Redhawks MBB showing 'em at the Show Me Center

Any basketball team can have a good game and appear to be a solid squad. However, when you start to string together an extended series of good outings, then it becomes who a team is.

The Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball squad, particularly while playing at the Show Me Center, apparently is emerging into a much better than solid team.

“Our guys have a goal,” third-year Redhawk coach Brad Korn said in a radio postgame interview recently, “and it is to protect the Show Me Center all year long.”

SEMO did just that on Thursday, as it annihilated Lindenwood 94-71 to improve to 8-10 (3-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play).

The win puts the Redhawks in a three-way tie with Morehead State (10-8, 3-2) and Tennessee Tech (7-11, 3-2) for second place in the league, just one game behind SIU Edwardsville (13-5, 4-1), which the Redhawks beat from start to finish in Cape Girardeau recently.

“It was a good one for us,” Korn said after smoking the Lions. “We played well. We didn’t just show up a win, we played well.”

The Redhawks had four players in double figures, two more with at least eight points, and manhandled Lindenwood (7-11, 2-3) with their most effective post presence (junior Josh Earley) being limited to two minutes after injuring his left shoulder significantly.

SEMO now has just two home losses, one by two points to rival Southern Illinois, and the other to the reigning Horizon League champions (Purdue Fort Wayne).

The Redhawks, who lead the OVC (in league play) in scoring offense, shot 63 percent overall and 52 percent from 3-point range on Thursday.

“It feels good when the ball is going in like that,” Korn said. “It gives your defense energy and everything else more energy.”

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but if SEMO were to win its remaining seven league home games, and lose every single road game, it would finish with an OVC mark of 10-8. That would be the first double-digit win season in the OVC since 2000.

“The rest of the season,” Korn said, “every game is so, so important. There isn’t a weighted formula for wins, a win is a win.

“The next thing that you have to worry about is being 1-0 against Morehead State (on Saturday) and understanding exactly what that is going to take.”

On Thursday, senior guard Israel Barnes connected on 9 of 12 shots to lead SEMO with 20 points, while Phillip Russell had 16 points and four assists.

Graduate student guard Chris Harris added 13 points, three rebounds, and three assists, while redshirt freshman forward Adam Larson (11 points), sophomore forward Dylan Branson (nine points, six rebounds, four assists), senior center Nate Johnson (eight points), and sophomore forward Kobe Clark (seven rebounds) also contributed.

Following Saturday’s road trip to Morehead State (2 p.m., ESPN+), the Redhawks will return to the Show Me Center for three games against UT Martin, Tennessee Tech, and Tennessee State.

“You know what the schedule is,” Korn said of the fans, “and get excited about that, which everybody should because we have played well at home. That is one of our goals, to protect the Show Me Center, but we have to be able to go play a good road game like we did (recently) against Little Rock.”