Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team fails to clinch tourney bye

~ The Southeast men had their worst shooting night of the season in a 69-59 loss

Southeast Missourian

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt was discouraged after what transpired Thursday night in Alabama.

The Redhawks suffered through a 10-minute scoreless drought that spanned both halves.

Southeast also lacked the physical and mental toughness Nutt seeks. Host Jacksonville State rolled to a 69-59 victory.

"It's a disappointing, disappointing night," Nutt said. "We're not playing with that passion we once had. We have to find that. We've got to be a lot tougher mentally and physically. Not everybody, but a few.

"We're going to mix things up. We're going to play guys who want to win at the highest level. We're hurting with our leadership right now."

It was potentially a damaging defeat for the Redhawks, who matched their season-long losing streak at three games and tied their season-low point total.

Southeast (14-14, 9-6) fell into a three-way tie for third place in the 11-team Ohio Valley Conference with only Saturday's game at Austin Peay remaining.

The top four finishers earn a first-round bye for next week's eight-team OVC tournament in Nashville, Tenn.

The Redhawks would win the tie-breaker against Morehead State but lose the tie-breaker against Tennessee Tech, the squads they are deadlocked with.

Southeast needs a win or a Morehead loss to clinch at least a No. 4 seed and a bye.

If the Redhawks don't defeat Austin Peay, and Morehead State, which beat Eastern Illinois Thursday, knocks off SIU Edwardsville on Saturday, Southeast will be the No. 5 seed and will have to play in the opening round.

"We still have basketball to play," Nutt said. "We've put ourselves in a good position. We just have to regroup and play with the highest passion that we're used to playing with."

JSU (13-17, 7-8), which lost at Southeast 74-56 on Jan. 2, has won seven of its last 10 games. The Gamecocks, tied for sixth in the OVC, clinched a tournament berth.

"I give Jacksonville State credit [for] the way they played," Nutt said. "They're a very hot team."

Most of the first half was tight with seven lead changes and seven ties, but Southeast did not score for the final 8 minutes, 28 seconds.

JSU took advantage by ending the period on a 12-0 run to lead 27-17 at the break. The Redhawks shot 27 perccent in their lowest-scoring first half since the 2009-10 season.

"During that stretch, I was so disappointed. I let them know about it at halftime," Nutt said. "We had no passion. We had no leadership."

Southeast failed to score for the first 90 seconds of the second half, and JSU completed a 15-0 run to go up 30-17.

The Gamecocks built three 16-point leads, the last with about eight minutes left. Southeast cut the deficit to six points with just more than four minutes remaining but got no closer.

"I was proud of our comeback," Nutt said.

Southeast, which entered the night leading the OVC in field-goal shooting at 48.3 percent, shot less than 38 percent for the third straight game.

JSU, among the OVC's top defensive clubs, held the Redhawks to a season-low 33.9 percent.

"They are a good defensive basketball team," Nutt said. "But we missed a ton of layups. In my eyes, that's toughness."

JSU shot 39.1 percent and had a big advantage from the free-throw line, most of that coming in the second half.

The Gamecocks made 31 of 46 foul shots, including 27 of 36 in the final period. The Redhawks were 17 of 24 from the line.

"We couldn't match up with them tonight. We had a hard time stopping their dribble-drive," Nutt said.

Sophomore forward Tyler Stone led the Redhawks with 16 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Michael Porter added 13 points off the bench.

"I was real proud of Tyler Stone, and I thought Michael Porter was really good," Nutt said.

Junior guard Marland Smith, Southeast's No. 2 scorer at more than 12 points per game, was scoreless until late and finished with seven points.

Senior forward Leon Powell, who averages 11 points, was in foul trouble much of the night and managed only four points in 14 minutes.

The Redhawks now will set their sights on preseason OVC favorite Austin Peay (11-19, 7-8), which is tied for sixth place in the league.

Southeast beat the Govs 65-60 on Jan. 26 in Cape Girardeau, but the Redhawks haven't won at Austin Peay since 1998.

"They're going to be very tough," Nutt said.