NO PEEKING: INDIANS TRYING NOT TO LOOK PAST SKYHAWKS

Southeast Missouri State University basketball coach Gary Garner has preached all season that the Indians must take things one game at a time.

And he has particularly tried to hammer that point home regarding tonight's 7:30 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference contest against Tennessee-Martin at the Show Me Center.

With OVC leader Murray State on tap for the Indians Saturday night at the Show Me Center, Garner wants to avoid any temptation to look ahead to the Racers -- and past the Skyhawks.

"We can't look past Tennessee-Martin," he said. "I know I've already been getting more questions about Murray State and that's the kind of thing that makes you ripe for an upset.

"If we don't beat Tennessee-Martin, then it really lessens the impact of what the Murray game can have."

Fortunately for the Indians, said Garner, they've been able to do a good job all season of focusing on the game at hand.

"Our players have been able to do a good job all year of taking it one game at a time," he said. "Hopefully that will be the case again because we really need to win this game."

With only three regular-season games remaining, every one is extremely vital to the Indians' hopes of finishing fourth in the 10-team OVC and earning a first-round home game for the league tournament.

The Indians are 12-11 overall and 8-7 in OVC play, good for fifth place. They trail fourth-place Austin Peay by one-half game. The Govs have four regular-season games remaining, including a big one tonight at home against Middle Tennessee.

"We have to take care of our own business," said Garner, who added with a laugh, "but you can bet I'll be quick to check the score of the other game."

UTM's Skyhawks defeated Southeast 91-82 in double overtime on Jan. 15 in Martin, but they have hit a big-time slump since then, losing seven straight league games and four straight contests overall.

The Skyhawks are 7-16 overall and 5-9 in OVC play, which puts them in seventh place. They are in their final season of not being eligible to participate in the OVC Tournament.

"We lost to them in two overtimes at their place but we had lots of chances to win the game," said Garner. "I'm hoping there will be some revenge factor with our players."

Garner said the Indians must be focused on UTM and not Murray because beating the Skyhawks won't be an easy task.

"They have some good players and they showed against us that they can really shoot the ball," he said.

Jason Ohlsen, a 6-foot-2 junior guard, had a career-high 31 points against Southeast in the earlier meeting as he hit six of 10 3-point shots. For the season, Ohlsen is averaging about 11 points per game and shooting 35 percent from 3-point range.

"Ohlsen had a great game against us, and so did (Robin) Cude. They just shot the lights out," Garner said. "They beat us from 3-point range and that was one of the things we talked about going into the game. We'll have to do a better job of defending the 3-pointer this time."

Cude, although he averages barely five points a contest, shoots 40 percent on 3-pointers.

The Skyhawks have a strong inside game led by 6-8 juniors Ryan DeMichael and Joe Crumby.

DeMichael is averaging nearly 15 points per game to lead the team and he is first in the OVC in rebounding at 10 a contest while also ranking second in the league in blocked shots with 42.

Crumby averages about 13 points and five rebounds per game.

"Their two big guys really run the floor well," said Garner.

Southeast, which has been shooting extremely well during its current hot streak of four wins in five games, suffered from its poorest shooting performance of the season in the early meeting with UTM. The Indians hit just nine of 40 3-point attempts.

"They zoned us last time and we had such a poor shooting performance, our worst of the season," Garner said. "It'll be interesting to see if they zone us again, the way we've been shooting lately."

Tennessee-Martin at SEMO

7:30 p.m., Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Probable Starters

SEMO (12-11, 8-7 OVC)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

Calvert White F Sr. 6-4 10.1

Nathan Owen F Fr. 6-2 4.7

David Montgomery C Jr. 6-8 11.3

Cory Johnson G Jr. 6-0 15.3

Kahn Cotton G Jr. 5-10 11.9

UTM (7-16, 5-9 OVC)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

Hamp Harper F Sr. 6-5 6.4

Joe Crumby F Jr. 6-8 13.3

Ryan DeMichael C Jr. 6-8 14.5

Jason Ohlsen G Jr. 6-2 11.2

Roger Castle G Sr. 6-2 2.5

Series: SEMO leads 26-12

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