STEAMED GOVS VISIT INDIANS TODAY

If Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team is to remain undefeated in Ohio Valley Conference play, then the Indians will have to knock off one of the league's most talented squads today.

Southeast coach Gary Garner figures that most OVC teams will be hard pressed to match the physical skills of Austin Peay, which will be at the Show Me Center for a 3 p.m. tipoff.

And Garner figures the Governors might have one other thing going for them today anger.

Austin Peay will no doubt be plenty mad after seeing a 19-point halftime lead disappear during Thursday night's 75-73 loss at Eastern Illinois. The Governors never trailed until the Panthers scored the winning basket in the closing seconds.

"I would have much rather had them win that game," said Garner. "I know they're going to be mad when they come here."

Not that the Governors need anger to be a strong team.

"I don't think there's any question that, after Murray State, Austin Peay is probably the most talented team in the league," Garner said. "And they're pushing Murray for the most talented. They are very talented and well coached."

Austin Peay, 7-4 overall, is off to a 1-2 OVC start, the Governors' other loss coming against heavy league favorite Murray State.

Southeast, 9-2 overall, is 2-0 in conference play following Thursday night's 79-46 romp past Tennessee State that marked the Indians' most lopsided win ever over an OVC opponent.

In the preseason poll of the OVC's head coaches and sports information directors, Southeast and Austin Peay were picked in a tie for second, behind Murray State.

The Governors are led by arguably the OVC's top individual talent in Trenton Hassell, a 6-foot-5 swingman who plays all over the court and plays all over the court well.

Hassell, a homegrown product from Clarksville, Tenn., was last year's OVC Newcomer of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection. So far this season, he's making a strong bid for OVC Player of the Year honors, ranking third in the league in scoring (19.5 ppg), fourth in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and third in assists (5.0 apg).

While the Governors suffered a disheartening loss Thursday, Hassell was certainly not to blame as he scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out seven assists.

"He's the best basketball player in the conference," said Garner. "He does so many things, he is very difficult to stop."

The task of guarding Hassell figures to go to 6-6 forward Mike Branson, who did a good job against the Governors' standout during two Southeast wins over Austin Peay last season.

"He's a really good player and I know I'll have my hands full," said Branson. "I guarded him twice last year and hopefully I'll do a good job against him."

But Hassell is far from the Governors' only threat. Nick Stapleton, an extremely quick 6-1 junior guard, averages 15.5 points per game.

Austin Peay has four other players scoring at least seven points per game, including 6-7 Theanthony Haymon (8.9 ppg) and 6-9 Joe Williams (8.5 ppg), a pair of junior-college transfers who have helped solidify an inside game that was a weak link for the Governors last season.

"Stapleton is a very good player, and their two big inside guys have really helped them become a better team," Garner said. "They have a lot of weapons."

The Governors are second in the OVC in team field-goal shooting at 49 percent and they lead the league in 3-point shooting at 42 percent. Stapleton shoots 43 percent from 3-point range, Hassell is at 37 percent and Joey Tuck comes off the bench to shoot 49 percent, which is third in the OVC.

Southeast will counter with the OVC's top-ranked scoring and field-goal percentage defense. The Indians are allowing an average of just under 60 points per game and opponents are shooting only 39 percent against them.

"Our defense has been pretty consistent all year so far," said Garner. "I think any team that has any chance of winning a (conference) championship has to play good defense."

The Indians got a stellar defensive effort against Tennessee State during Thursday's 33-point win, holding the Tigers to 29-percent shooting.

Southeast also got a strong offensive game from several players, including Branson, who was ill with the flu but still scored 19 points and hit four of six 3-pointers.

Branson is the Indians' leading scorer on the season (13.3 ppg) and he's shooting 43 percent from 3-point range. Also averaging in double figures are Roderick Johnson (11.3 ppg) and Michael Stokes (10.4 ppg).

With three OVC road games on tap for next week including contests against Murray State and fellow league contender Middle Tennessee Garner knows how big it would be for the Indians to leave the Show Me Center late this afternoon with their perfect conference record still intact.

But Garner also knows just how difficult that is going to be.

"It should be a great basketball game, but a really difficult one for us," he said. "We're going to have to play extremely well."