GARNER: INDIANS CAN'T LOOK PAST TENNESSEE STATE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner realizes that his Indians will be excited to play preseason Ohio Valley Conference favorite Austin Peay on ESPN Saturday.

But Garner is doing everything he can to make sure the Indians aren't thinking about the Governors tonight. He knows they'll need to focus all of their attention on Tennessee State's Tigers, who play host to Southeast in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Gentry Center.

"It's not easy, because everybody is talking about playing Austin Peay on ESPN (at 11 a.m. Saturday in Clarksville, Tenn.)," said Garner. "But we just can't overlook Tennessee State. This game is so important for us."

The Indians, 8-4 overall, are the only OVC team with a league loss as they fell at home to Tennessee Tech on Dec. 9. That has been the only conference game played so far. But the OVC season begins in earnest tonight and Garner knows Southeast will have to be ready.

"This is really a big weekend for us, this Thursday-Saturday, no question about it," said Garner. "Every weekend is always the biggest, I guess. But especially since we lost to Tennessee Tech.

"If we want to have a chance to win the league, we have to at least split on this road trip. If we win two, it would be great. That would put us in great shape because not many people will go to Austin Peay and win."

TSU has only a 3-9 overall record and is expected to finish toward the bottom of the league standings, but Garner points on that there are plenty of reasons for the defending OVC co-champion Indians to beware.

First, there is the fact TSU has won three of its four home games so far this season. Throw in that the Tigers have played some solid programs tough on the road and they beat Southeast in Nashville last year -- and Garner probably has good reason to be concerned.

""They're capable of beating any team in the league," Garner said. "It's going to be a very tough game. I look for it to go to the wire."

The Tigers, led by first-year coach Nolan Richardson III -- who is the son of the famous Arkansas coach by the same name -- have been solid despite their less-than-stellar record.

TSU held a 15-point second-half lead at Kansas State before seeing the Wildcats force overtime with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Tigers eventually lost.

The Tigers had another impressive overtime setback on the road just three days ago as Evansville prevailed 86-80.

"They've really played some good teams tough on the road and their record could be a lot better than it is," said Garner.

With a small lineup that includes just one player taller than 6-feet-4, the Tigers have relied on a perimeter attack that has seen them attempt a whopping 330 3-pointers.

While the Tigers rank last in the OVC in 3-point percentage (.312), they lead the conference in 3-pointers made (103).

"They've shot a 100 more threes than we have, and I think we're shooting too many threes," said a laughing Garner. "The No. 1 thing for us will be defending the three."

A pair of 6-3 senior guards who have started for most of four seasons lead the Tigers in scoring. Kevin Samuel averages 14.6 points per game while Jamie Roberts follows with 13.8 points a contest.

Also averaging in double figures are 6-8, 250-pound junior center John Gilmore (10.3 ppg, team-high 7.9 rebounds) and 6-4 junior forward Kyle Rolston (10.0 ppg). Not far behind are 6-3 freshman guard Garrett Richardson (9.6 ppg) and 6-3 senior guard Terrick Brown (8.7 ppg).

Five of those six Tigers (not including Gilmore) have combined to make 87 of TSU's 103 3-pointers, Samuel leading the way with 25.

Southeast's top 3-point shooter, senior guard Amory Sanders -- he leads the league at 54.5 percent (24 of 44) -- continues to be hobbled by a foot injury that Garner said will prevent him from practicing, although he will play in games.

"Amory is a tough kid and an intelligent kid," Garner said. "His pain tolerance is extremely high. He's not going to practice from here on out, except for shooting. He'll just play games."

While Sanders and fellow perimeter players Michael Stokes, Antonio Short and Emmanuel McCuthison give the Indians strong outside play, Garner has shuffled his frontcourt lineup again in an effort to get that part of the Indians' game going.

Terry Rogers will be at center while Drew DeMond will be at power forward. Both were starters previously this season.

"We're still struggling to find ourselves offensively and this is part of trying to get us going," said Garner of the changes.

Garner is hopeful that the Indians can find their offense on this road trip. And he's also banking on them not looking ahead to Austin Peay.

"We really need to win this game," he said. "Then we can worry about Saturday."