Southeast men will face Big 12's Iowa State

~ Southeast men take an 0-8 record into tonight's money game

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team concludes the guarantee portion of its nonconference schedule tonight.

Southeast is in Ames, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. matchup with Iowa State of the Big 12 Conference.

ISU is paying Southeast $75,000. Southeast received $90,000 from Alabama-Birmingham and $85,000 from Arkansas. All the money is applied to the university's general athletic department revenue.

The Redhawks lost 78-56 at UAB on Nov. 13 and 66-56 at Arkansas on Nov. 24.

Southeast still is looking for its first victory. The Redhawks fell to 0-8 overall and 0-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play with Saturday's 77-67 home loss to Tennessee State.

"We're in the middle of a storm and, hey, it could get worse before it gets better," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said following Saturday's game. "You go to Iowa State, you go to a powerhouse -- them and Southern Illinois [Wednesday[']s opponent on the road] -- so we know what kind of mountain we're up against."

ISU, picked to finish toward the bottom of the Big 12, is off to a 6-2 start under first-year coach Fred Hoiberg. The Cyclones, who have not yet opened league play, won their first six games before losing to Northern Iowa and California by a combined nine points in the past week.

The Cyclones went 15-17 overall last year, including a ninth-place 4-12 in the Big 12. Hoiberg, a former ISU standout and NBA player, took over a squad that returned just three scholarship players.

ISU is averaging 79.1 points per game and allowing 61.0. The Cyclones are shooting 47.2 percent from the field, including an impressive 42.2 percent from 3-point range.

All five ISU starters are averaging double-figure scoring, led by 6-foot-4 senior guard Diante Garrett (16.6 points per game) and 6-3 junior guard Scott Christopherson.

Christopherson is shooting a sizzling 58.7 percent (27 of 46) from beyond the arc. Jamie Vanderbeken, a 6-11 senior forward, is at 45.9 percent (17 of 37) while averaging 13.1 points.

Garrett, Christopherson and Vanderbeken are ISU's three returning scholarship players. They combined to average about 21 points per contest last season.