Cyclones drop Redhawks to 0-9

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team picked up another nice paycheck while suffering another loss.

Southeast closed out the guarantee portion of its nonconference schedule Monday night as Iowa State rolled to an 85-58 victory in Ames, Iowa.

ISU paid Southeast $75,000. Southeast earlier received $90,000 from Alabama-Birmingham and $85,000 from Arkansas. All the money goes to the university's general athletic department revenue.

While the Cyclones of the Big 12 Conference improved to 7-2, the Redhawks fell to 0-9. Southeast has lost 17 straight games dating back to last season.

But Southeast coach Dickey Nutt came away encouraged.

"You hate losing, but I was really proud of the effort, the way our guys fought and hung in there," said Nutt, whose squad is hampered by injuries. "I really believe that we came away with a little bit of confidence, as strange as it sounds.

"At the end of the day it's a loss, but I saw a lot of bright spots."

The brightest spots, according to Nutt, were junior college transfer guard Marcus Brister and junior walk-on forward Rae-Vonn Banks.

Brister doubled his season scoring average with 11 points, the highest total of his first Southeast campaign. He had five rebounds and four assists.

Brister, who began his college career at ISU, hit 5 of 5 free throws after entering the night making just 46.7 percent from the line.

"I was really proud of Marcus. I thought he had one of his best games," Nutt said.

Banks, who had not scored a point all season while playing just 20 minutes, had a career-high nine points in 22 minutes. He made 4 of 5 shots while adding two rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.

"Rae-Von really gave us a lift off the bench," Nutt said.

Senior guard Anthony Allison matched Brister with 11 points.

Junior forward Leon Powell had seven points as he was held under double figures for the first time this year. Powell attempted only four shots.

Senior guard Diante Garrett paced the Cyclones with 20 points.

The Redhawks shot just 32.2 percent from the field and had 21 turnovers. ISU shot 52.5 percent and committed 14 turnovers.

The Redhawks hit 78.9 percent of their free throws (15 of 19). They entered making just 59.1 percent from the line.

"That was a good thing," Nutt said.

The Redhawks, whose only lead was 3-0, trailed 21-16 with just under nine minutes left.

ISU used a 24-9 run to go ahead 45-25 and it was 45-30 at halftime.

The Cyclones scored the first nine points of the second half to lead 54-30 and Southeast got no closer than 22 points.

The biggest deficit was 31 points.

"I know the score looks bad, but I thought we did improve," Nutt said.

The Redhawks have another nonconference road game Wednesday night against Southern Illinois-Carbondale as they conclude a string of four contests in seven days.