COURT SESSION: SEMO EFFORT GREAT IN LOSS TO MURRAY

Despite the fact we were only 1-1 last week, I thought we had a good week because the effort of our basketball team was outstanding. In fact, I think the effort against Murray State might have been our best effort all season.

We also had a great effort from our fans in both games. When we fell behind Murray State by 15 points in the second half and then came back to take the lead, the support and encouragement of the fans was a big part in the comeback.

This season we averaged 4,912 fans per game and led the OVC in attendance. This is great support that will only get better. I'm particularly encouraged by the student turnout at our games late in the season. The students turned out in big numbers and gave us the enthusiasm that we need to have a great college basketball atmosphere at the Show Me Center.

Thank you all for attending our games. Hopefully we can still get you one more home game. We need to win at Eastern Illinois on Saturday and Austin Peay has to lose at Murray State on Thursday and at Tennessee-Martin on Saturday. Those are some big ifs, but it has been a funny year in the OVC and anything can happen.

If we can beat Eastern Illinois, it would mean that we were 5-4 both at home and on the road in OVC play, which is unusual. We need to do a better job at home and continue to play well on the road.

Eastern Illinois beat us in overtime at the Show Me Center earlier in the year but we really feel we can go up there and win. We match up well with them and, if we can keep Rick Kaye in check like we did at the Show Me Center when he went only 2-for-15 from the field, we will have a chance.

We need a good week of practice and a great effort on Saturday to give us a lift going into the OVC Tournament whether the first game is at the Show Me Center or on the road.

Our practices this week will be short, but intense. I'd like to practice about four hours every day, but I know that, in the final days of a season, you need short practices with great intensity and hopefully we will have that this week.

I was concerned last week because we had our worst practice of the season last Monday after we had beaten Middle Tennessee the previous Saturday. That made me think we might have a letdown against Tennessee-Martin, but our practices got better and I thought our players were focused and ready to take on the Skyhawks.

We built up a big 35-point lead in the second half and let our reserves play the final seven to eight minutes of the game. It was a big 87-61 win that gave us momentum going into the Murray game.

Again our players were very focused in the Murray game, but we just didn't shoot the ball that well. We shot only 22 percent on 3-pointers and missed some big free throws. Still, the effort was there and we were playing a very talented team that clinched a tie for the OVC title.

I think Murray is talented enough to win two or three games in the NCAA Tournament. De'Teri Mayes is a player you will watch in the NBA next year. He got Murray off to a great start and the Racers were up by 13 points with 12:30 remaining in the half. Our players battled back and got within seven at the half.

Again in the second half Murray went up by 15, but we battled back to take the lead with the crowd of 6,593 giving us encouragement. Finally, down the stretch, Mayes again took over and hit the big baskets to lead the Racers to victory.

Now, we need a big win at Eastern Illinois on Saturday and then we get ready for the OVC Tournament opener on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

A win at Eastern Illinois would assure us of a winning season and a victory on Tuesday would send us to Nashville for the semifinals of the OVC tourney. Once you get to Nashville, you are only two wins away from the NCAA Tournament and anything can happen.

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