SOUTHEAST FACES TOUGH CHALLENGE IN MOREHEAD

Morehead State's score from Saturday night tells Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner all he needs to know about just how dangerous and capable the Eagles are.

The Eagles took Murray State to overtime before suffering a one-point loss. So Garner knows Morehead State is an opponent the Indians need to take extremely seriously in tonight's 7:30 Ohio Valley Conference game at the Show Me Center.

"Any time you can play Murray State to one point in overtime, you're capable of beating anybody in the league," said Garner. "We know we'll have to be ready for a tough game."

Southeast has won the first two contests of a four-game homestand and the last thing Garner needs is for the Indians to overlook anybody.

"It's so important we protect our home court, and it's so important we continue to take every game one at a time," he said. "So far, we've done a good job of that. We, as a (coaching) staff, really work at not looking past anybody."

The Indians are 14-3 overall and a first-place 7-1 in OVC play as they continue to lead Murray State by one-half game. Morehead State, 8-9 overall, is in seventh place in the 10-team league at 3-5.

Tonight's game will be an interesting contrast between the OVC's top defensive unit and one of the league's best offensive squads.

Southeast leads the OVC in scoring defense (60.7 points per game allowed), field-goal percentage defense (38.1) and 3-point field-goal percentage defense (26.7).

Morehead State is fourth in the OVC in scoring (76.1 points per game), second in field-goal percentage (47.0) and second in 3-point field-goal percentage (37.0).

"Their 3-point shooting is the strength of their offense," Garner said. "They will put up a lot of 3-point shots, and they have several very good 3-point shooters."

The Eagles' top long-range marksman is guard Brad Cleaver, who is fourth in the OVC in 3-point shooting at 42.4 percent. Cleaver leads his team in scoring at 16.6 points per game, which ranks fifth in the OVC.

Freshman Justin Cornell is shooting better than 38 percent from 3-point range while Jeremy Webb and Brett Bohanan are both hitting better than 34 percent from long distance.

Kyle Umberger, a 6-foot-7 sophomore who is the Eagles' top inside player, is averaging 13.8 points per game and shooting 56.5 percent from the field, which ranks fourth in the OVC. Umberger is 12th in the league in scoring.

Another strong inside player for the Eagles, 6-7 Scott Charity, is averaging more than 12 points per game, but he missed the past several games for undisclosed reasons and his status for tonight is uncertain.

"We have to watch out for Umberger," said Garner. "He's a good player. He can score with his back to the basket and he can go out and shoot the 15-footer.

"Charity is also a good player, big and strong. If they don't have him, that's definitely going to hurt them."

For Southeast, no player is averaging as many as 13 points per game, but that hasn't prevented the Indians from getting off to by far their best-ever start on the Division I level.

"We really don't have one go-to player, but we've been really balanced and I think that makes it hard for a defense to key on anybody," said Garner. "We've had a lot of different players lead us in scoring, and I think that's been one of our strengths."

Mike Branson leads the Indians offensively with 12.9 points per game, which ranks only 17th in the OVC. Branson is shooting 40.5 percent from 3-point range, which is seventh-best in the league. His free-throw accuracy of 81 percent ranks ninth in the conference.

"Mike is having an all-around great senior season," said Garner. "He's really shooting the three well."

Southeast has two other double-figure scorers in Roderick Johnson (12.0 ppg) and Michael Stokes (11.2 ppg).

Johnson leads the OVC in field-goal shooting at 60.2 percent, he's second in blocked shots with 1.2 per game and he's fourth in rebounding with 8.1 a contest.

"Roderick continues to play extremely well," Garner said. "He's just been so consistent."

Stokes is fifth in the OVC in assists with 4.4 per game.

Brian Bunche is seventh in the league in rebounding with 6.9 per contest while Amory Sanders is 11th in 3-point shooting at 36.8 percent and his free-throw percentage of 88.5 would rank third in the OVC if he had enough attempts to qualify.

A big key for the Indians in recent games has been the play of Antonio Short, who has fast rounded into form after missing more than a month with a broken wrist.

"Antonio's return has really helped us out," said Garner.

In addition to Sanders, the Indians have also gotten solid contributions off the bench from the likes of Nyah Jones, Emmanuel McCuthison (career-high 16 points Saturday against Eastern Illinois), Fred Abraham and even Drew DeMond, who has become something of a defensively specialist in recent weeks. DeMond has blocked an amazing 13 shots in just 79 minutes of action.

"We've gotten help from a lot of different players," Garner said. "Everybody really understands their role, which has been a big key for us."