Redhawks hope NAIA team is key to first win

A bolstered roster, a lower-division opponent and the comforts of home should help the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team notch its first win of the season.

That's the plan, although acting coach Zac Roman said the Redhawks can't afford to look past Culver-Stockton.

Southeast opens its home schedule today at 5:30 p.m. at the Show Me Center.

"It's always a concern," Roman said about the possibility of taking Culver-Stockton lightly. "They'll be ready to play."

Culver-Stockton, an NAIA program from Canton, Mo., is off to an 0-5 start after the Wildcats went 8-21 last year and lost their top two scorers.

The Wildcats have lost to Columbia College, William Woods, Hannibal-LaGrange and Iowa Wesleyan twice.

Meanwhile, Southeast has faced two squads from major conferences in New Mexico (Mountain West) and Kansas State (Big 12).

The Redhawks (0-2) were blown out in both games, but were much more competitive against Kansas State.

After New Mexico hammered Southeast 102-59, the Redhawks lost to Kansas State 88-68, although they outscored the Wildcats 52-49 in the second half.

"I was very pleased with the way we played in the second half at Kansas State, and hopefully we can build on that," Roman said. "We just have to come out and compete from the first minute and put two good halves together."

Roman figures a beefed-up roster will help the Redhawks compete better.

Already down to just nine available scholarship players for the season, Southeast had only seven in uniform against New Mexico and Kansas State.

Junior forward Calvin Williams was suspended by the university for the two exhibition games and the first two regular-season contests.

In addition, junior guard Jimmy Drew was held out of the New Mexico and Kansas State games by Roman for undisclosed disciplinary reasons.

Williams and Drew will be available today.

"We look forward to getting Calvin and Jimmy back," Roman said.

Williams should help bolster a Southeast roster that lacks height.

The 6-foot-9 Williams, Southeast's tallest player, led the squad with 32 blocked shots to rank fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference last season.

Williams also is the Redhawks' top returning rebounder after averaging 5.5 per game a year ago. He averaged 6.9 points a contest.

"He clogs up the lane. He's a shot blocker," Roman said. "And offensively, he's getting better."

Southeast was outrebounded by an average of 9.5 per game against bigger opponents in the first two games, although the Redhawks had a 28-16 second-half advantage on the boards at Kansas State.

The Redhawks should have a decided edge on the glass today. Culver-Stockton has been outrebounded by more than 11 per game and has no player listed taller than 6-5 on its roster.

Still, Roman said the Redhawks should take nothing for granted as they play their only home game among their first six contests.

"It will be good to be back at the Show Me Center," Roman said. "We want to have a good performance before we go to Iowa."

Southeast visits Iowa on Tuesday as part of the Las Vegas Invitational -- the Kansas State game also was part of that event -- before heading to Las Vegas for two games next weekend.

Culver-Stockton's top scorers are 6-4 senior guard Brice Fantazia (16.6 points per game) and 6-2 junior guard Phil Peugh (15.8). Peugh has hit 18 of 41 3-pointers (43.9 percent).

Chalk talk begins

Southeast coaches will host Chalk Talk before all home games this season.

Roman and his assistants will discuss the upcoming contest and answer questions from fans.

Chalk Talk will take place in the north meeting room at the Show Me Center and begin at 5 p.m. today.

During the Ohio Valley Conference season, Chalk Talk will be between the women's and men's game. The session is open to the public.

"We just want to be open to the public, meet as many people as we can," Roman said. "We'll open it up to questions about what we're doing."