Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team re-energized by JT Jones

Sikeston native and Southeast Missouri State men's basketball walk-on JT Jones wasn't quite sure what to think when his name was finally called to enter an Ohio Valley Conference game against Eastern Illinois on Feb. 7 at the Show Me Center.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound freshman had last entered a game on Dec. 28, but Redhawks coach Dickey Nutt hoped that inserting Jones into the game would at least bring some energy from the crowd for the local player.

"At first I was just kind of shocked when he came down there and told me to get in there," Jones said. "I just sat there for a moment, and he was like, 'JT, go on and get in there.'"

Jones' contributions weren't too notable on the stat sheet -- he scored two points and had a steal in his 11 minutes off the bench, but the energy he provided when he entered with his team trailing by 10 with 9 minutes, 23 seconds left lifted the Redhawks to a 68-64 win.

Jones has played in the two games following that win, and will continue to contribute for the surging Redhawks when they take on SIU Edwardsville in a pivotal OVC contest tonight.

"He just hadn't played. I hadn't paid a whole lot of attention to him," Nutt said. "He's [6-3], he's undersized, and if you had to gauge our athletes from top to bottom we have some very good athletes, and he's probably down at the bottom. But there's one thing that you can't measure, and that's his heart, and so I put him in the game. Not only did the complete atmosphere change, but he started playing and he started doing some good things."

Nutt's seen changes from the entire squad from the moment Jones got in a game -- the Redhawks are playing with more chemistry, communicating better and hustling on every play.

He was particularly impressed with starting sophomore guard Antonius Cleveland during the EIU game. He'd played all but two minutes in the game and had 10 points when he was subbed out for a quick break midway through the second half, and when Nutt went to put him back in he pointed out to the coach that the group that was in the game was on a roll. Nutt realized Cleveland, the team's third-leading scorer, was right and Cleveland never checked back into the game.

Southeast Missouri State's J.T. Jones and Marcus Wallace celebrate a three point shot from the side line during the second half against UT Martin Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015 at the Show Me Center. (Glenn Landberg)

"That's an unselfish play right there, from a player that would really want to be in the game," Nutt said of Cleveland following the EIU game.

Jones began rotating in with Southeast's starting five during practices following that game and leading up to the next game against UT Martin, which entered with the second-best record in the conference.

"The biggest question was, 'Can he do that for real? Can he do that in the next game coming up, with the No. 2 team in the conference coming to town?'" Nutt said.

Jones finished with seven points, three rebounds and three assists in 14 minutes off the bench in the Redhawks' 98-76 defeat of the Skyhawks.

Cleveland, senior guard Jarekious Bradley and freshman guard Marcus Wallace each praised Jones' efforts in the game, all answering "JT" in unison when asked what had led to their most complete game all season.

"He's home. He's home, so everybody loves when he comes in," Wallace said. "He just brings a new feeling when he comes on the court. Everybody's just lifted by it."

Jones played eight minutes and had two points and an assist in Southeast's 94-92 overtime loss to conference champion Murray State on Saturday.

He prides himself on boosting his teammates during practice and during games, and by all accounts it's paid off.

"Just bringing the energy, and they're picking up off my energy," Jones said. "That's a major thing that we needed to get wins was energy and just effort, playing hard. Now that everybody's been doing that it's been good."

Wallace also has played a huge role in the Redhawks' recent success.

The 6-1, 175-pound freshman from Little Rock, Arkansas, has been named the OVC's Freshman of the Week the past two weeks.

He's played in 25 of Southeast's 26 games, but it was only after the lone game he hasn't played in that he's seen a spike in his minutes and contributions.

Wallace remained on the bench for Southeast's 70-64 road win over Austin Peay on Jan. 31. His mother had traveled several hours to Clarksville, Tennessee, to watch her son play, and even though he didn't get any minutes she congratulated the coach on the team's victory, according to Nutt. Her son responded just as positively when the next practice rolled around.

"The next Monday I've got a couple guys that didn't get to play, and they're sulking," Nutt said. " ... Well, what's Marcus do? He's the hardest-working guy I've got that day. He's going to make it a point to show us, and get my attention."

"Next thing you know now his time was coming and it's just a matter of that confidence and giving him that confidence and letting him play through a mistake here and there," Nutt added. "He's emerging as one of the best players in the league, I think."

Wallace played 18 minutes in a 10-point loss at Murray State, but followed that up with a career-high 31 minutes against Eastern Illinois. He scored a career-high 18 points along with three assists, three steals and two rebounds.

He had 14 points, three steals, a block and an assist in 29 minutes against UTM. He finished with 17 points, three assists and two steals, as well as being tasked with defending Racers star sophomore Cameron Payne, in the overtime loss to MSU.

Nutt's confident that the excelling freshman, and the entire team, will perform better when they tip off at 7 p.m. tonight in Edwardsville, Illinois, than they did the first time they faced SIUE.

The Cougars defeated Southeast 76-61 for their first road victory of the season on Jan. 29.

SIUE is coming off an 80-63 defeat of EIU on Saturday, which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Southeast (12-14, 6-7 OVC) and SIUE (10-14, 6-7 OVC) are tied for seventh in the conference standings with three regular-season games remaining.

"We think we're a different team from that point. But I will say this, Edwardsville's a really good team at home," Nutt said, noting the Cougars are 9-3 at the Vadalabene Center this season. " ... They play with an extreme amount of confidence."