Southeast, ASU both hot heading into openers

Southeast Missouri State University and Arkansas State both posted a pair of lopsided exhibition victories.

But tonight, only one of those college basketball teams will be able to win their season opener.

The battle of Indians between Southeast of the Ohio Valley Conference and ASU of the Sun Belt Conference tips off at 7:05 p.m. at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro, Ark.

"I don't think the two exhibition games, as far as confidence, could have gone any better for us," said Southeast coach Gary Garner, whose squad will try to rebound from a 6-22 season last year. "But it's going to be a really tough opener for us."

ASU also experienced somewhat of a disappointing season last year, going 15-16 despite featuring 7-footer Jason Jennings, who was an NBA draft choice, and two other talented scorers. The Indians were bothered by early injuries but finished fairly strong.

"I'm making no excuses for last year," ASU coach Dickey Nutt said. "Our players did well to finish out with 15 wins."

ASU's top three scorers last year were seniors, so the Indians are somewhat of an unknown commodity because they return no players who averaged in double figures.

But some touted newcomers have Nutt feeling fairly good about ASU's situation, although he acknowledges that only time will tell.

"We lost three real good players and any time you lose that much scoring and rebounding, you're in a brand new situation," Nutt said. "But I don't like to use the word rebuilding. I feel like my staff did a great job of bringing in new players."

Three newcomers in particular -- guards Antonio Rambo and Tevoris Thompson from the junior-college ranks and Memphis transfer Paris London, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound senior inside force -- give Nutt plenty of hope.

Nutt raves about Rambo, his new point guard, while Thompson scored 39 points in the two exhibition games -- including 29 in one contest as he hit seven of 14 3-pointers -- and London added 30 points in the exhibition season.

"Antonio Rambo, at the point guard spot, has really provided a spark," Nutt said. "And you can't help but think about Thompson, the way he can shoot the ball."

London, a former McDonald's All-American in high school who was a disappointment at Memphis as he never averaged more than 4.7 points per game for the Tigers, looks like he might finally live up to some of his potential.

"He's really demonstrated to me that he wants to be a good player," Nutt said. "Our strength is going to be on the perimeter where we have some speed and some guys who can shoot, but if you're going to the next level, London has to play well."

Nutt's guard-oriented squad, which averaged more than 100 points in the exhibition season, will feature three returning seniors who all either started or saw considerable action last year: Odie Williams (8.3 ppg), Tony Brown (7.6 ppg) and former Scott City High School star Jon Beck (7.2 ppg).

Joining London on the inside is 6-8 junior Kim Adams, who despite the presence of Jennings last year led the team in rebounding with seven per game.

"They've got outstanding guards who can all shoot the three and are extremely quick, and they've also got some strong inside players," Garner said. "I expect them to really put a lot of pressure on us and we're going to have to be ready for it."

While Southeast floundered last year and tonight will probably be without the services of the second-leading scorer from that squad -- Tim Scheer has a strained calf muscle and, if he plays, it will likely be for only a few minutes -- Nutt isn't taking the Indians lightly.

"I know coach Garner will have his team prepared to play. He's one of the best in the country," Nutt said. "And I think SEMO will be improved 100 percent from last year."

Southeast figures to be a decided underdog and Garner knows a big-time performance will be needed to pull off the upset. But he's certainly not ruling that out.

"We won't be favored, but I really feel like we're going to go down there and play well. Whether that's good enough to win, I don't know," Garner said. "We'll have to have a lot of things go right for us, but I think we're capable of winning."