Southeast men roll by Jacksonville St. 84-65

Southeast Missouri State University coach Gary Garner keeps wanting talented sophomore Terrick Willoughby to get more aggressive offensively.

"Terrick has a lot of talent, but he's only a sophomore and it's almost like he's waiting his turn," Garner said. "We're trying to get him to be more aggressive."

Willoughby took Garner up on his suggestion Thursday night, pouring in a career-high 25 points as the Redhawks erased a 10-point deficit and pulled away for an 84-65 victory over struggling Jacksonville State at the Show Me Center.

"We don't expect Terrick to score 25 every time out, but he's capable of having big nights like that," said Garner.

The Redhawks improved to 8-10 overall and 3-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play with their second straight win. The Gamecocks (4-15, 0-7) suffered their 13th consecutive loss.

Willoughby, an athletic 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard/forward, has been solid in most areas for the Redhawks so far this season, although he was averaging just 7.8 points per game, with a career-high 17 against North Texas on Dec. 22.

Thursday, Willoughby hit nine of 13 shots from the field -- including three of six 3-pointers -- and also made all four of his free-throw attempts.

"I know coach is always wanting me to be more aggressive, and tonight it helped me," said a grinning Willoughby. "It's a big confidence boost for me."

Senior forward Dainmon Gonner, the OVC's leading scorer, got 24 points. He also had nine rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Senior forward Reggie Golson, third in the OVC in scoring while leading in rebounding and blocked shots, survived first-half foul trouble to finish with 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Golson was five of five from the field.

Junior guard Ryan Belcher continued to be a major spark off the bench with nine points as he hit four of six shots. Seven points came in the second half.

Freshman point guard Paul Paradoski, who had been in a big-time shooting slump, made two of four 3-pointers and finished with seven points to go along with six assists and no turnovers.

Junior center Waylon Francis added a first-half lift off the bench with four points.

Even though the final score was lopsided, things didn't look all that promising for a large part of the game.

A tight first half ended with the Gamecocks up 43-39 -- they shot 51.6 and made six of eight 3-pointers -- and JSU scored the first six points of the second half to lead 49-39 just three minutes in.

But Southeast then clamped down defensively and dominated the remainder of the contest, taking the lead for good on a Golson basket with 11:36 that made it 55-54.

Willougby's 3-pointer at the 9:20 mark capped an 11-0 run -- and an overall 23-5 spurt -- to put Southeast up 62-54. JSU got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

The Gamecocks were still within striking distance at 71-62 with under four minutes left, but Southeast closed with a 13-3 burst punctuated by Willoughby's dunk at the buzzer.

"We knew there was a lot of time left and we had to keep fighting," said Gonner of the 10-point deficit. "We knew they'd come in hungry because they'd lost 12 in a row."

JSU shot just 37.5 percent in the second half and made only one of six 3-pointers. The Gamecocks finished at 45.5 percent. Brandon Davis led with 20 points.

Southeast shot 56.1 percent overall, including 65.4 percent in the second half. The Redhawks had only eight turnovers.

"The second half was really good for us," Garner said. "We played so much better defensively."