Gamecocks extend Indians' losing streak

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. -- Southeast Missouri State University's Indians entered a game at Jacksonville State having suffered their four Ohio Valley Conference losses by a total of nine points.

But the Indians' string of narrow conference defeats ended emphatically Thursday night. There was nothing even remotely close about their 79-64 drubbing at the hands of the Gamecocks.

"They just came out and kicked our butts," junior guard Derek Winans said. "They wanted it more."

Said junior guard Brett Hale, "We never got going tonight. Our energy wasn't up. They just beat us. It's real disappointing because it's a win we had to have."

The Indians fell to 9-9 overall and 2-5 in OVC play as they suffered their third straight conference loss, all on the road. Southeast is now tied for ninth out of 11 league teams. The Gamecocks improved to 10-9 and 3-5.

"It's the only time this year I've been disappointed in our effort," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "We didn't have the intensity we needed to win this game, whether we were playing at home or on the road."

Never in the lead

Southeast never led and was tied just once -- at 2-2. JSU scored the next eight points to go up 10-2 and pretty much had control the rest of the way.

JSU opened up a 28-14 lead with 4:30 remaining in the first half and boosted it to 33-18 with under two minutes to go. Only a 6-0 Southeast run to close the period enabled the Indians to be within 33-24 at the intermission.

But the Gamecocks scored the first six points of the second half to go up 39-24. Their advantage never dipped under 11 points the rest of the way, and they led by 18 twice.

"We were never really in the game," Garner said. "It was 10-2, and we never got back in it."

Brown shows the way

Junior forward Carl Brown came off the bench to lead the Gamecocks with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Scott Watson had 16 points, sophomore guard Walker Russell had 14 points and nine assists, and senior guard James Denson added 13 points and seven steals.

"I was very happy against what I think is one of the more dangerous teams in the league," JSU coach Mike LaPlante said.

Winans scored 15 points to pace the Indians. Hale had 11 while senior center Brandon Griffin and junior forward Dainmon Gonner both added 10.

"I don't know, I guess we weren't mentally ready for the game," senior forward Damarcus Hence said. "It seemed like we couldn't get into it."

Some of the statistics from the contest particularly disturbed Garner. Southeast entered play third in the OVC in scoring defense (65.8 ppg) and second in field-goal percentage defense (43.8), but the Gamecocks pumped in 79 points and shot 53.4 percent (31 of 58).

Conversely, JSU had been eighth in the league in scoring defense (73.8 ppg) and ninth in field-goal percentage defense (45.7) -- yet the Indians managed just 64 points and shot 38.2 percent (21 of 55).

In addition, JSU, statistically the OVC's second-worst rebounding team with a margin of minus 1.1, dominated the boards 38-27. And the Indians had 17 turnovers despite entering the game leading the league with an average of just 12.8 turnovers per contest.

"They kicked our butts on the boards and pretty well in every other area," Garner said. "We didn't get ready to play, but I thought Jacksonville State played really well."

Added Winans, "We just didn't seem like we were ready to play. We didn't come out with much intensity. It's our first true blowout."

And the Indians won't have much time to lick their wounds as they continue on the road to face Samford Saturday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala.

"We just have to learn from this," Winans said. "It's not what happens to you, it's how you react."