Southeast men's basketball team to visit Memphis on Saturday

Mark Alnutt penciled Saturday's men's basketball game between Southeast Missouri State and Memphis into his calendar more than a year ago as part of a package deal that included the Southeast football team opening the 2016 season at Memphis.

That was before the former Redhawks' athletic director hired Rick Ray to be the new basketball coach and before the position of deputy director of athletics at Memphis, which he now holds, opened up.

Alnutt, who hired Ray on April 13 and whose resignation from Southeast was announced July 6, has continued to track the Redhawks' athletic programs over the months since his departure and is looking forward to seeing some familiar faces, "faces that obviously meant a lot to me when I was up there," when the two teams that he's connected to face off at 6 p.m. in the FedExForum.

So what would be the ideal outcome for Alnutt when the coach he hired comes to town to face his new university?

"We need to get wins down here," Alnutt said with a laugh. "Obviously the ideal situation is very similar to when [Southeast] came here two years ago -- a competitive game, [the Redhawks] come down here and compete well and improve as a team, improve as a program. That'll help, obviously, Rick and his staff to be able to do what he's trying to do."

Ray said it will be nice to see Alnutt but that the reunion won't affect anything unless the former Southeast AD suits up and starts knocking down 3s for the Tigers, who are 4-2 to start the season.

Ray's squad, which is 0-6, has three players who will see familiar faces at the game as well.

Junior guard Antonius Cleveland, sophomore G/F Ladarius Coleman and freshman guard Eric McGill all hail from Memphis.

"I think it's exciting for them, just the fact that they're just about two hours away from home and getting a chance to go play in a venue like the FedExForum and play a team like Memphis that gets great fan support," Ray said. "I'm sure it'll be a proud moment for their parents and coaches and family."

Cleveland, who will be playing at the FedExForum for the second time in his Southeast career, said he's been excited about the game since it was announced this summer and loves the opportunity to play in front of a crowd that will include family and friends.

As a freshman two years ago, Cleveland scored 14 points in a 77-65 loss to then-No. 15 Memphis.

"We've been talking about it a lot," Cleveland said of his, Coleman and McGill's excitement of playing in Memphis. "I'm pretty sure our teammates know how much this game means to us. But the main focus is, even though we're going back home, to just stick to the game plan and not do anything out of character."

McGill, who's played in five of Southeast's games and has started three as a true freshman, joked that he's got "too many" people that are coming to watch him play. He expressed some anxiousness when talking about it following the Redhawks' Wednesday night loss to Southern Illinois.

"I'm excited but kind of on the nervous side because I don't want to lose like that in front of my hometown. Can't do that," McGill said with a smile.

In Southeast's loss to the Salukis, much like in four of their other losses, the Redhawks put up a fight until midway through the second half. They trailed by five at halftime, but lost 74-50. Ray and his players chalk the struggles as a lack of mental toughness.

"It's a maturity factor," Ray said. "I just think the one thing we can't forget about is the fact that most of the guys that are playing major minutes for us at this point in time have never been in a situation where they've had to figure out how to deal with the mental toughness part of it. If you look at our experience, probably Antonius has been in that situation, and then Isiah [Jones] has been in that situation, but beyond that, that's probably about it."

The Redhawks' discipline on the defensive end impressed Ray against SIU, but their season-high 21 turnovers and a stretch of nearly seven minutes without a field goal in the second half were the obvious issues.

"There's no question it's the discipline on the offense," Ray said. "That's the next step."

Memphis is coming off a 94-68 win against previously undefeated Louisiana Tech on Monday.

The Tigers knocked off Ohio State 81-76 in overtime prior to that and bring a two-game winning streak into Saturday's matchup.

Their two losses were by six points to Oklahoma and by four points to UT Arlington.

Freshman Dedric Lawson, a 6-foot-9 guard/forward leads Memphis, averaging 13.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Ricky Tarrant Jr., a 6-2 senior guard who played previously at Tulane and Alabama, averages 13.3 ppg and 3.0 apg. He's 8 of 28 from the 3-point line, with half of the baskets coming in the Tigers' last game.

Shaq Goodwin, a 6-9 senior forward, averages 13.2 points and 9.0 rebounds. He's shooting 49.1 percent from the field.

Goodwin is the only player that played against Southeast two years ago. He had 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting and eight rebounds vs. the Redhawks in 2013.

Guard Avery Woodson and guard/forward Trahson Burrell average 9.7 and 9.2 ppg, respectively. Woodson leads the team with 15 3-pointers, making 41.7 percent of his attempts. Burrell averages 7.8 rpg.

"First and foremost you know they're going to be really talented," Ray said. "They've never lacked of talent, so I'm sure they've got a roster there. Goodwin is a big, strong physical post presence. Everybody knows that Lawson is one of the top freshmen in the nation and was one of the better high school players in the nation. Ricky Tarrant has always scored the basketball, whether he's been at Tulane, Alabama, now at Memphis. What we'll have to do, is we'll have to find a way to contain some of their talented players, but we've also got to make sure that we don't open up too many avenues for their other players by trying to contain those talented players. But I think the huge key for us against them will be the rebounding."

The Redhawks have out-rebounded the opposition in half of their games so far.

Coleman and junior forward Joel Angus III are the team's leading rebounders, averaging 6.5 and 6.0 boards, respectively.

Angus left Wednesday's game early in the second half with a cut on his finger that ultimately required stitches. Ray was not certain as of Thursday afternoon about Angus' playing status for Saturday.

The trip to Memphis will be the sixth on the road in the first seven for the Redhawks.

"I'm pretty excited, and hopefully we can go in there and get a W," Coleman said. "That'd really make that an exciting trip."