Redhawks still need OVC win

~ Southeast can clinch anOVC tournament berth with a victory this week.

Southeast Missouri State might not even have to win another game to qualify for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

But the Redhawks would rather not take that chance -- and, assuming they make it in, they'd rather not enter the eight-team event that begins next Tuesday riding a losing streak.

Those are some of the prospects facing the slumping Redhawks this week as they conclude the regular season with a road trip to Alabama.

"We're going to practice real hard and get ready for these last two games," senior center Tyrell White said.

Southeast (10-18, 8-10) visits Samford (14-14, 11-7) at 7 p.m. Thursday and Jacksonville State (8-20, 6-12) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Redhawks are in sixth place in the 11-team OVC, while Samford is tied for fourth and Jacksonville State is ninth.

Southeast has lost three straight games, which includes OVC losses to Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois.

One win this week for Southeast clinches a spot in the conference tournament.

If the Redhawks do not beat either Samford or Jacksonville State, they can still qualify through several other avenues.

The most likely of those would appear to be a loss by Morehead State -- tied for seventh at 7-11 -- in either of its final two games, at Tennessee State and at OVC regular-season champion Austin Peay.

Considering that Morehead will be a significant underdog in both contests, the Redhawks probably aren't in bad shape even if they continue to struggle.

But after losing their last three games -- including Saturday's 72-56 BracketBuster trouncing at home against Louisiana Tech -- the Redhawks would rather not back into the tournament.

Noting that the Redhawks' magic number for making the tournament is one -- either a Southeast win or a Morehead State loss -- coach Scott Edgar said, "I'd like to earn the one, as opposed to Tennessee State or Austin Peay beating Morehead.

"I've told our players, we want to be as healthy as we can and we want to play our best basketball at the end of the year."

As far as the health situation, Edgar is still hopeful of getting junior center Mike Rembert back this season, but Edgar said that might not happen until the OVC tournament.

Edgar said last week that Rembert might return for either Samford or Jacksonville State, but he said Monday it's more likely that Rembert will be held out until the tournament.

"I think it's more realistic to try for the conference tournament," Edgar said. "That gives us a week and a day.

"I know he really wants to play, but the last thing I want to do is have him think he has to push himself [to get back]."

Rembert, Southeast's third-leading scorer and top rebounder with averages of 10.3 points and six boards per game, has missed the last three contests with strained knee ligaments. The Redhawks have lost all three games.

"It has been very difficult to play without him," Edgar said.

Rembert's absence has no doubt contributed to Southeast's current losing streak, as have the struggles of the Redhawks' other two players averaging in double figures.

Junior forward Brandon Foust, Southeast's leading scorer with an 11.8 average, has six points in the last two games. He has hit two of 10 field-goal attempts during that time.

Junior swingman David Johnson, the Redhawks' No. 2 scorer with a 10.5 average, has eight points in the last two games, during which time he has made two of nine shots from the floor.

Johnson, one of Southeast's top 3-point shooters at 36.1 percent -- he has made a team-high 61 3-pointers -- has missed all six of his attempts from beyond the arc the past two games.

"With those three guys [including Rembert] not scoring, that's why you've had your scoring droughts," Edgar said.

Although Edgar acknowledged that the Redhawks' confidence is probably a bit shaken right now, he believes they can still get it back.

"I have to feel like it can get back. It has gotten back in the past," he said. "It's just one more time we'll have to band together and be resilient on this road trip."

Noteworthy

• Saturday's game at Jacksonville State will be televised locally on WQWQ (Channel 33).

Southeast's women's game at Jacksonville State Saturday will also be carried by WQWQ.