INDIANS ARE ALL BUSINESS EN ROUTE TO SALT LAKE CITY

SALT LAKE CITY -- Whether it was due to the sheer boredom of travel or a contagious psyche of the entire squad, the mood of the Southeast Missouri State University basketball team on its trip to Salt Lake City on Tuesday was a calm one.

The Indians arrived in Utah's capital at about 10 p.m. CST in anticipation of their matchup with fourth-seeded Louisiana State University on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Southeast, which earned its first-ever tournament bid at the Division I level with an OVC Tournament championship, got a 13 seed.

The Indians, for the most part, displayed a business-like demeanor for the entire day, a day that featured a two-hour bus trip to Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, a one-hour wait at the airport, another one-hour wait inside the plane before it took off, then a three-hour flight.

"I hate waiting at airports," muttered Indians center Brian Bunche. "But I'm enjoying it, though."

From the airport it was about a 20-minute commute back to the players' hotel.

"Now that we're here, we'll get away from all the bands and boosters and start getting focused," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "It's been a long day. You get up early to practice and travel all day. But everybody seems to be in a good mood."

Southeast will hold a practice at a local high school at 1 p.m. today.

"I think it's really sinking in now that we're here," said Matt Morris. "Now that we're here, we can get focused. We won't get distracted with the hoopla going on. Now it's just us, our family. It's not that we don't appreciate our fans, it's just time to get down to business."

Said Mike Branson: "It was just one of those road days. You look forward to those because you bond as a team."

Southeast will play LSU on Thursday at about 2 p.m. The game will be televised on CBS.

The Indians' day began Tuesday at practice. "We practiced this morning," said Southeast center Brian Bunche. "It was intense, but it was smooth also because coach Garner talked a lot about what we're going to do. But we did a lot of conditioning, so that woke us up quite a bit."

CAN'T MAKE IT TO UTAH?

Can't make it to Salt Lake City for Southeast Missouri State University's first NCAA tournament game on Thursday? You can still watch the SEMO-Louisiana State University game with other Indians fans at a March Madness celebration at the Show Me Center meeting rooms.

The game, which will begin at approximately 2:10 p.m. Thursday, will be shown on a big screen. Free refreshments will be available, and Southeast Bookstore will have Road to the Final Four T-shirts on sale.

The doors will open at 1:30. The celebration is free and open to the public.