Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team overpowers Harris-Stowe 95-60

~ Redhawks' first win comes against overmatched NAIA school Harris-Stowe

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team struggled with its outside shooting during Monday night's home opener.

That mattered little. The Redhawks used an overwhelming size advantage to pick up their first win of the season.

Southeast overpowered NAIA opponent Harris-Stowe 95-60 in front of an announced crowd of 1,311. The Redhawks improved to 1-1, while the Hornets from St. Louis are 3-2.

"I was proud of our team, our effort," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "I felt we jumped on them early and kept our level up."

Southeast Missouri State freshman Nino Johnson dunks in front of Harris-Stowe's Kevin Kramer during the first half Monday at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

The Redhawks built a 48-26 halftime lead by shooting 63.6 percent from the field (21 of 33). All but two of the baskets were from within a few feet, either layups, putbacks or dunks.

Southeast wound up hitting 40 of 68 shots (58.8 percent). The Redhawks made four 3-pointers in 17 attempts and canned a pair of 15-footers. Everything else was from in close.

"We just had the upper hand tonight with our size," sophomore forward Tyler Stone said. "We did what we were supposed to do -- get it inside."

The Redhawks made 36 of 51 field goals for a sizzling 70.6 percent if you take away the Redhawks' 3-point attempts.

"No disrespect to Harris-Stowe, but we're way bigger than them," senior forward Leon Powell said.

Powell, who saw his first action of the season after missing Friday's opener at Missouri with a sprained knee, led all scorers with 21 points in just 16 minutes off the bench.

Powell, who scored 14 points in the second half, did not miss a shot in eight attempts. None was from further than a couple of feet.

"It feels all right," Powell said about his knee.

Stone had another strong performance with 17 points on 8 for 11 shooting. He had 15 points in the first half and led Southeast with seven rebounds.

"I think we played well. We came out with energy," said Stone, who was named the Ohio Valley Conference newcomer of the week earlier in the day after posting 18 points and six rebounds in Friday's 83-68 loss at 24th-ranked Missouri.

Senior guard Marcus Brister added 12 points, 10 in the first half. He hit 6 of 7 shots.

Brister, who had a career-high 15 points at Missouri, led Southeast with six assists and two steals.

"It was a good performance by Tyler," Nutt said. "It was good to get Leon back in there. I think Marcus had another good game."

Freshman forward Nino Johnson had his second consecutive 11-point outing. He hit 5 of 7 shots, grabbed five rebounds, dished out five assists and recorded two blocks.

Freshman guard Telvin Wilkerson was solid off the bench with seven points and four rebounds. He made 3 of 4 shots, including his only 3-point attempt.

Stone scored nine of Southeast's first 13 points.

"I think we executed our game plan very well, which was to start off good and get the ball inside," Brister said. "I think Tyler set the tone."

Southeast, which outrebounded Harris-Stowe 48-33 and had 28 assists against 11 turnovers, led by as many as 42 points.

"Right now we're not shooting the ball as well from the perimeter, but we knew going in that [size] was our advantage," Nutt said. "This was a good win for a lot of reasons. No. 1, we needed confidence."

It also allowed Nutt to get all 13 Southeast players in the game and each played at least eight minutes.

"When everybody's happy, everybody's going to play better," Powell said.

Zach House, Southeast's 7-foot senior center who did not play at Missouri, had two late dunks and scored six points in 10 second-half minutes. He also blocked three shots.

Senior walk-on point guard Logan Nutt, the coach's older son, had a hand in one of the game's highlight plays late in the first half when he fed Johnson for an alley-oop jam.

Nutt had five assists, just ahead of his younger brother Lucas, Southeast's sophomore starting point guard who recorded four assists and did not commit a turnover.

"It's always good," Brister said about Southeast being able to clear its bench. "I feel like when everybody plays we did our job."

Southeast visits Bradley for a 7 p.m. tipoff Wednesday.