Southeast's OVC skid hits three

~ Southeast men suffer 87-75 conference loss at Tennessee State.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- There is no telling how the Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team would have fared with Brandon Foust on Thursday night.

But the Redhawks' first full game without their top all-around player did not go well as host Tennessee State rolled to an 87-75 victory.

Southeast, suffering its third straight loss, fell to 11-8 overall and 6-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play.

The Redhawks remained in second place in the 11-team OVC, but they fell two games behind Austin Peay and are one-half game ahead of third-place Murray State.

"I'm just frustrated right now," senior guard David Johnson said.

Foust, a senior forward, was Southeast's second-leading scorer and co-top rebounder before suffering a season-ending knee injury during the second half of Saturday's loss at Austin Peay.

Without Foust, who had posted four double-doubles in five games before Saturday, the Redhawks struggled in most areas against TSU (7-10, 4-4) as the Tigers avenged a 102-95 loss at Southeast on Dec. 6.

"We missed him a lot," sophomore forward Calvin Williams said. "His leadership, his enthusiasm."

The Redhawks, already leading the league in turnovers at more than 18 a contest, committed 23 and were credited with only eight assists.

"Obviously that's way too many turnovers," Southeast coach Scott Edgar said.

TSU, which had 14 turnovers, outscored Southeast 26-14 in points off turnovers.

Southeast, which shot 43.6 percent from the field, hit 30.4 percent from 3-point range. The Redhawks have made no better than 33.3 percent of their 3-pointers in their last five games.

The Redhawks also continued a trend of digging themselves an early hole during their three-game slide.

During a 79-51 home loss to Murray State on Jan. 7, the Racers scored the first 11 points and Southeast never led.

Saturday's 85-82 defeat at Austin Peay saw the Govs go up by 16 points early. Southeast did manage to grab a late lead before falling short.

Southeast never led TSU, as the Tigers scored the first five points and later went up 23-10.

The Redhawks pulled to within 34-33 at halftime, but TSU took control in the second half and led by double figures much of the period.

"That is a concern," Edgar said of Southeast's early struggles. "I have to go back and examine ... why we're not starting well offensively."

Added Williams: "It's nothing we can't correct. We just have to keep working hard."

Junior guard Bruce Price, the OVC freshman of the year in 2004-05 who missed most of the last two seasons with knee injuries, paced the Tigers with 33 points.

Price, the league's No. 2 scorer who had 32 points in the earlier game with Southeast, poured in 26 second-half points.

Price made 4-of-6 3-pointers in the final period. He entered the game shooting 27.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Junior guard Kenard Moore led Southeast with 16 points, all coming in the second half. Moore made 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

Sophomore guard Marcus Rhodes and junior foward Jaycen Herring both scored 11 points, while Williams added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Herring had 10 first-half points, including a tough layup in traffic at the buzzer to bring Southeast within a point at the break.

After falling behind 47-37 early in the second half, the Redhawks were within 49-46 with about 13 minutes left.

But TSU answered with a 12-0 run to go up 61-46 and the Tigers kept at least a 10-point advantage until the final 1:30.

The closest Southeast got was eight points in the final 45 seconds.

Southeast concludes its road trip Saturday with a 1 p.m. game at Tennessee Tech, which the Redhawks beat at home 84-74 on Dec. 8.