OVC's elite player stands in Southeast men's way

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team is riding its longest Ohio Valley Conference winning streak since the 2004-05 squad posted seven consecutive league victories.

The Redhawks have to upset one of the league's top teams led by the conference's premier player if they want to make it five straight OVC wins.

Morehead State (11-6, 4-2) visits Southeast (5-11, 4-2) today for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff matching two of the three squads tied for second place in the 10-team OVC.

Southeast plays the third leg of a four-game OVC homestand against the team picked to finish second behind defending champion Murray State.

And Morehead State boasts a very good player in Kenneth Faried, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound senior forward who is projected as a potential first-round NBA draft pick.

Southeast Missouri State coach Dickey Nutt waits for his players during a timeout Saturday at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks have won four straight in the OVC. (Laura Simon)

Faried, a relentless rebounder who has been compared to former NBA rebounding great Dennis Rodman, is the reigning OVC player of the year and also the league's defensive player of the year. He is favored to repeat both awards.

Faried is among 30 midseason candidates for the Wooden Award that goes to the nation's top player.

Nothing Faried has done so far this season suggests he won't contend for all those aforementioned honors.

Faried leads the nation in rebounding with an average of 13.8 per game and in double-doubles with 15. He is the OVC's top scorer with an 18.8 average while also leading the league in steals (40) and blocks (36). He ranks third in field goal percentage (64.1).

Faried has one of just two 20-20 games nationally this season when he recorded 25 points and 20 rebounds against SIU-Edwardsville. It marked the third straight season Faried has posted a 20-20 performance.

Faried (Kenneth)

Additionally, Faried is the nation's active leader in career double-doubles (72). He has been named OVC player of the week four times this season and 11 for his career, which is tied for the conference record.

"He's real good. I respect him as a player," said Southeast senior forward Cameron Butler, who is expected to guard Faried much of the time today. "But he puts his pants on the same way we do. I take it as a personal challenge."

Faried averaged 16.9 points and 13 rebounds for last year's team that went 24-11 overall and a second-place 15-3 in the OVC. That came after the 2008-09 Eagles made the NCAA tournament.

If Faried does have a weakness, it is free-throw shooting. He is hitting just 55.6 percent from the line -- 47.6 in conference play -- so Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said an option could be to send Faried there rather than give up easy baskets. But Southeast's rotation doesn't go very deep because of injuries.

"He's struggled with his free throws, like Leon Powell has for us," Nutt said of Southeast's top player who is shooting only 50.9 percent from the charity stripe. "Our bench will be very important against a guy like him. He's a monster. He'll get his, we know that. We have to make sure he doesn't have a career night."

Faried is far from the only weapon for the Eagles, who have won five straight overall and whose only two OVC losses have come on the road in overtime to first-place Austin Peay and Tennessee State, also tied for second.

Senior guard Demonte Harper is the OVC's No. 3 scorer with a 17.5 average. He ranks third in 3-point field-goal percentage at 43.6.

Harper and junior guard Terrance Hill are the OVC's most prolific 3-point shooting teammates. They have combined to make 71 baskets from beyond the arc, including 37 by Hill. He is ninth in the OVC in 3-point accuracy (39.4 percent).

"Harper is a good player. We have to make sure where he is," Nutt said. "They're very well balanced. There's a reason why they're picked top two in the league.

"But on any given night, anybody can be beat. Being at home, hopefully we'll come out with a lot of confidence."

Confidence is something that's not in short supply these days for the Redhawks.

"We just need to keep our same energy, play as hard as we can," said redshirt freshman point guard Lucas Nutt, the reigning OVC freshman of the week. "We feel like we can beat anybody."