Redhawks try to avenge loss to La. Tech

~ Southeast men's basketball team lost to the Bulldogs last season in the ESPN BrackBuster series

An experienced and athletic Louisiana Tech men's basketball team had its way with Southeast Missouri State last season.

The Bulldogs routed the Redhawks 72-56 at the Show Me Center as part of the ESPN BracketBuster series.

Most of the key players from that Louisiana Tech squad have moved on, but Southeast coach Scott Edgar said that doesn't automatically mean the Redhawks will avenge the loss tonight.

Edgar expects the current crop of Bulldogs to be every bit as athletic as they were last year when the teams meet tonight in a 7:05 p.m. tipoff in Ruston, La.

Southeast is 3-3, while Louisiana Tech is 1-3 under first-year coach Kerry Rupp, a former assistant at Indiana, Utah and UAB.

"They're coming out of the Western Athletic Conference ... it's a conference rated perennially anywhere from eighth to 12th in the country," Edgar said. "The higher the conference you go, usually the bigger the body, the quicker the athlete.

"Louisiana Tech is a program like us, trying to be rebuilt. But they have a lot of tradition ... I expect the same type of athleticism."

That athleticism was impressive against Southeast a year ago, although Louisiana Tech had an overall down season. The Bulldogs went 10-20, which led to coach Keith Richard's firing.

Rupp certainly did not inherit a loaded cupboard.

The Bulldogs returned just one full-time starter, and no returning player averaged more than 4.8 points per game last season.

Only two current Louisiana Tech players reached the scoring column against Southeast last year. That duo totaled nine points.

So there would appear to be an opportunity for the Redhawks to post their first true road victory of the season. Southeast beat Longwood Saturday on a neutral court at the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

But Edgar knows how difficult winning on the road can be -- especially this type of trip, in which the Redhawks had to bus more than eight hours Tuesday before arriving in Ruston.

"It's going to be tough ... the road is never easy," Edgar said. "They did beat us here last year rather handily. Hopefully we still have the taste in our mouths.

"It's a very, very important game in the fact it gives us an opportunity to climb over .500 and to give us some road experience."

The Bulldogs have particularly struggled offensively, averaging 53 points per game while shooting 35.2 percent from the field overall, 32.3 percent from 3-point range and 59.2 percent from the foul line.

But Louisiana Tech's defense has been solid. Opponents are shooting 41.1 percent from the field overall, including 27.4 percent from 3-point range, while averaging 65.3 points.

Southeast has problems of its own, although Edgar believes the Redhawks are making solid progress.

Edgar is most concerned about the Redhawks' average of 19.5 turnovers per game, which is last in the Ohio Valley Conference. Southeast's turnover margin of minus 2.67 ranks 10th in the 11-team OVC.

The Redhawks had 50 turnovers in splitting two games over the weekend at the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

It would seem that Southeast would naturally have more turnovers than many squads because of its up-tempo style, but Edgar disputes that.

"Right now that's a big concern," Edgar said of the turnovers. "Even though that [up-tempo] is the way we play, I don't concede the fact we'll have turnovers.

"When we're playing our best basketball, we can run and not turn the ball over."

Most of the Redhawks' offensive numbers are vastly improved compared to the same stage last year, when they struggled early during Edgar's first season.

The Redhawks are fourth in the OVC in field-goal percentage (46.3), second in 3-point percentage (38.7) and third in scoring (80.8 points per game).

Southeast is last in the OVC in scoring defense (85.8 points per game), which was a problem last season.

But the Redhawks' field-goal percentage defense is third in the conference (44.4), although their 3-point defense is eighth (38.8).

In addition to the turnover problem, Edgar said the Redhawks must improve their 3-point defense.

But he added: "This group will continue to get better and better as we get more seasoning."