Redhawks open three-game tournament in Mexico

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team's trip to Mexico is all business according to coach Dickey Nutt.

"I know when people hear the words 'Mexico' and 'on the beach' and 'Hard Rock Café' and things like that it certainly sounds goods. And it is, it's a great trip," Nutt said. "But we're here for business and we're here to win games, and I hope that we'll be able to improve and get better every time we step out on the floor and learn how to win.

"What we're trying to do with this team is to put us in every situation possible to get us ready for conference play. This is going to be a good situation because you have three games in three days and so it kind of makes it feel like the OVC conference tournament."

Southeast will play three games in the Cure UCD Classic, which takes place at the Puerto Vallarta International Convention Center in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico.

Southeast (3-2) faces Northern Kentucky University at 6:30 p.m. today, Tulane University (4-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday and Texas State University (0-5) at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Southeast Missouri State forward Jarekious Bradley makes a dunk in the second half of the Redhawks' 109-64 win over the Mid-Continent Cougars Friday, Nov. 22, at the Show Me Center.

Northern Kentucky (1-4) won its first game of the Cure UCD Classic on Saturday at Devlin Fieldhouse in New Orleans. The Norse defeated Tulane 91-86 in overtime.

"I can tell you that they're very athletic," Nutt said about Northern Kentucky. " ... I know they're well coached and they're a good team. We'll have to be ready for them."

Northern Kentucky is led in scoring by junior guard Jordan Jackson, who averages 12.7 points per game. Jackson scored a season-high 24 points against Purdue on Nov. 8. He has only played in three games for the Norse after leaving the game early with an injury in a 93-63 loss to Kentucky on Nov. 10. Sophomore forward/center Jalen Billups averages 10.8 points per game.

The Redhawks are coming off a 109-64 win against NAIA opponent Mid-Continent University last Friday.

Nutt was pleased with his player's unselfishness in the victory and hopes it continues to be a strong point with his team. The Redhawks recorded 26 assists against Mid-Continent.

"That's something that we have really been emphasizing with our players -- about sharing that basketball and really trying to have a record amount of assists," Nutt said. "Because when you have those kind of numbers in assists it shows that you're finding open people, you're making good passes, making the extra pass."

Southeast is led by senior forward Tyler Stone, who is averaging 23.3 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. Junior Jarekious Bradley averages 19.4 points and 7.8 rebounds a game.

Junior guard Darrian Gray and freshman guard Antonius Cleveland average 12.0 and 11.8 points per game, respectively.

Southeast's defense is still the team's main area of focus heading into the tournament, but Nutt noted that he felt his team had played with a "high sense of urgency" on defense against Mid-Continent.

"I think just paying attention to detail, just having a sense of urgency on the defensive side of the ball," Nutt said about areas of improvement. "I think we can score. I don't have a problem with scoring the ball, we've been able to score points. It's just the defense right now is a little lacking and our focus has been the last couple of weeks -- the last few days especially -- to guard the ball better as a team and hopefully have a better overall team defense."

Nutt is hopeful that junior Nino Johnson will make it back into the starting lineup during the tournament. Johnson, who has played in three games this season and has not started, has been recovering from a sprained knee since this summer.

Johnson is averaging 10.3 points per game.

"I'm hoping that he'll have some better practices in the next couple of days getting ready for this tournament because I really need to get him in the lineup," Nutt said. "I'm a believer that you put your best players out there on the floor, and Nino is certainly one of those guys."