SOUTHEAST VISITS MVC FAVORITE BRADLEY TONIGHT

PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley's men's basketball team might be struggling a bit right now, but Southeast Missouri State University coach Gary Garner isn't fooled at all.

Garner knows the Braves will be one of the best -- if not the best -- squads the Indians face all season.

And Garner also knows just how tough is will be to beat the Braves tonight when the teams square off in a 7:05 tipoff at Carver Arena.

"That's always an extremely tough place to play. They just don't lose very often at home," said Garner. "They'll have 8,000 to 10,000 people like they always do and the crowd really gets into the game. It's a very hard place to win."

Bradley went 17-12 last season, including a solid 11-7 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. With virtually all of their key players back from that team, the Braves are the consensus pick to capture the MVC championship.

But the Braves stumbled in their MVC opener, suffering a surprising 75-63 loss at Drake Sunday. The Braves are just 4-4 overall, but two of their losses were to nationally ranked Auburn and Illinois, and their other defeat was against a solid Loyola-Chicago squad.

"They're 4-4, but they've played some very good teams," Garner said. "Auburn and Illinois are two of the top teams in the nation and Loyola is having a good season. The loss to Drake was an upset and I know they're going to be mad about that when they play us."

Looking at the Indians' overall schedule, Garner figures Bradley could be the best team Southeast plays all year, with the possible exception of Murray State.

"Bradley will be the most athletic team we've played and the best defensive team we've faced," he said. "They really have good athletes, not only their five starters but the people they bring off the bench.

"Because of their athletic ability, they're able to play very good defense and really hit the offensive boards. They always score points off their defense and they get a lot of points with offensive rebounding."

Bradley has traditionally been one of the nation's top defensive teams, making things difficult on offense for the opposition.

Garner figures big keys tonight will be how much patience the Indians use on offense, along with their ability to break the press and hit the boards.

"They're full-court pressing more this year, but that doesn't scare me. I think we can handle the press," he said. "We're going to have to have a lot of patience on offense because their defense just doesn't give you much. And we've got to rebound. That's been a concern."

The Indians have been outrebounded decisively in two of their last three games and now are being outrebounded for the season, although only slightly.

"We really need to start rebounding better because it's hard to win when you're getting outrebounded by quite a bit," Garner said. "We're going to have to spend more time in practice (on rebounding)."

Southeast, which has a 7-1 record for the school's best eight-game start on the Division I level, will be facing an elite point guard for the second straight game.

Saturday night, it was Arkansas State's Chico Fletcher. Tonight, it will be Rob Dye, a 6-foot-1 senior who averages 17.5 points per game and is one of the MVC's top players.

"Dye is really an exceptional player," said Garner.

Bradley's only other double-figure scorer is 6-4 senior forward Eric Roberson at 10.8 points per game.

David Selby, a 6-foot junior guard, and 6-7 junior center Eddie Cage also contribute solid offense at 9.7 and 8.6 points a contest, respectively.

Roberson and Cage are the Braves' top rebounders at a little more than five per game.

Garner knows the odds will be stacked against the Indians tonight, but they very nearly stunned Bradley on the road last season, falling 49-47 after shooting just 29 percent from the field.

"I think the way we played them last year will give us some confidence (tonight)," Garner said. "But we're going to have to play a very good game to have a chance."

Garner is confident of one thing.

"I really think it will be a great game," he said.