INDIANS UNLOAD DIVISION I PUNCH; SOUTHEAST KO's EDWARDSVILLE

Like all Division II basketball teams when they face a Division I foe, the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Cougars no doubt had upset thoughts racing through their minds at the Show Me Center Saturday night.

And when the Cougars were holding on to a 15-13 lead eight minutes into the contest, they probably had dreams of a shocking victory.

But it wasn't soon before the dream turned into a nightmare. Southeast Missouri State University pulled away to an 11-point halftime lead and then pulverized SIU in the second half to post a 78-35 season-opening victory in front of 5,133 fans.

"I was a Division II coach and I remember how it was when we'd play a Division I team," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "You just really get fired up for the game and you play like it's your biggest game of the season.

"In the first half, I thought we were kind of in the mode of `it's a Division II team and we'll show up and win.' We were playing hard but it just wasn't quite there. But I thought in the second half, we really picked it up."

Particularly defensively as the Indians held the shorter and slower Cougars -- who were game but totally overmatched -- to just 11 points on 17-percent shooting.

"Defensively, in the second half, we did a lot more things right than in the first half," Garner said.

Mike Branson, a junior forward playing his first official game for the Indians, led all scorers with 14 points, 11 coming in the first half.

"I was nervous, but the older guys helped me out," said a smiling Branson, who earned junior-college All-American honors at Meramec Community College in St. Louis last year. "We knew we had to pick it up in the second half."

Senior forward Demetrius Watson, who started most of last season, came off the bench Saturday to score 13 points, 11 in the first half. He hit five of six shots from the field and also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

"Demetrius is our most consistent player," said Garner. "He does more little things right than anybody else on the team."

Junior forward Roderick Johnson, also playing his first official game after sitting out last year following a transfer, added 12 points and three blocked shots.

Senior center Bud Eley contributed 11 points and four blocks.

Freshman guard Fred Abraham had a productive debut with seven points and three assists.

The Cougars got 12 points from Ben Wierzbu.

SIU held three early leads before an Abraham shot just over eight minutes into the first half put the Indians ahead 17-15. They would never look back again.

Branson scored seven of the Indians' next nine points as they went ahead 26-15 before settling on a 35-24 halftime lead.

Southeast scored the first seven points of the second half to go ahead 42-24 and the rout was on.

"We have a lot of potential, but we still have a long way to go," Branson said.

Garner knows that better than anybody. He realizes just what kind of challenge the Indians will be in for Tuesday night when they play their first road game of the season -- against highly-regarded Bradley in Peoria, Ill.

"Tuesday will be a different story," said Garner. "Bradley is so much better than they were last year. They're always tremendous at home so it's really going to be a tough test for us."

INDIAN NOTES: Senior guard Kahn Cotton was not in uniform Saturday as he continues to be bothered by tendon problems in his knees. Cotton could miss as much as several more weeks...

Senior guard Cory Johnson, who hit a school-record 95 3-pointers last year and shot 43 percent from long range, made just one of six 3-pointers Saturday.