Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team set to face SIUE tonight

The SIU Edwardsville men's basketball team will bring an 0-8 road record to the Show Me Center when it faces Southeast Missouri State tonight.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. between the two Ohio Valley Conference West Division foes. Redhawks' coach Dickey Nutt isn't really concerning himself or his players with the Cougars' (8-11, 4-4 OVC) road struggles, but rather the inconsistency he's seen from his squad.

"I thought we were turning the corner a little bit the Jacksonville State week where we had Tennessee Tech at home," Nutt said. "I thought we were turning the corner a little bit, and we had a little bit of a setback. We need to get everybody back out on the same page, and we've done that the last few days of practice since that game. We've had a good week of practice. These guys -- their hearts [are] in the right place, their minds [are] in the right place, and I think we're ready to go."

The Redhawks are coming off a 70-53 road loss to UT Martin last Saturday that dropped them to 9-11 overall and 3-4 in conference.

Southeast was without its leading scorer in senior Jarekious Bradley, who did not make the trip due to missing a class.

Bradley is expected to return for the Redhawks today.

One of Nutt's points of emphasis heading into tonight's contest is to limit scoring droughts like the Redhawks had Saturday. They were held to seven points in the last 11 minutes, 31 seconds, and it wasn't the first time this season where the offense has gone into a lull late in games.

"We get where we fall into little droughts where we can't score the ball for four or five minutes, and I think that's just a matter of settling for shots," Nutt said. "We want to turn down a good shot and find a better shot, and really penetrate the basketball and get to the free-throw line. The games that we're successful in, we're shooting free throws, and the games that we're not, we're not."

The Redhawks shoot 62.8 percent from the line.

"At Martin we didn't really get to the free-throw line at all in the first half, in the second half very few," Nutt added. "We've got to get to the free-throw line, we've got to put some pressure on them defensively, and on offense drive the basketball."

Southeast and SIUE average 64.7 and 65.0 ppg, respectively, in conference action, and allow 65.9 and 65.5 points.

The Cougars have picked up wins against Jacksonville State, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State and Austin Peay.

They're coming off a 60-54 loss to league leader Murray State on Saturday.

"They start four seniors that are very, very experienced, and they shoot the ball extremely well," Nutt said. "Defensively we're going to have to really have a good night, shutting off their perimeter shooting. That hasn't been our forte, and we've certainly been emphasizing that the last few days and we feel pretty good about it."

SIUE averages 7.0 made 3-pointers a game through its first eight conference games, and the Cougars have knocked down 56 of 147 attempts (38.1 percent).

Senior guard Kris Davis and senior guard/forward Rozell Nunn average 12.9 and 10.6 ppg, respectively.

Davis has hit 33 3-pointers this season to lead six Cougars that have made more than 10 3s.

Junior forward Jake Newton has made 21 this season and 10 of 17 in conference play.

Six-foot-10 senior forward Keaton Jackson averages 9.2 points, shooting 55.8 percent, along with 8.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. Most of Nutt's concern with the Cougars is Jackson.

"Keaton Jackson is probably one of the best big guys in the league," Nutt said. "He's very active. He's got a motor. He can score the basketball, he's a shot blocker -- he does a lot of good things. We've got to know where he is at all times."

SIUE sits in fourth in the OVC West with Southeast in fifth. The Redhawks have nine conference games remaining, including tonight's contest, and Nutt is satisfied with his team's concentration on improving.

"I just think that they're locked in to what we're asking them to do," Nutt said. "Very energetic and focused in on playing extremely hard. That's all you can ask."