Road to test Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team is off to its best Ohio Valley Conference start in more than a decade after winning its first two league games at home.

The Redhawks now test themselves on the road for two straight, beginning today with a 7 p.m. tipoff at Tennessee-Martin.

The Redhawks, 7-7 overall, are 2-0 in the OVC for the first time since the 1999-2000 NCAA tournament squad began its league schedule 4-0. The Skyhawks are 3-13 overall and 0-3 in conference play.

Southeast also has a season-high three-game winning streak that ties its longest string under third-year coach Dickey Nutt. The Redhawks last posted four consecutive victories during the 2004-05 campaign.

"We've started to play better. We've had two good games in a row," Nutt said. "Winning is confidence."

Southeast Missouri State's Tyler Stone protects the ball from Jacksonville State's Nick Cook during the first half Monday at the Show Me Center. (Kristin Eberts)

The Redhawks gained plenty of confidence from two impressive performances to begin their league schedule. They routed defending OVC tournament champion Morehead State 67-51 last Wednesday and Jacksonville State 74-56 on Monday.

"Now we hope we can carry that over," Nutt said about the upcoming road trip that includes a 6 p.m. game Saturday at Eastern Kentucky. "Hopefully it will jump-start us so we play better on the road."

Southeast only has one road win, but it came in the Redhawks' most recent outing away from Cape Girardeau, at Sacramento State on Dec. 22.

"We haven't played that well on the road, but we had a good game at Sacramento State," Nutt said.

UTM is struggling, but the Skyhawks' OVC losses have been against teams expected to finish high in the conference standings -- nationally ranked Murray State, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State. The defeats all have been by at least 16 points, but just one of the games was at home.

"They've had a very tough schedule. They've already played three very good conference opponents," Nutt said. "They're hard to play. They're well coached and they play well at home."

The Skyhawks have beaten just one Division I opponent, a notable victory at Alabama-Birmingham of Conference USA. Their other wins were over Rochester College and Bethel.

Mike Liabo, a 6-foot-6 sophomore guard/forward, leads UTM offensively with an average of 14.2 points per game.

Myles Taylor, a 6-7, 250-pound freshman forward, is averaging 13.1 points and a team-high 4.8 rebounds. He is averaging 20 points in the three conference games.

The Skyhawks rank last in the OVC in both scoring offense (61.9 points per game) and scoring defense (74.6). They also are last in field-goal percentage defense. Opponents are shooting a healthy 51.3 percent.

But Nutt said none of that means the Redhawks will have an easy time. They have lost at UTM in both of the coach's first two years and have dropped four straight in Martin, Tenn. Their last win there came during the 2006-07 season.

"We've had trouble over there," Nutt said. "We can't just show up and think we'll automatically beat somebody."

UTM made solid strides a year ago, going 12-21 overall and 6-12 in the OVC to tie Southeast for seventh place.

That came after a 2009-10 campaign that saw UTM finish last in the league at 1-17 while compiling a 4-25 overall record.

"They were one of the most improved teams in the conference last year," Nutt said. "They've still got a lot of those same players. We expect a very tough game. In this league, anybody can win."

Southeast is the OVC's fourth-highest scoring team at 70.4 points per game, second in field-goal shooting at 48.2 percent and leads the league in assists with 15.4 per contest.

"This is a very good passing team," Nutt said. "We've got unselfish players and we've got skilled players."

But perhaps the biggest factor in the Redhawks' recent surge has been their defensive improvement.

Southeast, which struggled on defense most of the season, has put together two consecutive strong defensive performances, including holding Jacksonville State to less than 31.7-percent shooting Monday.

"We're getting better on defense," Nutt said. "Holding a team to under 32 percent is really good."

Sophomore forward Tyler Stone, a Missouri transfer, is having an impressive season. He is a top contender to win the OVC's newcomer of the year award.

Stone is averaging 15 points and 7.5 rebounds, ranking sixth and third in the OVC, respectively.

"Tyler has come a long way. He continues to get better and better," Nutt said.