Redhawks' 3-point shooting cause for concern entering conference slate

As we do with every sport in Southeast Missouri State athletics (outside of football), we bemoan the Redhawks' shortcomings in the nonconference portion of the season and renew hope in time for the Ohio Valley Conference slate.

"We played a tough non-con," SEMO men's basketball coach Brad Korn said. "We'll always probably play a tough non-con."

The Ohio Valley Conference has long been considered one of the weakest conferences in the nation. And, for the most part, the hope in the Redhawks flying high against the conference has been rewarded.

The Redhawks begin the OVC slate Thursday against Eastern Illinois in a men's-women's doubleheader that will be telling in terms of the direction of the season for both SEMO squads.

The Panthers enter the matchup 3-7 with their own non-con struggles but with two non-Division I wins and a victory over Northern Illinois to show for their efforts. It's not unlike the SEMO men picking up easy wins over Crowley's Ridge and St. Mary of the Woods, but holding up the dominating win over Kansas City as a sign of hope.

The EIU women also have three wins, but earned their victories by beating Indiana State, Indiana-Indianapolis and Loyola Chicago. Former Redhawk Kiyley Flowers makes her return to the Show Me Center averaging 5.1 points in 29 minutes per game.

Both games should be winnable for SEMO, but both squads are facing their own issues in 3-point shooting.

Sophomore guard BJ Ward went from one of the Redhawks' sharpest shooters (17 of 33 through the first six games) to their worst shooter (0 of 12 through the last four games). If Ward, Rob Martin, and Teddy Washington Jr., SEMO's top three scorers, are shooting a combined 2 of 14 from 3 against an NAIA team, while the team was a collective 5 of 30, how are the Redhawks going to fare against conference competition?

Korn said after the St. Mary of the Woods game that the process of taking those 3-point shots was fine, and he is not a coach who would "mentally lock up" his players.

"As long as we're making the right basketball play, we got to live with the result," Korn said. "Those 30 3s were a pretty good result of a good offense."

This concern is compounded more so after Korn classified SEMO's performance against Murray State (SEMO shot 4 of 13 from three) the week prior as "a good microcosm for what's to come."

"We played the first 25-game minutes of that game extremely well, and then there was that moment where we didn't do so well offensively, and then that led to them scoring a lot of points in transition. Then we lost ourselves a little bit mentally. So we're going to be in those same situations come Thursday and Saturday and the rest of the season,” Korn said. "We’re not just going to make a bunch of shots. It's not going to be that easy for us. Who's going to command that time and that moment when we need it? To me, that's going to be the biggest key.”

Meanwhile, the SEMO women actually had a solid game from beyond the arc against Arkansas with 10 made 3-pointers in 26 tries but, the next week, shot 4 of 23 at home against Missouri State. While losing to an SEC team is expected and forgiven, falling by 30 to an in-state opponent that should be on the same level is concerning.

First-year head coach Briley Palmer said having a week off, not just for games but practices, left the Redhawks rusty during their Monday morning matinee.

"Even if your coach gives you off, you've got to get in the gym and got to get those shots up," Palmer said. "I think just being off a week in general kind of messed with us from game to game, and that's tough. So maybe it's that, but we'll be better for that."

Evidence in that theory may be freshman standout Zoe Best, who is leading the Redhawks in scoring (12 ppg) but also went 0 of 7 from the 3-point line against Missouri State.

If both the men and women Redhawks can fix their flaws from the perimeter in a matter of days, there may be hope in SEMO ending 2024 with renewed hope for a bright 2025.