COURT SESSION: INDIANS LOOK FORWARD TO BRADLEY TEST

We got our first win of the season last Friday night with a 94-78 win over Central Methodist, but the game was not without its anxious moments for Southeast Missouri State.

We came out with not much intensity in the first half and Central Methodist shot the ball extremely well to take a 48-44 halftime lead.

It is my job to motivate our players and I didn't do a good job in getting them ready for Central Methodist. Preparation is motivation and our preparation for the Central Methodist game was not what it should have been.

My wife, Barbara, feels she can tell when my teams won't play well. She told me before the game that she didn't think we would play well. She doesn't predict whether we will win or lose, but she reads my actions and she felt we wouldn't be ready to play against Central Methodist. I better start listening to her.

Our team did come out with better intensity in the second half and we outscored Central Methodist 50-30 to claim the win.

I thought Bud Eley and Cory Johnson both had good games. Eley was 11-13 from the field, 4-5 from the line and had six rebounds and four blocked shots. Johnson continued to shoot well from three-point range with 7-13 from beyond the circle for 23 points.

Demetrius Watson again really gave us a spark off the bench. He ended the game with 12 points and eight rebounds. After two games, Watson leads us in rebounding with 7.5 per game. Demetrius really works hard in practice and that is why he will just continue to get better.

Our offense is continuing to come along. We are having good practices and as long as we work hard and stay positive, we will have a chance to make progress.

Now we are preparing for our biggest early test at home when Bradley of the Missouri Valley Conference comes to the Show Me Center tonight.

Bradley is a well-coached team that is picked to finish third in the MVC. They play really good defense and it will be a challenge for us to score against them. After three games, Bradley opponents are shooting just 35 percent from the field and that is outstanding defense.

The Braves have two outstanding players in guard Rob Dye and center Bayo Akinkunle. Dye averages 14 points per game while Akinkunle averages 14 points and nearly nine rebounds.

We have to play good defense against Bradley. We can't foul them; we can't give up easy baskets and we have to keep them off the boards.

Our players are excited about playing Bradley and they feel we can win. It should be a great game.

I look forward to the game because it will show me where we stand against top competition. We responded well at Colorado and now we have a real test at home.

It has been a pleasure to visit several Cape Girardeau grade schools this week as a part of the Union Planters Basketball Extravaganza. It is a great experience for our players.

Following the Bradley game, we will host Oakland City, a good Division II team, on Saturday night.

Union Planters has some great giveaways planned for both games so come on out tonight and Saturday and help us.

Gary Garner is the head men's basketball coach at Southeast Missouri State University