Slow start dooms winning streak for Southeast Misouri State men's basketball team

~ Illinois-Chicago scored the game's first 16 points and ended Southeast's five-game winning streak

It took 6 minutes, 10 seconds for the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team to score in its game against the University of Illinois-Chicago on Saturday night.

The Redhawks got behind by 16 points early in the first half and were unable to ever gain the lead in a 75-69 loss at the Show Me Center.

"There's no way you can spot a team like that and try to fight your way all the way back," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "I think there were five or six times where we had a chance to go up and we never could get over that hump."

The Flames scored the first 16 points of the game. Southeast missed its first six shots before it finally got on the board with a jumper by Jarekious Bradley with 13:50 left in the first half to make it 16-2.

"I feel like we just came out flat," Lucas Nutt said. "We didn't hit a couple shots, and before we knew it we looked up and we were in a 16 point hole. ... I feel like that killed us, but there's no explanation for why we came out flat."

Southeast chipped away at the UIC lead and used a 9-0 run in the final minutes of the half to make it a 3-point game with 1:33 left in the half.

The run started with two free throws by Lucas Nutt after Illinois-Chicago's Gabe Snider was charged with a technical foul and was capped with a 3-pointer by Darrian Gray.

UIC scored and took a five-point lead into halftime.

The Flames extended the lead to 10 points in the first five minutes, but Southeast used an 11-2 run to make it 51-50.

UIC extended the lead by a few points multiple times down the stretch, and the Redhawks cut the deficit to one point three more times in the game -- the last being with 3:38 left in the game -- but never could tie or take the lead.

Southeast Missouri State's Darrian Gray shoots over Illinois-Chicago's Marc Brown during the first half Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013 at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

"We just couldn't get over that hump," Bradley said. "We couldn't make that shot, couldn't get that defensive stop."

Bradley scored a game-high 28 points and had nine rebounds. Darrian Gray came off the bench and played 36 minutes, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds.

"I thought Darrian Gray really did a good job tonight coming off the bench," Dickey Nutt said. "He played some good minutes tonight. I thought Jarekious Bradley was a horse. I thought he was just as solid and good as he could be tonight. Lucas played some good minutes. But overall as a team, what Tyler [Stone] and Nino [Johnson] have to understand is that they have a bull's-eye on their chest every night. They're going to double and triple team them every time, and so you've got to let those guards make those plays for you."

Tyler Stone finished with 10 points and three rebounds. Nino Johnson scored one point and was 0 of 3 from the floor. Nutt finished with nine points and eight assists.

UIC (4-6) was led by Kelsey Barlow with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Marc Brown and Jordan Harks scored 12 points apiece.

"We were truly tested tonight, and I knew that coming in," Dickey Nutt said. "I knew that this would be a very, very tough test for us because of how good they were."

The loss snapped Southeast's five-game winning streak and puts the Redhawks record at 7-3.

"The bottom line is this is a wake-up call. It's a wake-up call," Dickey Nutt said. "You're not as good as you think you are. You know, wake up and understand that you've got to work harder. You've got to play better defense. You've got to work harder. You've got to show up earlier. All of those things have got to be a big part of growing our basketball team.

"Until we do that we're going to be a competitive team, but we're not going to get to the echelon that we want. We want to get to the next level. To do that, you've got to have 13 guys pulling all in the same direction as hard as you can trying to get stops."

Southeast's next game is against nationally-ranked Memphis. The Redhawks face the Tigers at 7 p.m. Dec. 21 in Memphis.