Knee injury sidelines Rembert

~ Southeast's leading rebounder will miss at least tonight's game against EKU.

Southeast Missouri State will face the Ohio Valley Conference's hottest team without Mike Rembert.

The Redhawks only hope their 6-foot-9, 250-pound junior center is not done for the rest of the season.

The right knee injury Rembert suffered late in Thursday's 81-78 win over Morehead State has clouded tonight's nationally televised game against Eastern Kentucky.

Southeast (10-15, 8-8 OVC) and EKU (14-9, 9-6) will square off at 6 p.m. at the Show Me Center. The contest will air nationally on ESPNU and locally on WQWQ (cable channel 33).

Southeast coach Scott Edgar said Friday afternoon that Rembert definitely would not play tonight.

An MRI exam was conducted on Rembert's knee Friday afternoon, but results will not likely be available until today at the earliest.

"Right now he's out indefinitely, until we get the results of the MRI," Edgar said. "We're hoping for the best, obviously, that Mike will be back soon. But right now we just don't know."

Rembert is Southeast's third-leading scorer at 10.3 points per game and leading rebounder with six a contest.

Rembert is eighth in the OVC in rebounding and fourth in blocked shots. He and teammate Brandon Foust each have 21 blocks.

"It's a big loss for us, but we've faced adversity all year," Edgar said. "Hopefully, we'll have guys step up, like we have all year."

Making matters worse for Southeast is that the availability tonight of junior Dionte Perry -- Rembert's primary backup -- is uncertain.

Perry, who took a blow to the head during the Feb. 3 win at Tennessee-Martin, did not dress against Morehead State, primarily as a precaution after he experienced some dizziness.

"We're not sure about Dionte [playing tonight] either," Edgar said.

Edgar said 6-7 senior Tyrell White, who has played sparingly, will start tonight in place of Rembert.

White, who will make his first start of the season -- and just his second career start at Southeast -- has scored 12 total points in 12 games. He is averaging 4.8 minutes.

Last season, his first at Southeast after transferring from junior college, White averaged 1.8 points per game in limited action.

"I think it's a very good opportunity for Tyrell," Edgar said.

Edgar expected a tough time with EKU under any circumstances, but things figure to be even more difficult tonight.

The Colonels have won four straight games for the OVC's longest current winning streak, and they're coming off Thursday's 64-62 triumph at Murray State.

That marked EKU's first victory in Murray, Ky., since 1992, and completed an EKU season sweep of the Racers for the first time since the 1984-85 campaign.

"They are a very hot team," Edgar said. "Right now they're playing better than anybody in the OVC."

EKU, in fifth place in the OVC, is just one-half game out of fourth place. The top four finishers earn first-round home games for the opening round of the eight-team OVC tournament.

Sixth-place Southeast still has an outside chance of placing in the top four, although that will be difficult.

"A lot of things can happen, but the most important thing is you want to be playing your best when the tournament comes around," Edgar said. "Whether we can climb into fourth or not, we want to have maximum momentum [for the tournament]."

Southeast won the first meeting with the Colonels on Jan. 2 in Richmond, Ky.

The Redhawks, trailing 41-32 at halftime, exploded in the final 20 minutes, outscoring EKU 56-33 to pull away for an 88-74 victory that broke a six-game losing streak.

"We played very well that night," Edgar said.

EKU is led by sophomore guard Mike Rose, whose 15.4 scoring average ranks sixth in the OVC.

Senior forward Julian Mascoll (12.6) and freshman guard Adam Leonard (11.7) also average in double figures for the Colonels.

Mascoll is second in the league in field-goal percentage (58.7), while Leonard ranks second in 3-point percentage (42.4), trailing only Southeast senior guard Terrick Willoughby (43 percent).

Southeast and EKU rank one-two in the OVC in 3-pointers made, the Redhawks first with 208 and the Colonels second with 190.