Redhawks seek a first in finale of homestand

Tonight marks the final chance for Southeast Missouri State to salvage something from its four-game homestand.

The Redhawks will need to slow down Eastern Kentucky's prolific long-range shooting attack in order to pull it off.

Southeast and EKU square off in a 7:45 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center.

The Redhawks are 3-15 overall and a last-place 0-7 in the 10-team Ohio Valley Conference.

Southeast has lost seven straight and 12 of 13. The Redhawks have dropped 14 consecutive conference games and posted just one win in their past 21 OVC contests dating back to last season.

Overall, the Redhawks have won just four of their past 33 games after they ended last season by dropping 14 of 15.

"It's hard to explain the feeling," senior forward Jaycen Herring said of the mounting defeats. "We battle night in and night out."

That battling almost resulted in Southeast's first OVC win of the season as the Redhawks took first-place Morehead State to the wire Thursday night.

But Southeast was left with nothing to show for its efforts as the Eagles held on for a 73-67 victory.

"We're just going to come out and keep playing hard," said senior guard Kenard Moore, who matched his career high with 31 points against Morehead State and is the OVC's No. 6 scorer with an average of 17.1 points per game. "I hope the fans stick with us."

Herring echoed similar thoughts following Thursday's setback.

"I know everybody, the team, the coaching staff, the fans, is tired of us losing," Herring said. "We just need to continue to battle and try to get us a win."

EKU (9-8, 3-4) began the week third nationally in 3-pointers made. The Colonels have connected on 180 3-pointers -- an average of 10.6 per game -- to lead the OVC.

The Colonels also are shooting a strong percentage from long distance, 38.5 to rank second in the conference and 22nd nationally.

"Coach [Jeff] Neubauer does a great job with their system," Southeast acting coach Zac Roman said. "They're making almost 11 3-pointers a game. They can easily make 15 if you don't guard them."

EKU features one of the OVC's top players in senior guard Mike Rose, a returning first-team all-conference performer.

The 6-foot-3 Rose ranks only behind Tennessee-Martin All-American Lester Hudson on the OVC scoring list at 20.5 points per game.

Rose leads the league in 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage at 47.1 (57 of 121).

"He's one of the better players in our league," Roman said. "He's going to be a candidate for [OVC] player of the year."

Rose poured in 27 points Thursday at Eastern Illinois, but no other EKU player scored more than nine points as the Colonels lost 58-48. EKU failed to score over the final 7:52.

Rose tied the EKU single-game record with seven 3-pointers against Eastern Illinois -- in 15 attempts -- and moved into ninth place on the OVC career list for 3-pointers with 229.

Neubauer told the Charleston (Ill.) Times Courier early in the week: "I will tell you Mike Rose is having a special season for us to this point. He's seen a lot of different defenses. People have guarded him very well and he has done well with it. The key to his statistics is how efficient he is."

EKU features two other double-figure scorers in 6-4 junior guard Papa Oppong (11.3 ppg) and 6-7 junior forward Josh Taylor (10.6 ppg).

Oppong returned from an injury to play Thursday after he had missed several games.

Taylor is the OVC's 10th-best 3-point shooter at 40 percent, while 6-4 freshman guard Joshua Jones ranks fifth at 45 percent.

As a team, nearly half of EKU's field-goal attempts -- 467 of 948 -- have been 3-pointers.

"Just about everybody they put on the floor can shoot the three," Roman said. "That's what scares you the most about them."

A key for the Redhawks tonight could be the availability of junior center Calvin Williams, who ranks among the OVC leaders in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

The 6-9 Williams, averaging 17 points and 7.7 rebounds, has missed the past two games with a sprained ankle.

Roman said Williams returned to practice Friday on a limited basis and will be a game-time decision tonight.

"He did some stuff [at practice]," Roman said. "We'll just have to see."