INDIANS' ROAD WORK BECOMES MORE DIFFICULT WITH RAIDERS

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- The plan entering this week was for Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team to win two out of three road games.

The Indians can still accomplish that -- but they're going to have to do it the hard way.

Thursday night's 77-57 loss to Tennessee Tech dropped the Indians to 1-1 for the week. In order to go 2-1, they'll have to upset Ohio Valley Conference co-leader Middle Tennessee State today.

Southeast and MTSU will square off in a 1 p.m. contest at the Murphy Center. The game will be televised live by KFVS.

"Middle Tennessee is definitely one of the best teams in the league," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "They've got good players and they're extremely well coached.

"It's going to be a really difficult game for us. It's a big challenge, especially after the disappointing loss to Tennessee Tech."

After shooting 56 percent from the field in their last three games -- all victories -- the Indians struggled all night against Tennessee Tech, shooting just 35 percent (19 of 55).

"We just didn't play well," Garner said. "I don't think we came out with the intensity we have to have. We played awfully well the last three games and we have to have that kind of emotion and intensity to do well. We didn't have it (Thursday night)."

The Indians fell behind 15-2 early in the game and never really recovered. They did get within four points late in the first half before trailing 31-25 at halftime. But it was all Tech in the second half.

Now the Indians are faced with having to pull off some upsets in order to have a shot at finishing fourth in the OVC and earn the right to host a first-round conference tournament home game.

Southeast is 11-11 overall and 7-7 in the league, which puts them in fifth place, one-half game behind Austin Peay in the battle for fourth.

The Indians have four regular-season games remaining and they'll be the underdog in three of them: at MTSU and Eastern Illinois and at home against Murray State. Southeast also has a home game remaining against Tennessee-Martin.

"No question, losing to Tennessee Tech was really disappointing," said Garner. "All losses are disappointing, but that really was because it was a game we felt we could win.

"We really needed that one in order to have a really good chance at finishing fourth. We can still do it, but we're really going to have to play well the rest of the way."

The Indians will certainly have to play extremely well to have a chance at upsetting MTSU's Raiders, who are flying high after Thursday night's thrilling 67-65 win over Eastern Illinois that came on a 30-foot, 3-point shot at the buzzer.

MTSU is 17-4 overall and 11-2 in the OVC, good for a first-place tie with Murray State.

Earlier this season, the Raiders pulled away from a 36-34 halftime lead to beat the Indians 70-55 at the Show Me Center.

"I thought we played well that game but Middle Tennessee really played well, especially in the second half," Garner said. "They're capable of playing like that all the time.

"They've only lost four games and all four teams that beat them are very good."

The Raiders lost to Kansas and North Carolina outside the conference and they suffered OVC setbacks against Murray State and Eastern Illinois. MTSU has also beaten Murray and Eastern.

The Raiders don't really have any big-time scorers but they rely on rugged defense, allowing an OVC-best 62 points per game.

Freddie Martinez, a 6-foot-5 sophomore who hit that game-winning 30-footer Thursday, and 6-8 senior Aylton Tesch both average more than 13 points a contest to pace the Raiders. Tesch had 34 in Thursday's game.

"They don't have that one superstar but all their players are solid and they just play so well together," said Garner. "They're just a very good basketball team."

Southeast's leading scorer, Cory Johnson, who is third in the OVC at 15.2 points per game, could break the school's single-season 3-point record today.

Johnson, who is third in the nation in 3-pointers per game with 3.8, has 84 3-pointers on the season. Southeast's record, held by Curtis Shelton, is 86.

Johnson also has a shot at the OVC single-season 3-point record of 104. With four regular-season games remaining and at least one tournament contest, Johnson would need to average four 3-pointers per game to tie the mark.

Not only has Johnson been making a lot of 3-pointers, he's also shooting a high percentage from long range -- 46 percent, including 61 percent in the last four games (22 of 36).

SEMO at Middle Tennessee

1 p.m., Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Probable Starters

SEMO (11-11, 7-7 OVC)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

Calvert White F Sr. 6-4 9.7

Nathan Owen F Fr. 6-2 4.5

David Montgomery C Jr. 6-8 10.9

Cory Johnson G Jr. 6-0 15.2

Kahn Cotton G Jr. 5-10 12.6

MTSU (17-4, 11-2 OVC)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

K.J. Hardin F Sr. 6-6 6.4

Aylton Tesch F Sr. 6-8 13.8

Mantia Callender C Sr. 6-8 5.3

Richard Duncan G Jr. 6-1 9.0

Freddie Martinez G So. 6-5 13.3

Series: Tied 7-7

Radio: K103-FM

TV: KFVS