COURT SESSION: INDIANS GET READY FOR BIG ROAD SWING

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday and are ready for some exciting college basketball over the next couple of months.

We've been on sort of a roller coaster. We followed our worst performance in the SIU game at the TWA Dome in St. Louis with our best performance of the season at Oklahoma State. Then we barely survived at home Monday night against an improved Morehead State team.

Despite the roller coaster ride, we're still on top in the Ohio Valley Conference as we head on the road for two key OVC games at Middle Tennessee Thursday night and at Tennessee Tech Saturday night. Both are winnable games, but all road games are tough and we just aren't playing consistent basketball right now.

I think our schedule has really hurt us and may be contributing to our inconsistency. I don't think our basketball team is in top physical shape right now and that is due to the fact we have had so many long breaks between games. Once the season starts, you rely on games for conditioning, but at one point we had just one game in 18 days.

We're working hard on our conditioning this week as we prepare for the two road games.

As I look back on the Morehead State game, I'm reminded that good teams win some games they probably shouldn't. Morehead State outplayed us Monday night, but we still got the win and that is a credit to our team and in particular, Bud Eley.

What a night for Bud. He had a tremendous impact on the game with 24 points, 14 rebounds, 10 blocked shots, three assists and one steal. Bud was 8-for-10 from the field and 8-for-12 from the free-throw line, meaning he got some people in foul trouble.

I can't say enough about the way Bud is playing. He has had five straight double-doubles and in the Morehead State game he had the first triple-double of his career. Thank goodness he came to play Monday night.

Although we lost, the trip to Stillwater, Okla., and the game against Oklahoma State will be a memorable experience for our players and staff.

Playing at Gallagher-Iba Arena is special. They have a great basketball tradition at Oklahoma State that all began years ago under legendary coach Henry "Hank" Iba and continues today under Eddie Sutton, who I consider one of the top coaches in college basketball.

As we walked into Gallagher-Iba Arena for practice the night before the game, one of my assistants looked around the fabled building and said simply, "This place is basketball."

The next night, before a packed house, our team played its best game of the season. We got off to a great start and built up a 10-point lead against the team ranked 25th in the nation. We led by two at the half and then quickly fell behind by eight early in the second half.

This is where most teams who aren't expected to win let up and blowouts begin, but our team didn't quit and, behind Cory Johnson's great 3-point shooting, we tied the game and it was a battle all the way.

The game was still tied with under eight minutes left and we had the ball trailing by only six with under two minutes to play. Oklahoma State, picked to win the Big 12 Conference, made some plays at the end and got the victory, but I was very proud of how our team played.

Coach Sutton was very complimentary after the game and told me that, if we played this well the rest of the season, we could win a lot of games. He was very complimentary of our defensive effort.

It was a special night that I will always remember. I always looked forward to playing at Gallagher-Iba Arena when I was a player at Missouri and I enjoyed coaching against Oklahoma State and Eddie Sutton.

The upcoming two-game road trip is very big for us as we attempt to stay on top in the OVC. We've actually played better on the road than at home this season, so hopefully we will be ready for a big effort in the two road games.

The road games are followed by a critical week of basketball at the Show Me Center as we entertain three OVC opponents during the Union Planters Bank Basketball Extravaganza. It begins next Tuesday night when Austin Peay comes to the Show Me Center.

I hope we'll see you there.

Gary Garner is the head basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State University. His weekly column is sponsored by Rust Communications.