SKID SHOULD HAVE BULLS SNORTING AT INDIANS

For Southeast Missouri State University basketball fans who think South Florida -- which competes in the high-profile Conference USA -- might not be able to take the Indians of the low-profile Ohio Valley Conference seriously, USF coach Bobby Paschal says think again.

The Bulls are coming off arguably their two worst performances of the season, decisive road setbacks against fellow Conference USA members St. Louis and North Carolina-Charlotte.

Because of that, Paschal says he expects his Bulls to come out at the top of their game tonight when they meet the Indians in a 7:30 game at the Show Me Center.

"I don't think that (taking Southeast seriously) would be a problem at this point," Paschal said. "I would be shocked if that happened. Maybe if we had played better our last couple of games, it might be different, going outside the conference right now.

"But I don't care who we're playing right now. If our kids are the type of competitors I think they are, I think we'll be ready to play."

The Bulls, who went 18-12 last season and reached the NIT quarterfinals before losing to Marquette in overtime, started this year with a bang by winning seven of their first 10 games. Included among the early triumphs was an impressive 73-58 romp past state rival Florida.

But the Bulls have hit some hard times of late with a five-game losing streak to fall to 7-8 -- although the quality of their competition certainly has to be taken into consideration.

After starting out 7-3, the Bulls lost to fifth-ranked Cincinnati 71-69 on a tip-in at the buzzer; at Tulane 68-63; and to 12th-ranked Memphis 60-59 in overtime.

Then came the two most recent setbacks on the road, against St. Louis 69-56 and North Carolina-Charlotte 89-56 this past Saturday.

"Most of the time we've played pretty well this year," said Paschal. "We started out strong and had some big wins. Then we played some games where we played pretty well but didn't win. Most people think Cincinnati and Memphis are the top two teams in our league and we barely lost to them.

"The last two games, we were extremely disappointed. We played very poorly in both games. We know we'll have to get back on track."

Chucky Atkins, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, leads the Bulls offensively with an average of 20 points per game. A member of the gold medal team at the 1995 World University Games, Atkins is regarded as one of the premier point guards in Conference USA and is considered a potential NBA draft choice.

"He's a very fine player, a player most people think has an excellent chance to be an NBA draft pick," Paschal said. "He's pretty much played extremely well all year, but like our whole team, he did not have a good game against Charlotte."

The Bulls are big and physical inside, led by 6-9, 240-pound senior center Donzell Rush (11.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and 6-7, 225-pound junior forward James Harper (7.7 ppg, 10.6 rpg).

"Both Rush and Harper were playing very well until the last two games," said Paschal. "The first 13 games, we outrebounded our opponents, but the last two games, we've gotten outrebounded."

Southeast coach Ron Shumate saw plenty of some of the top USF players during last year's first-ever meeting between the schools, a 75-48 Bulls victory in Tampa, Fla. He realizes how difficult a task the Indians will have tonight.

"Their personnel is very good," said Shumate. "If you look at who they've played and how they've played them, they are very impressive. When you take Memphis to overtime and lose to Cincinnati at the buzzer, you have a pretty good basketball team, let's face it.

"Atkins is an excellent player. We really had a hard time with him last year. But a big key will be to contain their inside game as much as possible. They're very physical inside with Harper and Rush."

Added Shumate, "We feel like it's a privilege for them to come to Cape Girardeau and play. I think this is a good test for us, to see where the program is in terms of Division I progress. It'll be a game where we have to play exceptionally well to have an opportunity to be in the ballgame."

SEMO vs. South Florida

7:30 p.m., Show Me Center

Probable Starters

SEMO (7-9, 4-3 OVC)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

Jerome Days F Sr. 6-8 14.6

Reggie Crisp F Jr. 6-5 7.3

William Eley C So. 6-10 18.2

Leonard Hassell G Sr. 5-10 6.1

John Economos G Fr. 6-3 2.3

USF (7-8, 0-5 Conference USA)

Player Pos. Yr. Ht. Avg.

James Harper F Jr. 6-7 7.7

Luka Jonanovic F So. 6-8 5.0

Donzel Rush C Sr. 6-9 11.8

Chucky Atkins G Sr. 5-11 20.0

Brian Lamb G So. 6-3 9.5

Series: USF leads 1-0

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