COURT SESSION: INDIANS READY FOR BIG WEEK

This is a very important week for our basketball team. We open Ohio Valley Conference play Thursday night with Tennessee State at the Show Me Center and then Austin Peay will be in town Saturday night.

Tennessee State was picked to finish second and Austin Peay third in the OVC. I'm anxious to play although I wish we didn't start conference play until January.

Curiosity is really working on me. I know that after these two games we will know a lot more about how we stack up in the OVC and I'm anxious to find out.

If we can win both games against two of the top-ranked teams in our conference it will tell us a lot. That may be too much to ask this early in the season, but I know our players think they can win both games and that is very important.

Our players are working extremely hard and each day they are understanding better the sacrifices each player has to make to have a good team. Right now our players are very unselfish and that has paid off with three straight wins, including a big 79-71 win last Wednesday against Bradley.

Our players were really ready for the Bradley game. You could cut the intensity with a knife.

Kahn Cotton had an outstanding defensive game against Bradley's leading scorer Rob Dye. He really shut Dye down. Going into the season I was concerned about the size of our guards and how they would be able to defend bigger guards.

Kahn has shown that he is athletic enough to really do a good job defending the bigger guards. He suffered a toe injury in the Bradley game and didn't play in Saturday's 60-27 win over Oakland City, but I think he'll be ready this week.

Bud Eley had another big game against Bradley with 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals. I continue to be impressed by Bud's passing ability and his unselfish play. I joked to him in practice that I thought he had eyes in the back of his head.

Cory Johnson continues to shoot with great accuracy from three, hitting 56 percent.

Calvert White came back with a big game against Bradley. I think Calvert lost a little confidence in the Colorado game but he really played well against Bradley. He is leading us in both rebounds and assists.

David Montgomery is really shooting the ball well at over 60 percent and he's also running the floor very well.

Demetrius Watson, Travis Smith and Dewayne Saulsberry all played well off the bench.

I was concerned about a letdown against Oakland City and it was not one of our better offensive games, but to hold any team to just 27 points is pretty good. Our players really worked hard defensively.

The defense continues to be ahead of our offense, but we are getting better and it will be important that we improve every day in practice this week. By next week we will have a good idea of what our potential in the OVC is.

Our crowds continue to be impressive and I'm really looking forward to our students returning after the Thanksgiving break. Student support and enthusiasm are certainly key parts of college basketball.

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