Southeast storms past MSU

~ Redhawks stun Racers in regular-season finale; OVC tourney up next

MURRAY, Ky. -- The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team figured Murray State would be angry coming off Thursday's stunning home loss to Tennessee-Martin.

But the Redhawks are playing too good these days to let the powerful Racers get in their way -- mad or not.

Southeast continued its late-season surge Saturday night with an incredibly satisfying capper -- a rare win at MSU.

The Redhawks led for all but a few minutes and shocked a near-sellout crowd of 7,489 at the CFSB Center on MSU's senior night with an 84-68 victory in the regular-season finale for both squads.

"We were really worried about them, just coming off a loss," senior guard Nick Niemczyk said. "We figured they'd come ready to play. We just matched their intensity."

Southeast won for the first time at MSU since the 2006-07 campaign and beat the Racers for just the second time in the past 13 meetings.

"It feels great," sophomore forward Nino Johnson said.

The Redhawks, winning for the fifth time in their last seven games -- the two losses during that stretch were on baskets in the final 10 seconds that broke ties -- improved to 16-15 overall and 8-8 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

Southeast, which posted the program's most victories since the 2000-01 squad won 18 games, was already locked into the sixth seed for the eight-team OVC tournament.

The Redhawks, who finished second in the OVC West Division behind MSU and tied for fifth overall in the 12-team league, will play seventh-seeded Eastern Illinois at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the tournament's opening round at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.

"We can't wait for the tournament. We're ready," senior guard Corey Wilford said.

MSU (20-9, 10-6), which had its string of three straight OVC regular-season titles snapped this year by Belmont, is the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament and earns a double-bye into the semifinals.

That is probably some consolation to the Racers, who had to rally from a 12-point second-half deficit to beat Southeast 74-66 at the Show Me Center on Jan. 5.

"I was really proud of our team. I thought we beat a really good team, a fantastic crowd," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "We withstood their runs. They're so explosive. They're never out of the game."

Southeast, coming off Thursday's 108-81 romp at Austin Peay in which the Redhawks hit a school and OVC-record 20 3-pointers, was hot again early Saturday.

Junior guard A.J. Jones hit three 3-pointers in the first five minutes as Southeast led 13-7. Senior guard Corey Wilford's four-point play -- he was fouled on a successful 3-pointer -- just 8 minutes, 26 seconds into the contest put the Redhawks up 22-11.

MSU gained its first lead since the opening minutes at 33-32 but Southeast used a 7-0 run as the springboard to its 47-39 halftime edge.

The Redhawks hit 9 of 12 first-half 3-pointers. Jones led the way with 15 points in the opening period despite playing just eight minutes due to foul trouble.

"Just focus. Like coach Nutt says, if I'm focused the team goes to another level," Jones said.

Jones was 3 of 3 from beyond the arc in the half. Wilford was 3 of 5 and senior guard Nick Niemczyk 2 of 2.

"Just making the extra pass, getting open shots," Niemczyk said.

Southeast used a 10-0 run to open up a 62-47 lead midway through the second half.

MSU then made its big push, cutting the deficit to 64-59 with just over five minutes left.

The Redhawks didn't blink. Jones buried a 3-pointer. Johnson made two free throws after an MSU turnover. Wilford's 3-pointer followed a Johnson block. Johnson capped the 10-0 burst with a short jumper after another MSU turnover.

All of a sudden Southeast's lead was back up to 74-59 with under three minutes left -- and Racer fans started heading to the exits.

"If they make a run, just keep our heads up," Johnson said of Southeast's mindset during MSU's comeback.

Jones led Southeast with 20 points. He did not miss a shot, making 6 of 6 from the field -- including 4 of 4 3-pointers -- and 4 of 4 free throws.

Wilford had 16 points, hitting 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.

Also scoring in double figures for Southeast were Niemczyk (14 points), junior forward Tyler Stone (13) and Johnson (11). Johnson blocked three shots while Stone led Southeast with seven rebounds.

Junior point guard Lucas Nutt had his usual strong floor game with nine assists.

Southeast hit 12 of 19 3-pointers (63.2 percent), marking its sixth straight game of at least 10 3-pointers.

The Redhawks shot 50 percent from the field overall and hit a sizzling 20 of 21 free throws (95.2 percent) -- 14 of 14 in the second half.

Southeast held MSU to 35.9 percent from the field and outrebounded the Racers 39-33 after MSU hammered Southeast on the boards in the earlier meeting.

All-American senior guard Isaiah Canaan paced the Racers with 22 points.

"We wanted to make sure everybody else didn't have a career night on us," Dickey Nutt said.

Now the Redhawks will get ready for the OVC tournament -- which, if they win their first two games, will have them rematching with the Racers in Friday's semifinals.

"We wish we could play tomorrow," Niemczyk said of the tournament.