SE ATTEMPTS TO COMPLETE SWEEP OF BIG HOMESTAND

All that stands in the way of Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team and a perfect four-game homestand is an Eastern Kentucky squad that is reeling with seven straight losses.

But Southeast coach Gary Garner emphasizes that this is certainly not the time for the Indians to take anybody for granted.

Garner will be looking for another strong performance from the Indians tonight when they square off with the Colonels in a 7:30 tipoff at the Show Me Center.

"When this homestand started, we talked about winning all four and how critical that was," said Garner. "Now we've got three, so it's very important to get the last one. It's so important that we come out focused and ready to play."

The Indians have done that during the first three games of this homestand, building sizable early leads every time and winning the three contests by an average of more than 14 points.

None of the three victories was more impressive than Thursday's 80-59 rout of Morehead State. The Indians led by 31 points in the second half and coasted home.

"I was very pleased with our performance," said Garner of Thursday's contest. "I think our team is getting better and better."

Thanks to Murray State's upset loss to Middle Tennessee Thursday, the Indians have solidified their hold on first place in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Southeast, winner of four straight games to improve to 15-3 overall, is 8-1 in OVC play at the halfway point of the league season. Murray State (6-2 in OVC play) now trails the Indians by 1 1/2 games. Tennessee Tech (6-3) is two games back. Murray and Tech square off tonight.

"Murray State getting beat was really a bonus for us," said Garner. "But the main thing is we just have to take care of our own business and keep winning."

The Indians will be heavily favored to post another victory tonight, but Garner knows the Colonels can be dangerous, even though their recent slump has dropped them to 6-12 overall and a ninth-place 2-7 in the 10-team OVC.

A youthful EKU squad was actually one of the OVC's early-season surprises, winning their first two league games and starting out 5-2 overall.

But the Colonels have won just one of their past 11 games and they've lost seven straight, including Thursday's 85-57 setback at Eastern Illinois.

"They really started the season strong, but they've got such a young team, and when you're young, you can be really inconsistent," Garner said.

The Colonels have been starting three freshmen and two sophomores, which can certainly help explain their struggles.

"Some nights freshmen just play absolutely horrible and some nights they play really great," said Garner.

Sam Hoskin, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, leads the Colonels offensively with 15.9 points per game as he shoots 52 percent from the field. Hoskin also paces EKU in rebounding with eight per contest.

Whitney Robinson, a 5-11 sophomore guard, averages 12.7 points per game, which is down considerably from his rookie scoring average of nearly 18 points that ranked him among the national freshmen leaders.

The Colonels' other double-figure scorer is 6-4 freshman guard Will Morris (10.2 ppg).

Rounding out a tall frontline for the Colonels are 6-10 freshman center Chris Garnett and 6-7 freshman forward Ricardo Thomas. Garnett is EKU's second-leading rebounder with 5.8 per game while Thomas has a team-leading 20 blocked shots.

"They've got some talent," said Garner. "It's just a matter of being consistent. But on any given night, they can certainly break loose."

Garner and the Indians will be doing everything in their power to make sure tonight is not when the Colonels break out of their funk.

"We know how important it is to win at home," said Southeast senior forward Roderick Johnson. "We just have to come out focused and ready to play."

Said Garner, "We can't have a letdown. Now that we're in first place, we know that everybody is going to give us their best shot, like teams have always done with Murray State. We must protect our home court."