SE LOOKS TO BEGIN Y2K WITH FIRST D-I 'W' OVER SIU

Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner received a tremendous Christmas present thanks to a win at Bradley on Dec. 22.

Today, Garner is hoping to get a belated New Year's gift in the form of another huge road victory.

But Garner knows it will take another superlative effort to knock off regional rival Southern Illinois in a 3:05 p.m. tipoff at the SIU Arena in Carbondale.

"They've been playing very well and they're coming off a great tournament," said Garner of the Salukis. "It will be very difficult to beat them over there."

Garner, while realizing the challenge the Indians face, will at least be looking for a strong performance. For whatever reason, Southeast has played poorly against SIU during Garner's first two years as coach, the Tribe losing 70-49 in St. Louis last season and 81-62 in Carbondale two seasons ago.

"You can't really explain it, but we haven't played well against them the last two years and I know we haven't beaten them for a long time," Garner said.

Southeast's last win over SIU was during the 1982-83 season, when the Division II Indians upset the Division I Salukis 55-50.

After that contest, the teams did not play again until the 1993-94 season, by which time the Indians had moved up to the Division I level. Since the series has resumed, SIU has won all six meetings.

"It would be nice to beat them, but as far as it being a rivalry, we don't put any extra emphasis on it with the players. I don't think they look at it as any kind of big rivalry," said Garner. "But I'm sure it's big for the fans, because the schools are so close."

The 6-5 Salukis have won three of their last four games and five of seven. They've been impressive in recent outings, particularly during the Puerto Rico Tournament, where they finished third out of eight teams.

In Puerto Rico, SIU beat Massachusetts, lost a competitive game against nationally-ranked Tennessee and then came back to down North Carolina-Charlotte.

SIU's record could very well be much better than it is because four of the Salukis' losses have come by a total of 14 points, including two by just one point.

"They really look like they have all the ingredients to be a very good basketball team," said Garner. "They've got some good size inside and several guys on the perimeter who can shoot the three."

The Salukis, who went 15-12 during coach Bruce Weber's debut season last year, are led offensively by 6-foot-2 freshman Kent Williams, a local product out of Mt. Vernon who is averaging 14.2 points per game.

Ricky Collum, a 5-11 senior guard, is scoring 10.9 points per game while 6-7 senior center Derrick Tillmon and 6-9 senior forward Chris Thunell are at 10.5 and 10.4 points a contest, respectively.

Thunell is the squad's leading rebounder at 8.1 per contest while 6-1 sophomore point guard Brandon Mells leads the way in assists at five per game.

"They don't have any one strength that really jumps out at you," Garner said. "But they're solid in most areas. They're a good defensive team, they rebound well and they'll have patience offensively.

"They're kind of like us in that you can't really pick anything out on what you have to stop."

Southeast has certainly been an extremely balanced team during its somewhat surprising 8-1 start, with different leaders in many categories virtually every night.

Mike Branson (12.9 ppg), Roderick Johnson (11.7 ppg), Michael Stokes (11.2 ppg) and Amory Sanders (10.0 ppg) are all averaging in double figures, as is Antonio Short (11 ppg), who has played in only two games.

Short suffered a broken wrist during the second game of the season and has been out since, but he has returned to practice and Garner said he expects Short to see some action today.

"He's getting better and we're planning on playing him some, but I don't know how much," said Garner.

The Indians have been getting strong rebounding from Johnson and Brian Bunche, who are grabbing 7.8 and 7.4 boards per game, respectively.

Stokes leads the way in assists at almost five per contest while Branson and Sanders have been the most consistent weapons from 3-point range, at 41 and 40 percent, respectively.

"We've been getting a lot of solid play from a lot of different players," Garner said.

Garner figures the confidence Southeast gained from big road wins at Tennessee Tech and Bradley will help the Indians out today.

And, regardless of what happens, he believes the Indians will have plenty of momentum when Ohio Valley Conference play resumes Thursday night at home against Tennessee State.

"We've already beaten two good teams on the road, and I think that's going to help us," said Garner. "Win or lose, I think we'll have a lot of confidence going into OVC play. But a win would really give us a lot of confidence."