Southeast Missouri State men's basketball ready for rematch at OVC tournament

There's no doubt that the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team remembers the last time it played Morehead State.

Redhawks' coach Dickey Nutt and company repeatedly noted how bad their team had played, how improved they are now, and even the date -- Jan. 8 -- when they discussed their first-round Ohio Valley Conference tournament opponent before practice Monday.

"They kind of gave us a pretty bad home loss back on January 8, but I believe we're a better team since then," sophomore guard Antonius Cleveland said. "Of course they are, too, but I believe Wednesday's matchup will definitely be different."

Eighth-seeded Southeast (13-16, 7-9 OVC) will face the No. 5 Eagles at 6 p.m. Wednesday night at Nashville Municipal Auditorium to start the eight-team conference tournament.

The Redhawks lost to MSU 70-57 on Jan. 8 to drop to 1-2 in the OVC. They're coming off an 89-65 defeat of Austin Peay on Saturday -- Southeast's largest margin of victory in the OVC this season -- which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Nutt was displeased with his team's ability to hold onto a late lead in those three losses and is hopeful that issue was resolved heading into the tournament.

"I think the next step is a sense of urgency for 40 minutes, but more importantly Morehead likes to play very physical," Nutt said. "I think they're the second-leading team in the country in fouls committed, so they try to set the tone by making you frustrated. We were at an all-time low on January 8 when we played here.

"We were out of sync, we didn't play very well, we were frustrated. We didn't get off to a good start in conference and it grew. I think Morehead State was certainly a bad night on January 8. We're looking for revenge, we're looking for playing better, but that first game is very important."

The winner of Wednesday night's game, which would have to win four games in four days to claim the tournament title and automatic berth to the NCAA tournament, will advance to face No. 4 UT Martin, which has a first-round bye.

The winner of that quarterfinal would advance to face OVC regular-season champion Murray State in a semifinal on Friday.

"You've got to have some depth, and I think that we have that," Nutt said. "I think Josh Langford has given us a few minutes last game, and helps us a little bit because he gives us a bigger body and some front-line play in there. He's accepted his role that he's going to be a great defender and rebounder."

Nutt also noted freshmen Marcus Wallace and JT Jones, and sophomore Jamaal Calvin will bolster the team's depth if they advance.

Meanwhile, MSU coach Sean Woods is confident that his team is at its healthiest after having multiple players in and out of the lineup and practices with injuries , and that its playing its best basketball when it matters most.

"Just being able to establish a rhythm and have a continuity with your team, and also being as healthy as you've been all year is really, really good," Woods said. "We're in a good place. I think we're real fresh. This time last year we had a great year, but then ended up bad because we were running on fumes. We were just so tired and that's why we didn't end the year as well as we wanted to. I think it's kind of opposite this year. We didn't start the year off great because of all the injuries and things like that, and now everybody's fresh and got legs and on the same page. That's very refreshing going into the tournament this year, more so than it was last year."

The Eagles (15-16, 10-6 OVC) closed out their season on a three-game winning streak. After losing by one point to Belmont on Valentine's Day they picked up an 86-70 win over Tennessee State, an 86-73 win against Tennessee Tech and an 87-55 win against Jacksonville State. None of those three teams reached the tournament.

MSU is led in scoring by guard Angelo Warner with 12.7 ppg. Warner was out for the first meeting with the Redhawks.

Forward Brent Arrington averages 11.5 points while Karam Mashour averages 10.1 points.

Mashour had 15 points and 13 rebounds vs. the Redhawks while Kareem Story had 13 points. Billy Reader and Arrington each had 12. The Eagles had 20 offensive rebounds against Southeast.

"They're pretty tough," Southeast senior Jarekious Bradley said. "They're going to try to get in our head, but we can't let them do that. We've just got to play."

Bradley struggled with letting things get in his head back on Jan. 8 as he picked up two technical fouls and was held to 10 points.

Junior guard Isiah Jones was the only Redhawk to score in double figures with 20 points.

"They're a talented team," Woods said. "They're long at every position, and they're very skilled at every position. You've really got to be disciplined against a team like that because of the fact that they're very, very talented. It's going to take a total team effort, like it always has been, to beat a SEMO team."

Southeast is in the tournament for the fifth consecutive year. The Redhawks have won their first-round games the last four seasons, but has been knocked out in the quarterfinals.

"You've just got to take everything one game at a time, one play at a time," Bradley said. "We've got to be ready. We don't want our season to end in the first round."