SEMO SET FOR OVC TOURNEY; INDIANS HOPE TO BOUNCE BACK AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE TONIGHT

Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team beat Middle Tennessee State twice during the regular season, so the Indians must have the Blue Raiders' number, right?

Under normal circumstances, maybe. But the Indians aren't exactly entering the Ohio Valley Conference post-season tournament with a full head of steam.

In fact, Southeast is downright struggling going into tonight's first-round tourney game at MTSU. The tipoff in Murfreesboro, Tenn., is set for 7 o'clock.

That the Indians are even having to hit the road for their first-ever OVC post-season tourney game has to be disappointing.

After beating MTSU 86-75 on Feb. 17, it looked for all the world like Southeast would finish among the top four teams in the OVC standings and earn a first-round tournament home game.

Southeast needed to win one of its final two games -- both on the road -- against Tennessee-Martin and Eastern Illinois, neither of whom were among the top four squads in the league. But the Indians lost both -- by a combined 53 points.

So Southeast enter tonight's contest coming off those two lopsided road defeats. Coach Ron Shumate is hoping the Indians can put those games behind them.

"It's a whole new season now," he said. "We just have to move on."

But asked whether he believes the Indians will be able to bounce back from what appeared to be two half-hearted performances, Shumate didn't sound all that confident.

"I was very surprised we didn't play better the last two games, so it's tough for me to speak for them how they're going to react," he said of his players.

Shumate does know one thing -- the Indians will be in for a rude awakening if they believe they'll have the upper hand on MTSU just because they went 2-0 against the Raiders this season, including a last-second 78-76 win in Murfreesboro on Jan. 18.

"We've been able to win twice, but I'm sure that gives them a tremendous amount of incentive to beat us," Shumate said. "They beat Tennessee-Martin by 25 (Saturday night), so they must be playing awfully well.

MTSU, 18-11 overall, finished third in the 10-team OVC with an 11-7 record.

Southeast, 12-17 overall, tied with Eastern Illinois for fifth in the OVC with a 9-9 mark, but the Indians received the sixth seed for the conference tournament because they lost twice to Eastern Illinois.

Nod Carter, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, averages nearly 17 points per game to lead the Raiders offensively.

Ron Bailey, a 6-5 senior forward, scores more than 14 points per contest while 6-5 senior guard Torey Moore contributes almost 11 points an outing.

The Raiders do have somewhat of a suspect inside game, which allowed 6-10 center Bud Eley score 26 points during Southeast's most recent victory over MTSU in Cape Girardeau.

But the senior-laden Raiders do possess plenty of quality athletes, which has Shumate concerned.

"They're a very athletic team," he said. "We certainly have our hands full."

The winner of tonight's game earns a berth in Friday's tournament semifinals at the Nashville Arena. The loser is done for the season.

SEMO vs. Middle Tennessee State

7 p.m., Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Probable Starters

SEMO (12-17, 9-9 OVC)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

David Montgomery F So. 6-8 8.0

Reggie Crisp F Sr. 6-5 4.5

Bud Eley C Jr. 6-10 17.9

Dante Bryant G So. 6-1 1.9

Allen Hatchett G So. 5-10 9.8

MTSU (18-11, 11-7 OVC)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

Roni Bailey F Sr. 6-5 14.3

Nod Carter F Sr. 6-6 16.8

Chad Wampler C Sr. 6-8 4.0

Richard Duncan G So. 6-1 8.6

Torey Moore G Sr. 6-5 10.8

Series: 7-5 SEMO

Radio: K103-FM