Defeat of SMS was a nice fit for the holidays

I hope you're enjoying a very happy holiday season. I certainly had a great Christmas after our basketball team beat Southwest Missouri State 70-53 on Saturday.

After the game I released the team and they didn't report back to the Show Me Center until 6 p.m. Thursday. Everyone was excited after the win over SMS and I know the players enjoyed a few days at home with their families. I talked to most of the players by telephone on Christmas eve and they were still excited.

We got off to a great start in the SMS game with a 13-0 lead because we really shot the ball well during the first half and we played good defense.

Our team did a great job preparing for the game and that led to a confident performance. We went into the game knowing we had to do two things on defense: We had to get back to cut down on their fast break opportunities, and we had to cut down on penetration. We were able to do those things and everything else fell in place.

Our players knew from the scouting report what SMS was going to do and they executed the game plan very well. We had suffered through three straight poor starts in games and I stressed the importance of a good start against SMS and we jumped to the 13-0 lead. You're really never sure why your starts are good or bad, but the quick start was certainly a key in the win over SMS.

On Sunday the opponent will be bigger and better. We play the unbeaten and nationally ranked Creighton Blue Jays in Omaha, Neb. Creighton is off to a 9-0 start and is ranked 18th nationally in both polls. In the Sagarin Ratings, Creighton is the No. 1 team in the nation.

The Blue Jays are a veteran team with excellent players. Kyle Korver is one of the top players in the nation. The 6-foot-7 senior was last year's Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and is the active national leader in the 3-point shots made. Korver is not a one-man show, though. They have great depth and balance. And talk about great starts: Creighton has outscored opponents 79-31 in the first five minutes of play.

We look at the Creighton game as a great opportunity and a great challenge. They will be heavy favorites, but there have been bigger upsets and if we could pull the upset it would be a national story that would bring great exposure for our program.

Our players look forward to playing one of the top teams in the nation. It appears our injuries are healing and we should be close to full strength for the game. Brett Hale saw action in the SMS game and shot the ball well. He says his back is showing great improvement.

Kevin Roberts returned to practice Thursday and should be able to play Sunday, and that will be important because Creighton will press us the entire game.

Sunday's game will be at 2 p.m. I hope you will tune in as we challenge one of the nation's best basketball teams.

Enjoy a happy and safe New Year's celebration and plan to be at the Show Me Center on Saturday, Jan. 4, when we begin our Ohio Valley Conference schedule against Eastern Illinois.

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