Branson, SEMO MBB work through frustrations and seek another W

The levels of frustration felt by those within the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program over the past three months have been immense, regardless of who the person was or what they felt they could do to rectify the struggling situation.

As a full roster, the Redhawks have only been healthy for just over a week, as the losses – at one point, eight consecutive – piled up.

“It was frustrating,” Korn said of the plague of injuries and illnesses, which played a significant role in the losing streak. “For the fans, the coaches, and the players. It was most frustrating for the ones trying to perform and win a basketball game and do it in the right way.”

SEMO (6-9, 1-1 Ohio Valley Conference) will visit UT Martin (9-6, 1-1) today at 8 p.m. (ESPN+).

Few could comprehend the frustration of the ongoing defeats more so than Redhawk sophomore forward Dylan Branson.

Not only did he have to endure the short-handed defeats, but he too, was injured (ankle), so for the initial four games of the season, all he could do was sit and watch.

“It was frustrating,” Branson said. “But I don’t like making excuses for ourselves. We had plenty of talent, plenty of enough guys to win some of those games.”

That was evident on Saturday when the Redhawks beat – start to finish – the leading team in the OVC, SIU Edwardsville, at the Show Me Center, and Branson, who scored a career-high 14 points in that win, was a key reason for the success.

“We can’t go back now,” Branson said of the long December. “I like to think of (the OVC schedule) as a second season.”

At the end of the day, SEMO playing well in January and February, due to the implications for the postseason, is truly far more important than excelling in November and December, which Branson acknowledged.

“We’ve got a lot of new opportunities,” Branson continued. “It is good to get on the other side of losing and get a win in the W category.

“Hopefully, we can get some more wins in a row coming up.”

That won’t be easy, as SEMO plays three of its next four games on the road.

Following today’s game, the Redhawks will travel to Little Rock (5-10, 1-1) on Saturday (3:30 p.m.), followed by a home game against Lindenwood (Jan. 12, 7 p.m.), and another road test at Morehead State (Jan. 14, 2 p.m.).

“The next week is going to be a huge, huge week,” Korn said. “It’s a big test. It’s a big test in four of our first six (OVC games) are on the road. This is where we need to be to put ourselves right back in the conversation.”

For Branson, though he has returned from an injury, he also tweaked a different ankle later against Purdue Fort Wayne and had to sit out the second half of that game, so his performance on Saturday was incredibly pleasing for Korn to watch.

“The thing about Dylan and (graduate student guard) Chris Harris,” Korn said, “they have the ability to always be efficient. I would love for him to always go 2-for-3.”

On Saturday, Branson only missed one of his six shots and connected on both of his free throws.

“He just needs to be efficient,” Korn said, “because he is a good basketball player. He is a smart basketball player.”