Defending champ Eagles are once again flying high

~ Tennessee Tech enters tonight's game at Southeast with 5-1 record.

Tennessee Tech wasn't deemed the Ohio Valley Conference favorite entering this year, even though the Eagles are the defending regular-season champions.

But if voting was done right now, Southeast Missouri State coach Gary Garner believes the Eagles just might get the nod from the rest of the league.

"I thought going into the season that Murray State would be the best team in the conference, and they still might be," said Garner of the Racers, who entered the year as the overwhelming OVC favorites. "But based on scores and how they're playing, I'd have to say Tennessee Tech looks the best right now."

Garner's Redhawks (3-3, 1-1 OVC) will get a first-hand look at the Eagles (5-1, 2-0) tonight at the Show Me Center in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

Tech, despite having OVC player of the year Willie Jenkins complete his eligibility last year, leads the conference in scoring (83.3 points per game) and margin of victory (10.7 ppg).

The Eagles have by far the OVC's two most impressive nonleague wins to date, routing Oregon State of the Pac-10 Conference 90-62 and posting a 72-67 victory over a Wisconsin-Milwaukee team that returned four starters from last year's NCAA Sweet 16 squad.

Tech, picked to finish third in the OVC, also has had to cope with the serious illness of coach Mike Sutton, who is still recovering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

Sutton is now able to attend some practices and home games as he oversees the program while associate head coach Steve Payne handles day-to-day operations of the team.

"They've had a lot of adversity, with coach Sutton's illness, but they've obviously handled things very well," Garner said. "I think we're all glad that coach Sutton is doing much better, because he's a good coach and a really good guy."

The Eagles -- who returned four starters and several key reserves -- routed Austin Peay 78-61 in their OVC opener, but they struggled at Eastern Illinois on Thursday before winning 83-80 in overtime.

Tech's only starter averaging in double figures is 6-foot-6 senior forward Derek Stribling, who is scoring 14.7 points per game. He averaged 11.8 points last year after transferring from Tennessee.

The deep Eagles bring three double-figure scorers off the bench in 6-4 junior guard Belton Rivers (14 ppg), 6-2 sophomore guard Anthony Fisher (12.5 ppg) and 6-7 sophomore forward Amadi McKenzie (12 ppg).

Rivers, a transfer from East Carolina playing his first season with the Eagles, scored 19 points in their OVC opener against Austin Peay.

"They're talented, very experienced, and they're a deep team," said Garner, noting that 10 Eagles average more than 10 minutes per game. "They've got really good athletes at every position."

But in no way does Garner consider Tech -- which has won five straight since a season-opening loss at Dayton -- a team that Southeast can't beat.

Garner's players feel the same way, especially after Thursday's 70-69 home win over Tennessee State that gave the Redhawks their first OVC victory.

"Tech is real talented, but we'll have a lot of confidence after this win," said senior guard Roy Booker, who poured in a season-high 27 points against Tennessee State and is averaging 20 points per game. "We know if we play a good game, we can win."

Added junior forward Andrais Thornton, who also reached a season high with 13 points against the Tigers: "We needed this for momentum going into Tennessee Tech. We've got to play well, but we can beat them."

Last year, Tech won two close games against Southeast, 63-61 in Cookeville, Tenn., and 82-81 in overtime at the Show Me Center.

Garner wouldn't be surprised if something similar takes place tonight -- only this time he's hoping the Redhawks can come out on top.

"We'll have to play really well, but if do, and especially if we shoot well, we can win the game," Garner said. "It's still so early in the season, but if we could get this one, it would be huge for us."