a Southeast Missouri State men's basketball assistant was announced, and now Rick Ray will be left filling the spot. Taylor's resignation was announced by the athletic department Monday, and a desire to move closer to his family -- sons Tyler, Otto III and Ostin, and daughter Olive -- was cited as the reason for his departure...

Southeast Missouri State athletics recently wrapped up another year of competition. Like many other years, it ended with a Redhawks track & field athlete competing at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships, but this year Southeast's baseball team was also still competing in June in an NCAA Regional...

The Southeast Missouri State track and field team will be represented by nine athletes at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships West Prelim next weekend. The Redhawks had competitors qualify in eight individual events and one relay team for the preliminary competition, which will be Thursday through Saturday at the University of Kansas...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray signed his sixth guard for next season. Jonathan Dalton, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound guard from Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Missisippi, signed his National Letter of Intent to play for the Redhawks, it was announced Monday...

Southeast Missouri State baseball players Branden Boggetto and Trevor Ezell were selected to the College Sports Information Directors of American Academic All-District 6 team. Boggetto, a senior finance major who's started all 44 games at shortstop this season, has posted a 3.31 grade-point average during his career at Southeast...

Coach Rick Ray continues to add to Southeast Missouri State men's basketball program's backcourt. The signings of two junior college guards, Dondre Duffus and Daniel Simmons, that will join the Redhawks next season was announced Wednesday afternoon...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray and women's basketball coach Rekha Patterson each added a high school senior to their rosters for next season. Guard Tahj Eaddy and guard/forward Jessie Harshberger each signed their National Letter of Intent on Wednesday, the first day of the spring signing period, which ends May 18...

The attrition in Rick Ray's first year at the helm continues, as the list of freshmen departing the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball program has reached four.

Tony Anderson started three games and averaged 5 points for the Redhawks this past season.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray called a timeout with 59.1 seconds left in Saturday night's contest at Austin Peay, immediately after a 3-pointer by junior guard Antonius Cleveland cut the deficit to six points...

The Redhawks were defeated 71-68 by Eastern Illinois on Saturday night at the Show Me Center in their home finale.

SIU Edwardsville held on to defeat the Redhawks 72-69 on Thursday night.

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team's last victory came three weeks ago against SIU Edwardsville. The Redhawks get a chance to go for the season sweep against the Cougars when they host them at 7 p.m. at the Show Me Center tonight. Southeast was officially eliminated from making the Ohio Valley Conference tournament with its loss to Murray State on Saturday...

MURRAY, Ky. -- The Murray State men's basketball team promptly delivered a message to Southeast Missouri State on Saturday night at the CFSB Center with its hot shooting from beyond the arc. The Racers made 9 of their first 11 3-pointers and were 11 of 16 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, as they cruised to an 83-56 victory over the Redhawks, which led coach Rick Ray to re-evaluate how he and his coaching staff relay their scouting report to their players...

MARTIN, Tenn. -- Following his team's road loss to UT Martin on Thursday night, Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray jotted down a couple of numbers on the board. The numbers were five and 40, and didn't indicate any stat. They signified what Ray thinks his team needs to have success, which is five players that give their best effort for the entire game...

Rick Ray is big on numbers. One of the first things the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach, who holds a degree in applied mathematics and secondary education, usually does following a game is point to a handful of stats that led to his team's success of lack thereof...

At practice a couple of days ago, Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach posed a question to her team. "Why did we not play the way we are capable of playing on Saturday?" Patterson asked, referring to the Redhawks' 64-59 loss that snapped a 21-game losing streak for Eastern Illinois...

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- As the final second ticked off the shot clock, Southeast Missouri State forward Trey Kellum received a pass on the block, turned and laid it in to give the Redhawks their largest lead of the game at seven with 3 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first half...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team's chances at a comeback win over rival Murray State slipped away when junior guard Jamaal Calvin slipped with 10.5 seconds left. Calvin came up with a steal, sped toward the other end of the court and was whistled for a travel as he tried to stop himself to make a play with his team trailing by three...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team hosts Ohio Valley Conference rival Murray State in a game set to air on ESPNU tonight. Tipoff between the Redhawks and Racers is set for 8 p.m. from the Show Me Center. The game will be televised locally on My49-WDKA...

The Redhawks' 86-80 loss snapped a three-game winning streak.

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Rick Ray kept repeating the same phrase over and over. "He was passing," the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach pleaded with the referee as SIU Edwardsville leading scorer Burak Eslik stepped up to the free-throw line during the second half...

There's no doubt that the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team has a bit more confidence as it heads to Edwardsville, Illinois, to face the SIU Edwardsville Cougars tonight. The Redhawks have won two in a row to improve to 4-16 overall and 1-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference...

As men's basketball teams within the Ohio Valley Conference have reached or are nearing the midpoint of OVC regular-season action, most coaches have come to the general consensus that the East Division is superior, Belmont is the team to beat and there's still plenty of time left to see what happens...

The Redhawks led by as many as 19 before defeating the Skyhawks 68-60 in overtime on Sunday night.

With the Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball game between Southeast Missouri State and UT Martin pushed back to today it gave the Redhawks another 24 hours to work on what their new emphasis is: man-to-man defense. Southeast, which had only spent one day practicing man defense prior to their 84-61 win over NAIA Hannibal-LaGrange on Tuesday, is focused on buckling down on the defensive end when it hosts the Skyhawks at 4:15 p.m...

Rick Ray's first coaching staff at Southeast Missouri State is finally complete. The athletic department announced the hiring of Benjy Taylor as an assistant Thursday night. There's been a spot open on staff since the firing of Jamie Rosser -- who was at Southeast the last six years and was the only member of former coach Dickey Nutt's staff that was retained -- was announced on Nov. 4...

The Redhawks, playing solely man defense after weeks without it at all, got the defensive effort it needed in the second half of its Tuesday night game against NAIA Hannibal-LaGrange to defeat the Trojans 84-61.

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team step out of the Ohio Valley Conference for the final time this season when it hosts NAIA Hannibal-LaGrange tonight. The Redhawks and Trojans (3-12) tip off at 7 p.m. from the Show Me Center. Admission, hot dogs, small soda and small popcorn are all $2 as part of Southeast's $2 Tuesday promotion...

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Shortly after the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team got trounced by Tennessee Tech on Saturday night, coach Rick Ray summed his team's struggles up in one word: pride. It's what he thinks the Redhawks were lacking in their 91-55 loss at the Eblen Center...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray realized something he needed to address with his team while watching his former boss, coach Brad Brownell, and Clemson upset Duke on Wednesday. "They've got to understand there's a lot of teams, regardless of what their roster is, that only play six or seven guys," Ray said. ...

Cape Central graduate Andre Statam and Charleston graduates Greg Tucker and DelFincko Bogan, who each had a contingent of supporters from their home towns, made key contributions in the Gamecocks' 74-60 win over Southeast.

The Jacksonville State men's basketball team set to visit the Show Me Center tonight for a 7:45 p.m. game doesn't bring with it a much better record than Southeast Missouri State. But for the Redhawks (0-4 Ohio Valley Conference, 2-14 overall) to pick up their first OVC win and snap a four-game losing streak, they will have to earn it against a Gamecocks team that has 14 losses but nine by 10 points or fewer...

RICHMOND, Ky. -- The Eastern Kentucky men's basketball team entered Saturday's contest against Southeast Missouri State as the Ohio Valley Conference's top team in 3-point field goal percentage and had knocked down the second-most of any team in the league...

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The tone was set for the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team just four minutes into Thursday night's road game against Morehead State. The Redhawks scored the first basket of the game 41 seconds in and then didn't score again for the next 4 minutes, 15 seconds as they were stifled by the Eagles' defense...

Take the Tennessee State men's basketball team that defeated Southeast Missouri State on Saturday and kick the intensity up a few notches, and you'll get the Morehead State squad that hosts the Redhawks tonight, according to Southeast coach Rick Ray...

The Redhawks dropped to 0-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 72-66 loss to Tennessee State.

The Redhawks' two-game winning streak was snapped with a 92-82 loss to the Bruins.

Southeast Missouri State women's basketball coach Rekha Patterson loved the movie "Creed" so much after watching it with her team over Thanksgiving that she decided to go see it again on Tuesday night. Following her team's non-conference victory against William Woods the next day she felt like a moment in the movie where Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa character talks about how it's all about the person in the mirror...

The Redhawks host the defending Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion Bruins in their conference opener at noon Thursday.

A defensive switch midway through the first half allowed Southeast to turn the game around with its transition offense, and the Redhawks claimed a 94-84 victory against the Hornets at the Show Me Center.

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team's has its final tune-up before starting Ohio Valley Conference play today. The Redhawks host NAIA Harris-Stowe at 2 p.m. at the Show Me Center and will try to take a winning streak into their conference slate, which begins Thursday vs. Belmont...

For the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team to avoid its worst start in school history, the Redhawks and coach Rick Ray will go through a program and coach they're familiar with. Southeast (0-10) faces the Missouri State Bears at 7:05 p.m. today at JQH Arena in Springfield, Missouri, for the 145th meeting between the two teams. It's the second-longest series for the Redhawks' basketball program...

The Redhawks tied their worst start since the 2010-11 season after losing to Northern Kentucky 79-69 on the road Saturday.

Following his team's home loss to Ole Miss on Saturday, Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray mentioned three tasks he'd given to his players -- fight, compete and play within themselves. Although that game was the Redhawks' ninth straight loss to start the season, Ray was proud that they were able to check those three things off the list, and they'll remain the items in his message prior to the team's game against Northern Kentucky on Saturday...

Every time I am witness to humans treating other humans as commodities, I am reminded of the song "Penetration" by Pedro the Lion. You've probably never heard it before (and if you have, let's talk music some time), but suffice it to say it's dark, incisive and generally leaves you feeling kind of grimy just for listening to it. And so it has bounced about in my head as I've tried to digest the departure of three Southeast Missouri State men's basketball players last week...

Southeast interim athletic director Brady Barke stood by men's basketball coach Rick Ray's freedom to shape the program as he sees fit.

Marcus Wallace and Ladarius Coleman, who are no longer part of the Redhawks' basketball program along with JT Jones, were in attendance for Southeast's loss to Ole Miss.

The departure of at least one Southeast Missouri State men's basketball player from the program was not by choice, according to the player's family. Marcus Wallace, one of three sophomores whose exit from the program were announced late Friday night, was alerted in the days following Tuesday's 79-52 loss to Bowling Green that he would no longer be part of the team, according to his father, Marcus Wallace Sr., who said the departure was not due to any misconduct or violations...

The visiting Rebels defeated the Redhawks 75-64.

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray understands from personal experience the rarity of a Southeastern Conference team traveling to play a road game against an Ohio Valley Conference foe. But that's exactly what's happening when the Ole Miss Rebels come to the Show Me Center on Saturday afternoon to face the Redhawks, who are in search of both their first win this season and first under Ray. ...

Depending upon which bench you were sitting on, the numbers were either beautiful or horrifying. Seventy-nine points on 55.2 percent shooting, including 10 of 18 from behind the 3-point line. That was Bowling Green's offensive night on Tuesday at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. A great performance if you're a Falcon, but for the other bird of prey in the building -- the Redhawks -- there was plenty wrong with it...

The Redhawks dropped to 0-8 with their 79-52 loss to the Falcons on Tuesday night.

The Bowling Green men's basketball team doesn't boast a superstar, and so far that's led to success. The Falcons bring a 6-2 record and five-game winning streak to the Show Me Center tonight when they face the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at 7 p.m...

Mark Alnutt penciled Saturday's men's basketball game between Southeast Missouri State and Memphis into his calendar more than a year ago as part of a package deal that included the Southeast football team opening the 2016 season at Memphis. That was before the former Redhawks' athletic director hired Rick Ray to be the new basketball coach and before the position of deputy director of athletics at Memphis, which he now holds, opened up...

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Apart from the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team's season-opening loss to Dayton, the Redhawks have been competitive up until halftime and early after the break. The same held true for Southeast on Wednesday night against rival Southern Illinois at SIU Arena...

The Redhawks take an 0-5 record into Wednesday's road game.

The Redhawks were unable to leave their struggles on the road and lost their home opener 73-60 to fall to 0-5 on the season.

Moments after dropping a 73-60 contest to Loyola Marymount on Saturday afternoon, Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray sat down for his postgame conference and immediately hit the nail on the head. "It's really weird when you look at the stats," Ray said. "It seems like [LMU] made 20 3s and shot 50 percent."...

Coach Rekha Patterson and the Southeast Missouri State women's basketball team had plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Patterson's fulfilling her dream of being a head coach, and the Redhawks have won four in a row for their best start since 2008-09...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray could point to a couple of statistics from his team's game against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday night as the culprit for the Redhawks' latest loss. "I thought we played a good first half there, did a really good job on the offensive rebounds," Ray said. ...

The Redhawks will face the the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley tonight.

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team is still searching for its first win of the Rick Ray era. The Redhawks dropped to 0-3 on the season with a 74-56 loss to Alabama A&M in Hunstville, Alabama, Thursday night. The Bulldogs improved to 2-0...

Rick Ray hopes that when his team takes the court for its third road game in a row against an experienced Alabama A&M squad at 7 p.m. today it will be as a team that has grown on the offensive end.

For the second straight game, the Southeast Missouri State men had the unenviable chore of being the season-opening guests for a respected basketball program, and again the Redhawks did not spoil the occasion Sunday in Evansville, Indiana. The Redhawks gave the University of Evansville, picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll, a strong opening test but ultimately fell 80-65 and dropped to 0-2 under first-year coach Rick Ray...

A slow start doomed the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team in its season opener at Dayton on Friday night. The Redhawks were held without a point for the first 6 minutes, 9 seconds of the contest, and turned the ball over eight times during that stretch as the Flyers pulled away...

Coach Rick Ray likes to compare the learning process of his men's basketball team at Southeast Missouri State to that of a math class. Ray, whose undergraduate degree is in applied mathematics and secondary education, has stressed to his players that just like they'd do in a math class -- learn addition before you move onto subtraction and retain that before you move on to multiplication and division -- they must retain every step of the offensive and defensive schemes as they move onto the next.. ...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team returns zero minutes on the front line. Trey Kellum, a 6-foot-7 forward, sat out last year due to NCAA transfer rules, and is the only Redhawks post player with Division I experience. Kellum spent two seasons at Florida A&M and averaged 8.8 points in 31 games as a sophomore. He started 27 games that season, shot 49.6 percent from the field and had 22 blocks...

Junior guard Antonius Cleveland, Southeast Missouri State's lone preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference selection, highlights a group of guards that are the only experience Rick Ray's first team returns. Cleveland, a 6-foot-6 guard, is one of two returning starters and one of four returners that saw significant playing time last year...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray sought after guards for next season's team since the Redhawks' lone senior they'll have to replace is guard Isiah Jones. Ray filled that need with the signing of a pair of high school seniors on Wednesday, the first day of the week-long early signing period...

Months removed from being unexpectedly fired at Mississippi State, Rick Ray is out to prove he's the right choice for the Redhawks.

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team was able to shake off a turnover-filled start and defeated Missouri S&T 93-64 on Saturday in an exhibition game at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks turned the ball over 15 times in the first half, allowing 21 points off those turnovers...

Southeast Missouri State assistant men's basketball coach Jamie Rosser has been terminated from his position due to a violation of university policies and procedures, the athletics department announced Wednesday afternoon. Rosser coached at Southeast the last six years and was the only assistant that men's basketball coach Rick Ray retained from former coach Dickey Nutt's staff...

The Southeast Missouri State women's cross country team placed third at the Ohio Valley Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Murray, Kentucky, while the men's team took seventh. Megan Parks paced the Redhawks with a 12th-place finished in 18 minutes, 1.9 seconds in the 5K race to earn second-team all-conference...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team already was lacking experience at forward and now the Redhawks have taken another hit. Junior transfer forwards Clyde Santee and Xavion Dillon's departure from the team was announced Thursday. The 6-foot-7, 215-pound Santee, who signed with Southeast in May, "did not meet qualifications of being a 4-2-4 transfer," according to first-year coach Rick Ray...

First-year Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray and women's basketball coach Rekha Patterson got their first experience with the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, which is voted on by league coaches and sports information directors and was released Tuesday during the OVC's media day in Nashville...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray prepped for his first Redhawks practice like it was one of the biggest presentations of his life. Ray stayed up until 3 a.m. coming up with the plan for practice, trying to make everything perfect for when his players took the floor of the North Recreation Center as a team for the first time in a closed practice on Friday afternoon...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team will open its 2015-16 regular season under first-year coach Rick Ray with four road games beginning at Dayton on Nov. 13. The women's team will play their first regular-season game under new coach Rehka Patterson at Saint Louis on Nov. 14...

Brady Barke has begun his new role as interim director of athletics after Mark Alnutt's resignation went into effect Friday.

The new coach recently was joined by his family and has been getting comfortable in his new surroundings.

Alnutt's hiring by Memphis and resignation from Southeast moves him one step closer to his ultimate career goal of being the athletic director of a school in a Power 5 conference.

A look at some of the top events on the field and off of it for the Redhawks in the 2014-15 school year.

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray has officially completed his coaching staff with the addition of assistant coach Chris Moore on Monday. Moore had spent the past five years as an assistant at Wright State University before he was announced as Ray's assistant Monday. The four years prior to that he was an assistant at Ohio Valley Conference member Morehead State under Donnie Tyndall...

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray has used his connections from his three seasons as the head coach at Mississippi State to compile his staff so far. Former Mississippi State men's basketball director of operations Adam Gordon will join Ray at Southeast as an assistant, the athletic department announced Tuesday. Nick Lagroone, who was a graduate assistant for two years under Ray, was announced as Southeast's director of operations last week...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team coach Rick Ray inherited lacked an inside presence and even size on the perimeter after the departure of five players 6 foot 5 or taller. In just over a month since he was announced as Southeast's coach on April 13, Ray has signed a pair of forwards and received two more verbal commitments from 6-7 players Monday afternoon...

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team coach Rick Ray inherited lacked an inside presence and even size on the perimeter after the departure of five players 6 foot 5 or taller. In just over a month since he was announced as Southeast's coach on April 13, Ray has signed a pair of forwards and received two more verbal commitments from 6-7 players Monday afternoon...

Monroe College forward Joel Angus had already caught the eye of members of the Southeast Missouri State coaching staff when the Mustangs claimed the National Junior College Athletic Association Region XV championship.

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray currently is most comfortable at his office inside the Show Me Center or on the court.

Rick Ray spent three tumultuous seasons in his first head coaching gig at Mississippi State, but his 37-60 record doesn't tell the complete story of the new Southeast men's basketball coach's stint leading the Bulldogs.

The spring signing period that begins today and lasts until May 20 for Division I basketball is already upon Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray, and he hasn't even been on the job for a full 48 hours.