INDIANS, BEARS TO CROSS PATHES AFTER BIG LOSSES

Southwest Missouri State men's basketball coach Barry Hinson doesn't believe his squad is entering tonight's game against Southeast Missouri State University in the best frame of mind.

But the same can probably be said for the 5-3 Indians, who will play host to the 3-2 Bears from Springfield in a 7:06 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center.

Both squads are coming off disappointing losses in conference openers last Saturday. The Bears fell 71-61 at Missouri Valley rival Evansville while the Indians lost at home 70-68 to Ohio Valley foe Tennessee Tech.

"It's a huge game for both teams because we're both coming off defeats," said Hinson. "We're very discouraged in our camp right now. We don't feel like we're playing nearly the way we're capable."

Said Southeast coach Gary Garner, "We really had a disappointing loss (against Tennessee Tech). How we respond will be big."

What particularly stuck in Hinson's craw about the loss at Evansville was the effort his team put out.

"We just didn't compete at all," he said. "I always pride myself on my teams competing and playing hard. We didn't do that against Evansville and that was very discouraging."

While Hinson has been somewhat disappointed in his squad's uneven play so far, he said it's probably also not all that surprising, considering the Bears returned only a handful of players from last year's team that went 23-11 and earned an NIT berth in its first season under Hinson.

"Nine of our 11 players have not played much Division I basketball," said Hinson, whose squad has only one senior. "That's our biggest problem right now."

But while Hinson sees the Bears as very inexperienced and inconsistent, Garner sees them as extremely physical and talented, led by a powerful front line that figures to pose a huge challenge for a Southeast front line that has struggled so far.

"They're a very good basketball team, big and strong across the front," Garner said. "I'd rate Southwest as the same talent level as Southern Illinois (which Southeast beat 87-84 on Dec. 5). They're different kinds of teams. Southwest is bigger and stronger while SIU is smaller and quicker.

"But talentwise, they're close. They both present a lot of problems."

Three of Southwest's four double-figure scorers reside up front, led by 6-foot-8, 220-pound junior forward Scott Brakebill, who averages 16.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Brakebill is also a solid 3-point shooter, having hit six of 14 (43 percent) so far.

Charles Gaines, a 6-7 sophomore forward, averages 12.4 points and a team-leading 8.6 rebounds per game.

Mike Wallace, a powerful 6-5, 230-pound junior who was also heavily recruited by Southeast while playing at Southwest Missouri-West Plains Junior College last year, comes off the bench to score 12 points and grab eight rebounds a contest.

Brakebill, Gaines and Wallace are all shooting better than 50 percent from the field and they lead a board attack that has helped the Bears outrebound the opposition by six per game, which doesn't bode well for a Southeast squad getting outrebounded by four a contest.

"Brakebill, Wallace and (6-8, 235-pound senior center Matt) Rueter are all big and strong," said Garner. "Rebounding is our biggest area of concern."

The Bears' other double-figure scorer is 5-11 junior point guard Robert Yanders (10.8 ppg), who played with Wallace at Southwest Missouri-West Plains JC.

While the Bears do the bulk of their offensive damage up front, the Indians have received much of their scoring from perimeter players Emmanuel McCuthison, Antonio Short, Michael Stokes and Amory Sanders, who combine to average 51 of Southeast's nearly 73 points per game.

"To have four guards averaging double figures, I think that's incredible," Hinson said. "We have had problems with guard-oriented teams and I'm very concerned about that.

"They're the complete opposite of our team. You're going to have an inside-dominated team and a guard-dominated team. It should make for an interesting matchup."

INDIAN NOTES: The revolving door at power forward will continue for Southeast tonight as sophomore Tim Scheer earns his first career start.

Scheer, averaging 2.9 points per game, is the third player to start at power forward for the Indians this season.

Sanders ranks 16th nationally in 3-point shooting at 55 percent. As a team, Southeast is 15th nationally at 43 percent, and the Indians rank 24th in 3-pointers per game with 8.5.