Redhawks seek quick start against Jackrabbits

~ Southeast will play its first road game tonight against South Dakota State.

Southeast Missouri State coach Gary Garner knows one thing regarding tonight's game at South Dakota State that marks his team's first road test this season.

The Redhawks (1-1) better not fall behind by as big a margin as they did last year against the Jackrabbits (1-2), because the chances of pulling off a repeat comeback aren't very good.

"They've got a lot better team than they had last year, and they're always very tough to beat at home," said Garner, whose squad rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to beat the Jackrabbits last December. "This is not the kind of team we can get behind by a lot."

The Redhawks have made a disturbing habit of digging themselves a big hole during their first two games this season -- and it bit them Monday night as IPFW led by 17 points early in the second half before holding on to win 65-64.

"We've got to come out and start playing better in the first half," senior center Ketshner Guerrier said. "We can't keep waiting until the second half."

Tonight's contest, set for a 7 p.m. tipoff at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D., begins a two-game road swing for the Redhawks, who play at Nebraska (3-0) Sunday afternoon.

"It's going to be a very difficult road trip for us," Garner said.

Southeast and SDSU had quite a game at the Show Me Center last season. The Redhawks trailed 55-38 with under nine minutes remaining, but outscored the Jackrabbits 21-3 the rest of the way and pulled out a 59-58 victory on Mike Nelke's 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Jackrabbits, a former Division II power, went 10-18 in their first Division I season last year, but they appear to be significantly improved, especially athletically.

"We're a lot more athletic than we've been in a long time, and I think that's going to help us," SDSU coach Scott Nagy told the Brookings Register. "After the first exhibition game, we had two more dunks in that game than we had all last year."

Garner said the Jackrabbits' improved athleticism is noticeable.

"They are a lot more athletic than they were last year," Garner said. "They've got a good basketball team."

SDSU has already lost to a pair of nationally ranked teams, 71-54 at No. 7 Kentucky and 90-65 at No. 15 Illinois. The Jackrabbits' victory was 61-59 over Northern Colorado.

"They hung with Kentucky pretty good most of the game, and a lot of teams are going to lose by that kind of score at Illinois," Garner said.

Steve Holdren, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard/forward, is averaging 17.3 points per game, including a 28-point performance against Illinois. He was the Jackrabbits' second-leading scorer last year at 12.5 points per game.

Ben Beran, a 6-7, 230-pound junior forward, led SDSU last year with 13.6 points per game, and he's second this season at 15.3 points a contest, including 25 points against Kentucky.

"He's very versatile, he can score inside, he can score outside, and I think he's a tough matchup for a lot of big guys," said Nagy of Beran.

Holdren and Beran are off to good starts shooting 3-pointers. Holdren has made eight of 17, while Beran has hit five of nine.

"They've got a lot of experience back, and they've added some good talent," Garner said. "Holdren and Beran are both very good players who can do a lot of things. They'll be difficult matchups for us."

Prior to their first Division I season last year, the Jackrabbits had gone 210-59 in Division II the previous nine years.

SDSU has been particularly tough to beat at home, winning nearly 81 percent of its games at Frost Arena, including better than 90 percent of its nonconference contests.

"You look at their winning percentage at home ... it's really going to be a hard game," Garner said. "We can win, but we'll have to play a lot better than we have so far."