Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team's tough opening stretch concludes at Oregon

Three of Southeast Missouri State's most challenging nonconference men's basketball games are taking place in the opening 10 days of the season.

Southeast coach Dickey Nutt believes that's a good thing.

"We have a tough stretch, but at least we get some of these games out of the way early," Nutt said.

Southeast (1-2) plays its second BCS-conference opponent today when it visits Oregon (1-1) of the Pacific-12 Conference for a 4 p.m. tipoff in Eugene, Ore.

The first meeting between the programs will be played at state-of-the-art Matthew Knight Arena, which is less than a year old and cost $227 million to construct.

Southeast Missouri State's Marcus Brister shoots over Harris-Stowe's Darrion Lucius during the first half Monday at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

"They're going to be good. Any team out of that league is going to be pretty loaded," Nutt said. "But it's another opportunity for us to see what we're made of."

The Redhawks already have experienced a wide range of emotions this year.

Southeast opened the season with an 83-68 loss at 24th-ranked Missouri on Nov. 11. The Redhawks battled the Tigers on even terms in the first half before MU pulled away.

The Redhawks then routed NAIA Harris-Stowe 95-60 on Monday in their only home appearance to date.

That was followed by Wednesday's 66-65 loss at Bradley when the Braves scored a conventional three-point play with 4.6 seconds left to pull out the win.

Oregon's Carlos Emory (33) blocks the shot of Vanderbilt's Jeff Taylor, middle, during their game earlier this month in Nashville, Tenn. (JOHN RUSSELL ~ Associated Press)

"It was really a tough, tough loss. We feel like we let one get away," Nutt said about a contest that featured 12 lead changes, nine ties and no advantage greater than six points.

Southeast has featured a dominant inside game but suspect outside shooting, which Nutt knows must improve.

The Redhawks are hitting an impressive 51.9 percent from the field overall but most of that damage has come from within a few feet of the basket.

Southeast has made just 12 of 44 3-pointers (27.3 percent). Freshman guard Telvin Wilkerson is 4 of 7 from beyond the arc, but the Redhawks' more experienced guards are struggling from long distance.

"We're just not shooting the ball well right now from the perimeter," Nutt said.

The Redhawks also are struggling from the free-throw line at 58.3 percent (28 of 48). That area plagued them last year and might have cost them a win at Bradley when they hit just 7 of 17.

"You've got to step up and make your free throws," Nutt said.

Senior forward Leon Powell, Southeast's top scorer and rebounder a year ago, is averaging a team-high 18 points per game.

Powell, the nation's leader in field-goal percentage last season, has hit 15 of 16 shots (93.8 percent).

Senior guard Marcus Brister is off to an especially strong start. He's averaging 15.3 points and shooting 70 percent (21 of 30) while leading the Ohio Valley Conference in assists with a 5.3 average.

Sophomore forward Tyler Stone is averaging 15.3 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds while shooting 51.4 percent (19 of 37).

Oregon lost its opener 78-64 at then seventh-ranked Vanderbilt before overcoming a halftime deficit to beat visiting Eastern Washington 73-65 on Thursday.

The Ducks went 21-18 overall and 7-11 in conference play under first-year coach Dana Altman last season. It was just Oregon's 12th 20-win season.

Junior forward E.J. Singler is the Ducks' top returning scorer and rebounder. He averaged 11.7 points and 5.6 rebounds.

Senior guard Garrett Sim leads the Ducks with an 11-point average.