Indians wander into the land of the Mastadons

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Southeast Missouri State University's Indians were disappointed that they missed out on an upset at DePaul Wednesday afternoon.

But the last thing the Indians (6-4) want is to come up totally empty on their two-game road trip. That's why they're approaching today's noon contest at Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (2-10) as one of their most important of the season, especially since it will be Southeast's final non-conference test.

"Any time you lose, you want to come back with a win to boost your confidence," junior guard Derek Winans said. "And going into the start of conference, we need to win."

Added senior center Brandon Griffin, "We really need to win this game. It's very important. We don't want to lose two in a row coming back home."

But IPFW figures to give Southeast quite a battle despite its dismal record. The Mastadons, in only their third season on the Division I level, have had just four home games as many of their opponents so far have been from major conferences.

IPFW has had its moments, including a 78-75 home victory over Ohio Valley Conference power Morehead State. Morehead is picked to finish second in the OVC while Southeast is ranked fourth.

"They'll be a lot better team than their record," Southeast coach Gary Garner said. "They've had to play lot of games on the road for money and they've only had four home games, so you know they'll be excited to play at home. Playing that type of schedule, I don't know that we'd be much better than 2-10.

"And beating Morehead shows you they've got good players. We know this isn't going to be an easy game for us. We're probably going to have to play well to win it."

A giant force

The Mastadons feature a major force in the middle in 6-foot-10, 250-pound junior center David Simon, who is considered an NBA prospect. Simon is averaging nearly 14 points and seven rebounds per game while shooting 57 percent from the field. He also has 18 blocked shots.

IPFW's other double-figure scorer is 6-foot junior guard Terry Collins, who is averaging nearly 13 points a contest.

"They've got good size, and Simon really looks like a very good player. He's a tremendous athlete and he'll be hard to stop," Garner said. "I look for a tough game, and it's an important game for us. If we could win, we'd really feel good about ourself going into the conference schedule."

Southeast had a golden opportunity to upset DePaul Wednesday. The Indians grabbed their only lead of the game at 48-46 with just over six minutes remaining, and they trailed 49-48 with a little more than two minutes left. But poor shooting and several turnovers at crucial times doomed their chances.

"We should have won the game. We pretty much gave it away," Winans said. "But now we need to bounce back."

The Indians begin OVC play Thursday when defending champion Austin Peay visits the Show Me Center.

The Indians begin OVC play Thursday when defending champion Austin Peay visits the Show Me Center.