SE HALFWAY TO SWEEP OF IMPORTANT HOMESTAND

Two down and two more to go for Southeast Missouri State University's basketball Indians as they attempt to sweep a four-game homestand that coach Gary Garner believes is vital to their Ohio Valley Conference championship hopes.

The Indians rolled past Eastern Illinois 77-66 Saturday night after opening the homestand with a hard-fought 61-50 win over Tennessee Tech.

In order to finish off the perfect home stretch, the Indians will have to knock off a pair of Kentucky teams this week as they face Morehead State Thursday and Eastern Kentucky Saturday.

"It's going to be a tough weekend for us," said Garner during his weekly media conference Monday.

Southeast, 14-3 overall, is a first-place 7-1 in OVC play and one-half game ahead of 6-1 Murray State, although the squads are basically tied for the top spot since they are tied on the loss side.

If the Indians are to remain atop the league standings, they will have to beat a Morehead State team that took Murray State into overtime before losing by a point Saturday night and an Eastern Kentucky squad that is struggling with six straight losses.

Morehead State is 8-9 overall and 3-5 in league play while Eastern Kentucky is 6-11 overall and 2-6 in the OVC.

"Any time you can play Murray State to one point in overtime, you're capable of beating anybody in the league," said Garner of Morehead State.

Garner said before the current homestand started that winning all four games is almost a must if the Indians hope to contend for the OVC title.

"Protecting your home court is just so important if you want to win a championship," he said.

Garner continues to emphasize how important it is for the Indians to take each game as it comes and not look ahead. So far during the homestand, Southeast has done just that. And he expects that to continue this week.

"We, being our (coaching) staff, really work at that, not looking past anybody," Garner said. "Preparation is motivation. If the players go out on the floor and feel really prepared, that motivates them to play."

Asked to assess the keys to the Indians' winning 14 of their first 17 games which is by far the school's best start on the Division I level Garner pointed to chemistry as a major factor.

"I think chemistry is one of our big strengths. Our kids really enjoy playing together," said Garner. "And all of our players accept their roles. That's very important."

* For the third week this season, Southeast has received votes in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Poll.

The Indians, who had dropped out of the poll a couple of weeks ago, moved back in this week with three votes, ranking them 43rd nationally.

On Dec. 27, Southeast received five votes to rank 40th nationally. The Indians received two votes in the Jan. 3 poll.

"Any exposure, any recognition like that really helps our program," said Garner. "It gives us more credibility."

* Freshman forward Demarcus Hence, who has been battling tendonitis problems in his legs for much of the season, will be redshirted, thus retaining four years of eligibility.

"Demarcus is well now, but at this point in the season, we feel like it would be better to redshirt him and not use up a year (of eligibility)," Garner said. "Demarcus is probably our best athlete. He can really jump. I think he's going to be a good player for us."

* The one-millionth fan to attend a Southeast basketball game at the Show Me Center passed through the turnstiles Saturday night.

Since the Show Me Center opened in 1987, 1,000,053 fans have attended the 194 Southeast home games (not including exhibition contests).

And the Indians have rewarded their followers with plenty of victories during that time. Southeast is 150-44 since the Show Me Center opened, and the Indians are 9-0 at home this season.

Southeast leads the OVC in attendance this season with an average of 4,823 fans per game.

"We've got tremendous fans," said Garner.

* Assessing the OVC race at almost the halfway point of the conference season, Garner pointed to only two real surprises: Tennessee-Martin and Middle Tennessee.

Tennessee-Martin, picked to finish last in the 10-team league, is third at 5-2. Middle Tennessee, tabbed for fourth, is tied for eighth at 2-6.

"Those are the two real surprises," Garner said. "Nobody expected Tennessee-Martin to be third and nobody expected Middle Tennessee to be near the bottom."

On the surface, it appears that Austin Peay is a disappointment. The Governors, picked tied for second with Southeast in the preseason poll, are a sixth-place 4-5.

But the Governors have already played arguably their toughest OVC games, losing twice to Murray State and once each at Southeast, Eastern Illinois and Tennessee-Tech. Three of those defeats were by two points.

"Austin Peay is only 4-5, but look at the schedule they've had so far," said Garner. "They've already had probably their toughest five games. I'd be surprised if they don't wind up in the top four."

* The Indians continue to lead the OVC in most major defensive categories, including scoring defense (60.7 points per game allowed), field-goal percentage defense (38.1 percent) and 3-point field-goal percentage defense (26.7 percent).

Individually, RoderickJohnson leads the league in field-goal shooting (60.2 percent) while ranking second in blocked shots (1.2 per game) and fourth in rebounding (9.1 per game).