OVC opener gives Redhawks fresh start

~ Southeast will take a 2-5 record into tonight's game against Tennessee-Martin.

The games for Southeast Missouri State will begin to take on added importance tonight.

Ready or not, the Redhawks open their Ohio Valley Conference schedule against Tennessee-Martin in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center.

The Redhawks (2-5) and Skyhawks (1-6) have both certainly not played nearly as well as they would have liked to at this point in the season.

But right now, that really doesn't matter. Although both squads have nonconference games remaining, all of their attention has turned to the crucial OVC portion of their schedules.

"It's a brand new season," Southeast first-year coach Scott Edgar said. "These games thus far have been preparation as individuals and as a team to compete in this 20-game OVC marathon."

Southeast was hoping to take plenty of confidence and momentum into its OVC opener by beating Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne at home Wednesday night.

Instead, the Mastodons turned the tables on the Redhawks with an 84-65 romp.

The Redhawks have been outscored by at least 19 points in all five of their losses. Their two wins have been three-point struggles against Division II Alaska-Fairbanks and California-Riverside.

Southeast is last in the 11-team OVC in scoring margin, having been outscored by an average of 18.9 points per game.

"It's hard to have a lot of confidence right now. We just haven't played to our potential," said junior swingman David Johnson, who led the Redhawks against IPFW with 16 points. "But we just have to stay together.

"It's like a new season now. We feel like we're 0-0. We just have to come out in this game and play harder than we've ever played. We have to jump on them fast so we can get the upper hand in the conference."

While the Redhawks rank toward the bottom in virtually every OVC statistical category -- they are last in rebounding margin and turnovers, in addition to scoring margin -- UT-Martin has been more competitive, being outscored by an average of 7.9 points per game.

But, since a season-opening win over High Point, the Skyhawks have lost six straight, including Wednesday's 75-57 home loss to Evansville, which beat Southeast 65-45 two days earlier in Indiana.

So it's not like the Skyhawks will come to the Show Me Center with a full head of steam.

"We are mentally fragile right now and that concerns me," UT-Martin coach Bret Campbell said on the school's Web site. "The good thing is you put this 1-6 record behind you and get ready for the conference play. That's what is really going to count."

The Skyhawks lost two of the OVC's premier players last year as Jared Newson and Jeremy Kelly both completed their eligibility. They combined to average 35 points per game, with Newson (18.8) ranking second in the conference.

UT-Martin returned three starters but has been led offensively by 6-foot-9 junior college transfer forward Gerald Robinson at 12.9 points per game.

The Skyhawks have been the OVC's second-best 3-point shooting team so far at 38.7 percent, led by Robinson (10 of 23, 43.5 percent) and senior guard Justin Flatt (16 of 33, 43.5 percent).

Once again Southeast will be at a size disadvantage as the Skyhawks start, in addition to Robinson, 6-9 senior center Cleve Woodfork and 6-8 senior forward Will Lewis.

"They're good inside and that concerns me," Edgar said. "That's been an Achilles' heel of ours."

While Edgar knows this game will not make or break Southeast, it would certainly be nice to beat a team picked to finish 10th in the conference before the Redhawks hit the road next week to face preseason No. 2 Tennessee State and No. 3 Tennessee Tech.

"We'd love to get off to a great start [in the OVC] before we go into maybe the toughest road trip against maybe the two most talented teams," said Edgar, whose squad was the league's preseason No. 5 pick. "The teams that defend their home turf the most often in conference play are in contention for the prime spots.

"Our goal is to win the OVC. I see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not quite sure if they [the players] do right now. We have to throw the kitchen sink at Tennessee-Martin to get a victory."

Noteworthy

• The Southeast Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is sponsoring a food drive that is part of an OVC-wide event which began this week. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the local fish food pantry benefiting families in the area.

Anyone interested in donating non-perishable items may bring them to tonight's game. There are also several drop areas located on campus, including the Redhawk Success Center, the Rosengarten Football Complex and the Student Recreation Center-North.