SEMO MBB falls to Evansville again and in similar fashion

In every one of its five games this men’s basketball season, thus far, Southeast Missouri State has managed to dig itself a double-digit hole to climb out of, and Saturday’s 93-74 loss to Evansville in the Coke Zero Sugar Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn. was no different.

“The disappointing thing,” fourth-year Redhawk coach Brad Korn said following the loss, “is that we are shooting ourselves in the foot way before we can make any adjustments.”

In four of their five games, the Redhawks (1-4) have managed to fall behind by double digits in the first half, and against the Purple Aces (6-0), who scored the game's first eight points and never trailed throughout the contest, SEMO fell behind by 27 points (51-24) before halftime.

“You have to make adjustments in the game,” Korn said, “which obviously we did.”

SEMO absolutely “made adjustments” following the initial malaise.

Over the course of 7:48, Korn’s team trimmed that 27-point deficit to just eight points (62-54 with 13:40 remaining in the game).

“We started sharing the ball a little bit better,” Korn said. “But we come out a little too erratic to start the game and had nine turnovers in the first half.”

Following the run, the Redhawks ran out of steam and Evansville got the lead back to 17 points (71-54) within two minutes, before cruising to a comfortable win.

These two teams met 10 days ago in the Show Me Center and the outcome was an identical 19-point Redhawk loss, and many of the same problems from that game persisted on Saturday.

In the earlier game, the Purple Aces dominated SEMO in the paint 52-22 and on Saturday the margin was even worse (60-24).

“They are big and skilled,” Korn said of Evansville. “They do a lot of very skilled (things, those big guys.”

SEMO redshirt sophomore forward Adam Larson hit three of his six 3-pointers during that mid-game run and finished with a team-best 22 points.

“You look at (Larson) and it is a great lesson for our guys,” Korn said. “What does he do? He does what he can do. He doesn’t do a lot of dribbling. He doesn’t do a lot of playmaking. He knows exactly what he is and puts himself in position.”

Junior forward TJ Biel had a career-high 11 points off the bench for SEMO while sophomore guard Rob Martin added nine points and four assists.

Freshman guard added four assists for the Redhawks while senior center Josh Earley and sophomore forward Braxton Stacker each grabbed five rebounds in the loss.

“When we are disciplined,” Korn said, “and we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot, we give ourselves a chance.”

SEMO will face Chattanooga (4-1) on Sunday at 1 p.m. (ESPN+).