Redhawks' mystery opponent identified

~ Southeast men will face Eastern Michigan in their Feb. 23 BracketBusters game.

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team will travel to Eastern Michigan on Feb. 23 as part of the sixth annual O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters, with a 3 p.m. tipoff.

All of the BracketBusters pairings were announced Monday evening. One hundred squads are involved, including all 11 from the Ohio Valley Conference.

Fourteen games will be televised by the ESPN family of networks, but the OVC did not receive any TV contests.

Eastern Michigan, a member of the Mid-American Conference, is 7-13 overall and 3-5 in league play.

Eastern Michigan is fourth out of six teams in the MAC West Division, and ninth among 12 MAC squads overall.

Southeast is 12-12 overall and 7-7 in the OVC, good for a sixth-place tie. The Redhawks have lost seven of their last eight games.

The squads have played one common opponent, Illinois State. Eastern Michigan beat the Redbirds 72-63 at home, while Southeast lost to the Redbirds 90-71 on the road.

"We look forward to the BracketBusters," Southeast coach Scott Edgar said. "Even though it's out of conference, it's an important game for us."

As part of the BracketBusters arrangement, Eastern Michigan will play at the Show Me Center next season, when the Redhawks will also host a BracketBusters game.

"Even though we have to go on the road twice this year, this gives us two automatic home games for next season," Edgar said.

Southeast played at Louisiana Tech earlier this season in a return game from hosting the Bulldogs during last year's BracketBusters.

This is the third year for Southeast to be involved in the BracketBusters. The Redhawks are 0-2, losing to Louisiana Tech last season and at Cal-Riverside in 2005-06.

The OVC will have five home BracketBusters games, with six OVC teams playing on the road.

Home games for the OVC feature Georgia Southern at Austin Peay, Ball State at Eastern Kentucky, Evansville at Eastern Illinois, Georgia State at Jacksonville State and Indiana State at Murray State.

Other road contests are Morehead State at James Madison, Samford at Louisiana Tech, Tennessee State at Northern Illinois, Tennessee Tech at East Tennessee State and Tennessee-Martin at Elon.

Meanwhile, the Redhawks will continue OVC play this week with a road trip to Kentucky for games against teams tied for third.

Southeast plays Morehead State (11-10, 8-5) on Thursday night and Eastern Kentucky (11-10, 8-5) on Saturday night.

Edgar said there is a chance sophomore guard Jimmy Drew will be available for this week's games.

Drew, statistically Southeast's top 3-point shooter and the player he considers the squad's best passer into the post, has missed the last three games with a foot injury.

"It would be great to maybe get him out there," Edgar said. "Just put another guy on the floor with very good basketball instincts."

Herring nabs OVC honor

Junior forward Jaycen Herring was named the OVC newcomer of the week Monday.

In two games last week, Herring averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Herring had career highs of 29 points and 12 rebounds during Tuesday's 121-116 triple-overtime win over OVC leader Austin Peay.

Herring, a junior college transfer, is Southeast's leading scorer this season with a 13.6 average.