COLUMN: Redhawks finishing games fast for the wrong reasons

The Southeast Missouri State mens basketball team enters a pivotal matchup on the road at Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Jan. 13, looking to correct a troubling tend.

The Redhawks fell to in-state rival Lindenwood 74-68 but went on a 12-5 run to pull within four points in the final seconds after being down 11 points with 2:22 left in the game. Adam Larson’s three-pointer with seven seconds to go should of had the same effect as Rob Martin’s game-winner in overtime against Southern Indiana in December or Aquan Smart’s game-winner against Central Arkansas in November.

Instead, it was just a run to make the game close because SEMO entered the second half trailing 34-29 only to then be down 41-29 three minutes in and forced to play catchup the rest of the way.

“For the first half especially, we were moving the ball, getting good looks, and we just didn’t convert,” head coach Brad Korn said. “If you miss easy baskets and then you don’t have enough toughness on the defensive side, that’s when you find yourself down big like we did just at the start of the second half, if you’re only living and dying on your individual things that happened to you instead of being wrapped up in the team.”

The Redhawks earlier faced a 25-16 deficit with 9:24 to go in the first half against an NAIA opponent last week before eventually earning Korn’s 50th career win. Against Central Arkansas, the Redhawks were down 46-34 and missing 18 three-point shots with 12 minutes remaining in the second half before rallying to win.

The Redhawks are showing they can finish fast but that’s only because of how slow they start the game. “It’s not how you start but how you finish” doesn’t apply to SEMO because how the team starts negates how they finish.

“We come out too flat for maybe the first four minutes,” SEMO senior forward Josh Early said, “I feel like once we dig that hole, we’re like ‘we’re gonna turn this up,’ but it’s kind of too late. We just need to figure out how to channel all that second half energy into those first four minutes.”

Another problem leading to slow starts is SEMO’s lack of rebounding. The last time the Redhawks out-rebounded a team was against Southern Indiana, which ended in overtime. With 3.7 rebounds per game, Early leads a team that averages 32.6 per game, which is more than only 22 of the 400+ schools that classify as Division I. On the flip side, Western Illinois leads the OVC with 44.8 rebounds per game, which is more nationally than everyone but Florida.

SEMO trailed the OVC leading Leathernecks by 10 points entering halftime, only to outscore them 35-32 in the second half so they can only lose by seven. In that game, the Redhawks were out-rebounded 50-33.

“We just need to play harder,” Early said. “Rebounding is not necessarily a skill set. It’s about who wants it more and I feel like once we get that feeling of we want the ball more, we’re gonna go after that ball and start rebounding.”

Early said after Thursday’s game that his solution to slow starts can be to “focus on the defensive end of the ball.”

“I feel like we’re really focused on executing on offense and trying to get a quick score instead of taking care of defense, having a defensive mindset first when we’re coming into the game,” Early said. “So if we switch our mindset, I think we’ll be straight.”

When SEMO takes on Tennessee Tech on Saturday, it will be a rematch of the OVC Tournament championship game last year, a game that went to overtime because the Golden Eagles player that shot the buzzer-beater in regulation was mere inches over the three-point line. Now this matchup is to stave off the cellar and avoid being the three who are left out of the tournament this year.

Korn calls these two issues a matter of lacking toughness and leadership. This is a challenge for Early, the lone senior of the group, but not the only upperclassman, to take up and compel SEMO to take back the advantage at the glass.

“It’s a challenge but as a senior you got to step up and take that challenge,” Early said. “I don’t mind because I love these group of guys. I wouldn’t want to play with any other guys in the OVC or anywhere else.”

If the Redhawks are to return over Evansville and defend a title that at least half the team was there to win, they need to start the game fast, so that they are not forced to be fast to catch up with the competition.