Redhawks drop men's basketball opener

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team couldn't keep up with Alabama-Birmingham during Saturday night's season opener for both squads.

UAB built a 19-point halftime lead and coasted to a 78-56 victory in Birmingham, Ala.

The Blazers, who went 25-9 last year, scored the game's first four points. Southeast pulled into a 4-4 tie but UAB used a 7-0 run to take control, and the Blazers never looked back.

Southeast trailed 40-21 at the intermission and the closest the Redhawks got in the second half was 18 points in the final five minutes.

"It's always disappointing when you lose. We're disappointed we didn't make a better showing," second-year Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "But we faced a very tough team.

"We dug ourselves a 20-point hole and we couldn't recover. But we played better in the second half."

Junior guard Nick Niemczyk had a dazzling debut for the Redhawks as he led them with 19 points while adding six rebounds and four assists in a team-high 34 minutes off the bench. He scored 15 points in the second half.

Niemczyk, a Bell City High School product who transferred from Three Rivers Community College, hit 6 of 10 field-goal attempts. He made 3 of 5 from 3-point range and was 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.

"Nick played outstanding," Nutt said.

There had been some question whether Niemczyk would redshirt this year after having knee surgery for a torn ACL in April, but Nutt said Niemczyk deemed himself fit enough to play.

"We made the decision in the last couple of days," Nutt said. "Nick wants to try it and go all out. He's just so tough and he knows how to play."

Junior forward Leon Powell, who missed all of last season with a knee injury after transferring from junior college, had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes. Powell was 5 of 10 from the field.

Redshirt freshman point guard Lucas Nutt had nine points and two assists against one turnover in 27 minutes off the bench. All of Nutt's points came on 3-pointers as he was perfect in three attempts from beyond the arc.

"Leon did some good things and Lucas played well," Nutt said.

No other Southeast player scored more than four points. Zach House, a 7-foot junior college transfer center, did not score but blocked three shots.

The Redhawks shot 42 percent from the floor (21 of 50) and 46.7 percent from 3-point range (7 of 15). They hit only 7 of 14 free throws (50 percent), including just 1 of 7 in the first half.

"You have to step up and hit free throws," coach Nutt said.

Cameron Moore, a 6-10 junior forward, paced UAB with 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting.

UAB shot 43.5 percent from the field (27 of 62) but was only 20.8 percent from 3-point range (5 of 24). The Blazers made 19 of 24 foul shots (79.2 percent).

Southeast was outrebounded 38-32 and committed 18 turnovers compared to only seven for UAB.

The Redhawks remain on the road to face Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday night in Fort Myers, Fla.

Southeast, after returning to Cape Girardeau on Wednesday, will head back out on the road for a Nov. 20 matchup at Missouri-Kansas City before opening its home schedule Nov. 22 against Grambling State.