Southeast men fall at OVC champs

~ The Redhawks got off to a slow start and lost to the Racers 80-68

MURRAY, Ky. -- The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team could not slow down Murray State.

Welcome to the club.

Host MSU continued its romp through the Ohio Valley Conference on Tuesday night, building a 19-point first-half lead and a 28-point second-half margin before coasting to an 80-68 victory.

The Racers (25-3, 16-0), who already had clinched a share of the OVC regular-season championship, locked up the crown outright. It is their league-record 21st OVC regular-season title.

MSU won its 16th straight game, the nation's longest current streak that also tied the program's all-time mark.

"Congratulations to Murray State," first-year Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said after the Racers cut down the nets following the victory at the Regional Special Events Center. "They probably have their best team of all time. They're so well balanced. They just have so many weapons."

Southeast (7-20, 3-13) has lost eight straight OVC games while dropping 11 of its past 13 contests overall.

The ninth-place Redhawks, who have two league contests left, trail eighth-place Tennessee State by 1 1/2 games in the race for the eighth and final OVC tournament berth.

MSU entered Tuesday's matchup having posted 11 of its previous 15 conference wins by double figures, including an 80-61 victory at Southeast on Jan. 23.

Southeast fell behind 9-0 and never seriously challenged the Racers, who led 35-21 at halftime and quickly went ahead 47-26 early in the final period.

The Racers built three 28 point-advantages before Southeast made the final score more respectable.

"It's always disappointing when we dig ourselves a hole like that," junior forward Jajuan Maxwell said. "They just executed when they needed to."

While it had no affect on the outcome, the Racers turned in an unforgettable play.

With less than five minutes left in the first half and the shot clock running down, MSU freshman guard Isaiah Canaan nearly lost the ball near mid-court.

Canaan went to the floor to regain control and, on one knee, flung up a shot from just inside the center stripe that banked in to put MSU up 29-12.

"Any time a guy can shoot a 3-pointer off his knees from half-court, it's probably their year," Nutt said.

Freshman guard Marland Smith led Southeast with 19 points to tie a season high. He hit 4 of 8 3-pointers, including a trey at the buzzer to account for the final margin. He had nine of Southeast's 21 first-half points.

"Once we dig ourselves a hole it's hard to get back in the game," Smith said. "We usually play good in the second half, but it's hard to come back when you're down by so much."

Freshman guard Derek Thompson scored 17 points, 16 in the second half. He made 5 of 7 3-pointers, four coming in the final four minutes.

Maxwell added 15 points, 12 in the second half.

Freshman guard LaQuentin Miles recorded a season-high eight points and led Southeast with four assists.

Southeast junior forward Cameron Butler played 15 first-half minutes but sat on the bench the entire second half as a foot problem that caused him to miss seven recent games flared up.

Senior forward Danero Thomas paced MSU with 18 points in just 17 minutes. He did all his damage in the first nine minutes of the second half after he did not attempt a shot during the first half. He hit 8 of 9 from the floor.

Tony Easley, a 6-foot-9 senior center who leads the OVC in field-goal percentage and blocks, scored 12 points while tying a career high with seven blocks. Easley had 17 points and six blocks in the earlier meeting.

"When you have a shot blocker like that, it puts you on a championship level," Nutt said.

Although the outcome never was in doubt, Nutt liked the way the Redhawks kept battling. Southeast outscored MSU 26-10 over the final eight minutes after trailing 70-42. The Redhawks hit 6 of their 11 3-pointers in the last four minutes.

"I was very proud of our basketball team the way we hung in there and fought as hard as we could," he said.

Southeast shot 51.5 percent in the second half to finish at 42.4 percent. The Redhawks hit 52.4 percent from 3-point range (11 of 21), 64.3 percent in the final period (9 of 14).

MSU, which leads the OVC in most major team statistical categories, shot 51.9 percent overall.

The Redhawks play their final nonconference game, and final road game of the regular season, Saturday at Miami (Ohio) in the BracketBusters series.