Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team improves to 4-1 in OVC

Michael Porter didn't care if he was being upstaged by his former Missouri State basketball teammate.

Porter just didn't want to see upstart Southern Illinois University Edwardsville leave the Show Me Center with a win Thursday night.

Porter helped make sure that didn't happen. He had the best performance of his young Southeast Missouri State career, helping the Redhawks pull away for an 85-68 victory.

"It's about time," Porter said after scoring a season-high 14 points while not missing a shot.

Southeast, which won for the fifth time in six games, improved to 9-8 overall and 4-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

The Redhawks, who continued their best OVC start since the 1999-2000 season, moved into second place in the 11-team league. They trail undefeated, nationally ranked Murray State by one game.

"It feels real good," junior guard Nick Niemczyk said.

First-year OVC member SIUE (5-9, 3-2) led for much of the first half before falling behind 46-39 at the break.

The Cougars trailed just 62-60 with less than nine minutes left, but the Redhawks outscored SIUE 23-8 the rest of the way.

"Really a good win for us, a hard-fought win," said Southeast coach Dickey Nutt, whose squad improved to 7-2 at the Show Me Center for its best home start since the 2003-04 campaign. "I give them a lot of credit. They have a quality team."

Porter had a lot to do with Southeast's second-half surge that saw the Redhawks build a late 21-point lead.

Porter, a sophomore forward, scored 10 of his 14 points in the final period. Seven of the points came during Southeast's decisive 17-1 run after SIUE pulled within 62-60.

"What can you say about Michael Porter? I thought he was the highlight of the game," Nutt said.

Porter, a former standout at Sikeston High School, still is rounding into form after not playing in a game for nearly two years.

Porter began his college career at Missouri State, where he missed most of his freshman season (2009-10) with an injury. He practiced with Southeast last year but was ineligible for games due to NCAA transfer rules.

On top of that, Porter missed quite a bit of preseason practice this year with a leg problem, which caused his conditioning to get out of whack.

"I'm getting in a little better shape," Porter said. "It hurts ... playing with no confidence."

Porter came into Thursday's game averaging 3.3 points. His previous best this season was 13.

Porter hit all six of his field-goal attempts, including two 3-pointers in the second half. He had been 0 for 2 from beyond the arc this season.

"Coach probably doesn't want me taking those," Porter said with a laugh.

Porter might have been motivated to break loose after seeing former Missouri State teammate and SIUE junior forward Jerome Jones light up Southeast for 15 of his team-high 19 points in the first half.

Porter said he and Jones, who also played at Missouri State as a freshman before leaving, are good friends but he wasn't interested in having a personal duel.

"He's a good player. It wasn't no competition," Porter said. "I just wanted to win. That's all I care about."

Offense is not a problem for Southeast, so Porter really doesn't have to score much to be valuable. But Nutt said Porter is more than capable of offensive outbursts.

"He's starting to get in condition," Nutt said. "We don't really need him to score, but he is a scorer. He hit two big 3s and he came up with some key defensive stops."

Porter was one of five Southeast players to score in double figures.

Junior guard Marland Smith led the way with 20 points, including 13 in the second half. He added four steals and three assists.

Niemczyk hit 4 of 7 3-pointers and scored 17 points, including 11 in the first half. He added six assists while playing a team-high 39 minutes.

Senior forward Leon Powell had 11 of his 13 points in the first half. He led the Redhawks with seven rebounds and three blocks.

Sophomore forward Tyler Stone scored all 10 of his points in the opening period. He added two blocks.

Senior point guard Marcus Brister dished out a career-high 10 assists and scored all seven of his points in the second half to help Southeast break open things.

"Marcus is really doing a good job finding open people," said Nutt, whose squad shot 56.1 percent, recorded 22 assists and tied a season low with eight turnovers. "I thought it was a team win."

That includes a contribution from senior walk-on guard Logan Nutt, who made his presence felt while playing about a minute all night.

Logan Nutt came in for the final 15 seconds of the first half. After an SIUE miss with 5 seconds left, Smith grabbed the rebound, quickly dribbled down the court and found Nutt.

Nutt hit his first 3-pointer of the season -- he had been 0 for 2 -- at the buzzer to put Southeast up 46-39.

"That was huge," coach Nutt said.

SIUE led once in the second half, at 53-52 with about 12 minutes left, before Southeast eventually took control.

The Cougars shot 46.4 percent in the first half but just 32.4 percent in the final period to finish at 38.7 percent.

"The first half, we felt like we didn't play any defense," Smith said. "We picked it up a lot better in the second half. We always know we can score."

Southeast, which entered the night 13th nationally in field-goal shooting, has shot at least 50 percent the past five games. The Redhawks now are hitting 49.7 percent.

Southeast will go for its fourth straight home win Saturday when it concludes a two-game homestand. Eastern Illinois (9-6, 2-1) visits for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.