Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team grabs needed road win at Tennessee Tech

After starting the Ohio Valley Conference season with a 1-4 record, Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt talked with his team and told them that everybody, including himself, needed to look in the mirror and think about what they could do better and what changes they could make to help the team.

"I told them, I said, 'Hey, listen. I'm going to make you a promise that as your leader I'm going to be confident and I'm going to be disciplined -- and that means discipline to our team, having discipline within our program -- but more importantly I'm going to relax and encourage you to be the best you can be and try to bring out the best talent I can bring out of you," Nutt said. "I made every one of them do the same thing. Look in that mirror. What can I do? Can I be a better teammate? Can I be a better encourager? Can I be a better defender? Can I be a better rebounder? All those things. And I think that was the difference tonight."

It just might've been what Nutt and the Redhawks needed as they picked up a much-needed 83-74 win against OVC East opponent Tennessee Tech (10-10, 3-2) on Saturday at the Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tenn.

It didn't always look like Southeast was going to be able to pull off a victory after the Golden Eagles scored the first 13 points of the game and extended their lead to as large as 18-3 in the first eight minutes of the game. The Redhawks were held scoreless for the first 5 minutes, 16 seconds.

Then Paul McRoberts and Jamaal Calvin entered the game and provided the spark Southeast needed.

Southeast trailed 26-14 with 6:54 left in the half before the Redhawks scored 12 unanswered points -- five apiece for McRoberts and Calvin -- to tie the game.

"Those guys gave us a tremendous boost off the bench and really got our energy going, our defense going," Nutt said. "I think we're living and learning, learning about our team."

The Redhawks took a 34-29 lead into half, which they increased to 17 points during the early minutes of the second half.

"I thought that even though we got down 18-3 my staff was very calm and we just kept plugging, and before you knew it we had the momentum and we kept it on them," Nutt said. "I really thought we played well with the exception of the first seven or eight minutes. We really played well as a team, and it was a big win because it's really tough to win in here."

Tennessee Tech pulled within nine points in the final minutes of the game, but never any closer.

Southeast shot nearly 58 percent in the second half and 49 percent in the game. The Redhawks made 21 of 24 free throw attempts -- a vast improvement from the 52 percent they shot in Thursday's loss at Morehead St.

McRoberts finished with a career-high 16 points and five rebounds in 29 minutes. Calvin scored 12 points and had four assists in 26 minutes.

In addition to McRoberts and Calvin off the bench, Tyler Stone and Nino Johnson finished with strong performances for Southeast.

Stone missed his first four shots of the game before hitting all five of his attempts in the second half. He finished with a game-high 23 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Johnson added 10 points and eight rebounds. Both were key in the Redhawks' 49-32 advantage on rebounds.

Southeast's leading scorer Jarekious Bradley was held to 12 points. Nutt said he knew Bradley would not be at 100 percent and was questionable because of a knee injury he sustained at the end of Southeast's loss Thursday.

The Redhawks improved to 10-9 on the season and 2-4 in OVC games. Southeast had lost seven of its last nine games before Saturday's win and had lost its last five road games.

"As a coach and as a staff you never want to say 'must-win games,'" Nutt said, "but if we were going to do anything at all, we were going to have to try to find a way to win on the road."

Southeast returns to the Show Me Center for its next three games. The Redhawks host SIU Edwardsville at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Cougars (6-13, 3-3) handed Murray State its first OVC loss Saturday with a 67-60 win over the Racers.