Hot shooting early not enough on road for Southeast men

~ The Redhawks 52 percent from long range in their loss

RICHMOND, Ky. -- At least the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team had a much better first half, especially the opening 15 minutes.

And the Redhawks had a much better overall performance.

That still couldn't prevent Southeast from suffering its third straight loss, all on the road to strong Ohio Valley Conference squads in a span of eight days.

Third-place Eastern Kentucky did the damage this time, 79-63 on Saturday.

The Redhawks were held to 10 first-half points and committed 20 turnovers during a 40-point defeat at second-place Morehead State two days earlier.

Southeast also suffered a 20-point setback at fifth-place Eastern Illinois last Saturday.

"It's been a tough road trip," junior guard Sam Pearson said. "We came out with some fire tonight, a lot of effort, but they were a tough team."

Southeast fell to 5-12 overall and 2-5 in OVC play. The Redhawks are tied for seventh in the 10-team league.

EKU improved to 13-6 and 6-2. The Colonels posted their school-record 18th straight home-court victory, the nation's eighth-longest active home winning streak.

"It's been a tough stretch for us. We played three of the five best teams [in the OVC]," first-year Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "A loss is a loss, but I thought we showed some heart and desire tonight.

"I told our team in the locker room, after Thursday's performance, to come out in a very difficult place and show the heart we showed was a step in the right direction."

After trailing Morehead State 40-10 at halftime Thursday, the Redhawks stayed with EKU for most of an opening period that featured hot shooting by both sides.

Pearson hit three 3-pointers in the first seven minutes and Southeast had seven 3-pointers in the opening 11 minutes.

Despite falling behind 9-0 in the opening 90 seconds as EKU buried three shots from beyond the arc, Southeast cut the deficit to one point five times, including 34-33 with just less than five minutes remaining.

"I take full responsibility," Nutt said of EKU getting off to the quick 9-0 lead. "I really thought we could throw a wrinkle in them with a zone and it cost us nine points. But we recovered."

The Redhawks, however, did not score for the remainder of the half as EKU ran off the final 13 points to lead 47-34 at the intermission.

"We came out with more intensity tonight," freshman guard Derek Thompson said. "But they were hitting shots. They weren't missing."

Southeast tied a season high for 3-pointers in a first half with eight, in 16 attempts for 50 percent. The Redhawks shot 50 percent overall from the floor in the opening period.

EKU, one of the nation's best long-range shooting teams, was even hotter in the first half. The Colonels made 9 of 16 from beyond the arc (56.7 percent) and were at 56.3 percent overall.

Southeast hung tough early in the second half, twice pulling within eight points, including 54-46.

EKU used a 9-0 run to lead 63-46 midway through the period and Southeast got no closer than 15 points. Its biggest deficit was 23 points.

"We fought to the end," Thompson said.

The Colonels finished the game hitting 11 of 22 from 3-point range (50 percent). They entered play ranked second nationally in made baskets from beyond the arc (10.1 per game) and 18th in 3-point percentage (40.6).

Southeast actually wound up with more 3-pointers than EKU, nailing 13 of 25 (52 percent). The Redhawks shot 46.7 percent overall compared to 55.6 for EKU.

"I was very impressed with Eastern Kentucky," Nutt said.

Thompson led Southeast with 19 points, 10 in the first half. He hit 5 of 8 from 3-point range.

Thompson started the season strong but recently saw his playing time decrease dramatically before bouncing back with 29 points in the past two contests.

Nutt has emphasized that Thompson must improve his all-around game, especially his defense, and not solely rely on his offensive skills. He apparently has taken that to heart.

"I challenged Derek," Nutt said.

Said Thompson: "Just continue to work hard in practice and work on my game. Just stay patient."

Pearson scored 12 points, nine in the first half. He made 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.

Junior guard Anthony Allison had nine points and eight assists. Also netting nine points apiece were freshman guard Marland Smith and junior forward Eric McCrary.

"Eric hasn't been playing much, but I thought he did a good job coming off the bench," Nutt said.

Senior forward Josh Taylor hit 5 of 9 from 3-point range and paced EKU with 19 points.

The Redhawks played their second consecutive game without junior forward Cameron Butler, the team's No. 2 scorer and rebounder with averages of 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds. He suffered a foot injury during practice a week ago.

Southeast returns home to face last-place Tennessee-Martin on Thursday, followed by a visit from first-place Murray State two days later.

"Now we're back home and it's time to get it going," Pearson said.