Redhawks will try to re-establish momentum on road

If you're a Southeast Missouri State men's basketball fan -- or coach Scott Edgar, for that matter -- you just hope the Redhawks can pick up right where they left off following a lengthy break from game action.

When I wrote my last column, the Redhawks were coming off a sensational opening week of OVC play, starting out 2-0 in the league for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

And not only did the Redhawks win their opening two OVC games -- both at home -- they did so over arguably two of the conference's more talented teams in Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.

But those victories took place more than a week ago. Southeast had all of last week off from competition so the players could concentrate on their final exams.

And this morning, the Redhawks will board a bus bound for Birmingham, Ala., as they begin a weeklong road trip featuring their first conference tests away from the Show Me Center.

The Redhawks (6-4 overall) play at Samford on Tuesday and Jacksonville State on Thursday.

When the season started, if you had told Southeast fans -- or Edgar -- that the Redhawks would begin OVC play 3-1, they would have probably said let's not even play the games.

But now that Southeast is already 2-0, and since neither Samford or Jacksonville State appear overly imposing, Redhawks Nation -- and Edgar -- probably wants to get a bit greedy.

Like, say, a 4-0 OVC record by the time the Redhawks get back to Cape Girardeau early Sunday morning.

That would be great, and I would not be surprised if the Redhawks are able to pull it off.

But, knowing how tough a place the road is in college basketball -- no matter the level of the opponent -- I would also not be surprised if the Redhawks have a blemish on their league record when they arrive back in town.

And, when you think about it, a 3-1 OVC mark through four games would not be too shabby and would still put the Redhawks on course to be prime title contenders.

Of course, 4-0 would be a lot better. And if the Redhawks are able to pick up right where they left off following this long break, they just might be able to accomplish it.

It should be an intriguing week.

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Southeast hoop fans are probably wondering why the Redhawks won't be returning to Cape Girardeau until Sunday morning, since they finish up their two-game OVC road swing Thursday at Jacksonville State.

Well, following that contest, the Redhawks will spend the night in Jacksonville, Ala., then the next day bus a few hours to Atlanta, from where they will fly to Tulsa, Okla., in preparation for Saturday's nonconference matchup against Tulsa University.

Following that game, Southeast will take the long bus ride back home.

I'll be on the entire road trip, which should be a doozy.

By the way, the contest at Tulsa will mark the Redhawks' final "guarantee" game of the season.

Tulsa, from Conference USA, is paying Southeast $60,000, the same figure Missouri Valley Conference member Bradley paid out. The Redhawks also received $85,000 for participating in the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

As I've written previously, that $205,000 goes toward the university's overall athletic department revenue and not specifically the men's basketball program.

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Junior college transfer Jaycen Herring is having an impressive rookie season for the Redhawks so far.

Herring, an athletic and versatile wing player, is Southeast's No. 2 scorer at 12.3 points per game, and he is averaging 15 points over his last five contests.

Herring has a pretty good basketball-playing sister who is also doing plenty of damage in the OVC.

Ashley Herring, a 5-foot-9 freshman guard/forward, is Austin Peay's leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 12.9 points and 6.4 boards.

The Herring siblings apparently have some pretty good bloodlines working.

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I was happy to see that the St. Louis Cardinals picked up former Southeast baseball player Chris Gibson, who spent last summer with the Gateway Grizzlies of the independent Frontier League.

Gibson, the son of former Cardinals great and Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, never put up very impressive numbers during his two years at Southeast (2005 and 2006) or with the Grizzlies.

But Gibson did perform well for the Plaza Tire Capahas in 2006, and he displayed pretty good tools and potential while at Southeast.

The Cardinals obviously feel that Gibson's best baseball is still in front of him, and I'm sure they figure having the bloodlines he does can't hurt.

Gibson was a likable young man during his Southeast days, and it will be interesting to see if he can climb up the ladder in the Cardinals organization.

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With Jerry Kill leaving Southern Illinois University to take over as the football coach at Division I-A Northern Illinois, we'll see if the Salukis can continue the tremendous success they had under Kill.

Since SIU has been among the nation's premier Division I-AA teams the past several years, it's easy to forget the Salukis were among the country's worst squads before Kill took over the program.

In fact, this might be hard to believe, but Southeast actually beat SIU three straight years, from 2000 to 2002.

Kill then got the Salukis rolling, and they beat the Redhawks three years in a row, including 2004 and 2005 defeats so lopsided that Southeast administrators figured it would be best not to play SIU for a while.

After Southeast and SIU did not square off the past two seasons, and are not on each other's schedule next year, the series will resume in 2009 as part of a two-year agreement.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.