SE ENTERTAINS OVC's BEST TONIGHT; MURRAY STATE VISITS SHOW ME CENTER

Southeast Missouri State University basketball coach Gary Garner realizes what type of superlative performance it will take if the Indians have any hopes of upsetting Murray State tonight.

"We've definitely got to step it up a notch and play our best game of the season," he said.

The mighty Racers certainly pose quite a challenge for Southeast in its final regular-season home game. The squads will tip it off at 7:30 p.m. at the Show Me Center. A crowd approaching a sellout is expected to be on hand.

Murray, which has been receiving plenty of votes in both major national polls -- which is not surprising considering the Racers defeated Arkansas handily earlier in the season -- will bring a six-game overall winning streak and an 11-game winning streak against Southeast into tonight's contest.

The Racers are 23-3 overall and a first-place 13-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. They routed the Indians 101-66 on Jan. 17 in Murray, Ky.

Southeast's last win over Murray was an 80-75 decision at the Show Me Center in 1992.

"There is no question Murray State is the most talented team in the league and probably by a lot," said Garner. "They're just so athletic and they're very deep. They run players in an out and you really can't even tell who their starters and backups are."

A win tonight has become extra important for the Indians if they have designs on finishing fourth in the OVC and earning a first-round league tournament home game.

The Indians -- who have won five of their last six games -- are 13-11 overall and 9-7 in OVC play, good for fifth place. They trail fourth-place Austin Peay (9-6) by one-half game.

But Austin Peay picked up a huge win Thursday night by beating Middle Tennessee in overtime. The Govs will be heavily favored in remaining games against Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Martin and they will be a solid underdog against Murray, so Austin Peay figures to finish the season at 11-7 in the league.

Southeast will be the underdog tonight and also next Saturday when it closes out the regular season at Eastern Illinois. But the Indians figure to need wins in both games in order to tie Austin Peay for fourth. If that happens, then the Indians would win the tie-breaker because they won both meetings with the Govs this season.

"We're probably going to have to win out now in order to finish fourth," Garner admitted. "We thought going into Thursday's game (an 87-61 romp past UT-Martin) that winning two out of our last three would get us fourth.

"But Austin Peay beating Middle Tennessee was a huge win for them. They'll probably win two more, meaning we'll have to win our last two."

Winning tonight will be difficult enough. The Indians will have to deal with a lot of weapons, including 6-foot-3 senior guard De'Teri Mayes, the probable OVC Player of the Year who averages nearly 22 points per game.

Also scoring in double figures for the Racers are 6-1 senior point guard Chad Townsend (12.4 ppg), who leads the OVC in assists with more than five per game; 6-6 sophomore forward Isaac Spencer (12.3 ppg), who averages a team-best 7.4 rebounds per contest; and 6-7 sophomore forward Rod Murray (10.8 ppg).

Murray State at SEMO

7:30 p.m., Show Me Center

Probable Starters

SEMO (13-11, 9-7 OVC)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

Calvert White F Sr. 6-4 10.3

Nathan Owen F Fr. 6-2 5.1

David Montgomery C Jr. 6-8 11.4

Cory Johnson G Jr. 6-0 15.0

Kahn Cotton G Jr. 5-10 12.2

MSU (23-3, 13-2 OVC)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

Rod Murray F So. 6-7 10.9

Isaac Spencer F So. 6-6 12.4

Duane Virgil C Jr. 6-9 8.5

De'Teri Mayes G Sr. 6-3 21.6

Chad Townsend G Sr. 6-1 12.6

Series: MSU leads 26-12

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