Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team hits road for final stretch

~ The Southeast men play their final four OVC games away from home

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team revived its season last week with two decisive Ohio Valley Conference home wins.

If the Redhawks are going to continue their surge, they'll have to find success on the road -- which has not been kind to them in OVC play.

Southeast plays its final four conference games away from Cape Girardeau beginning with Saturday's 6 p.m. tipoff at Tennessee-Martin.

The Redhawks are 0-4 in OVC road contests although they are 4-3 in nonconference road games.

"We've had some success on the road, maybe not in conference play, but we've proven we can win on the road," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "Four road games to end the season in conference play will be hard, but I think every game is winnable."

Southeast, 13-13 overall and 5-7 in OVC play, is tied for sixth in the 12-team conference among squads eligible for the eight-team league tournament.

The Redhawks -- tied for second in the OVC West Division -- are in solid shape to earn a tournament berth, but they are certainly not a lock if they don't finish the regular season strong.

Only two games separates the squads in sixth through 10th place.

Eighth-place Tennessee-Martin (7-17, 4-8) is among that group.

Nutt doesn't expect things to be easy Saturday, especially since Southeast struggled to beat UTM 65-60 on Dec. 29 in Cape Girardeau.

The Skyhawks, who went winless in OVC play last year and were predicted to finish in the cellar again this season, took the fight to Southeast right from the start.

UITM scored the game's first nine points and built a 21-6 lead midway through the opening half.

The Skyhawks still led 30-27 at the break and, even after Southeast rallied to go ahead, the Skyhawks forged a 56-56 tie with a little more than four minutes remaining.

Southeast finally avoided a major upset by outscoring UTM 9-4 over the final 4 minutes, 7 seconds.

"They gave us all we wanted. We were very fortunate to win," Nutt said. "They're just as good as anybody on a given night, and it's always very difficult to win on the road."

UTM has one of the OVC's top frontcourt players in 6-foot-7, 250-pound sophomore forward Myles Taylor. The 2011-12 OVC freshman of the year ranks fifth in the OVC in scoring and rebounding with averages of 17.2 points and 7.9 boards per game.

Mike Liabo, a 6-6 junior wing, is another dangerous player for the Skyhawks. He is averaging 12.8 points and leads UTM with 58 3-pointers while shooting 37.2 percent from beyond the arc.

"They're two really good players," Nutt said.

The Skyhawks have posted six of their seven victories at home, and they have won three of their past four games overall.