TIGERS SHOULD BE TOUGHTER FOR SE 2ND TIME AROUND

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee State is apparently a much different basketball team than the one Southeast Missouri State University routed 79-46 in Cape Girardeau on Jan. 6.

The Indians will find out just how different tonight when they face the Tigers in a 7:45 Ohio Valley Conference game at the Gentry Complex.

"We beat them bad the first game, but that goes by the wayside (tonight)," said Southeast coach Gary Garner. "If we think it's going to be easy again, we're going to be in trouble."

One of the primary reasons Garner knows the Tigers will be much better in the rematch is the fact their lineup has been recently bolstered by several key players who become eligible for the second semester.

While the Tigers have struggled for most of the season they are 4-15 overall and an eighth-place 3-6 in the 10-team OVC those reinforcements have led to a recent pair of stunning home victories for TSU.

Saturday night, the Tigers upset Austin Peay 80-73. Then Tuesday night, TSU shocked Murray State 77-75 on a 3-point basket at the buzzer by Kevin Samuel.

"Those new players have really helped them," said Garner. "Early in the year, depth was one of their big problems. Their starting lineup was talented, but they just didn't have any depth. Now they have some depth, and they're dangerous."

And Garner knows TSU would like nothing better than to upset the Indians, who are riding high at 16-3 overall and a first-place 9-1 in the OVC. Southeast got a boost from the Tigers' win over Murray State because it lifted the Indians into a two-game lead over the second-place Racers.

"When you're in first place, everybody will be shooting at you," Garner said. "We've talked to the players about this. We constantly remind the players what can happen when you get to feeling too good about yourself."

Southeast's earlier 33-point romp past TSU at the Show Me Center was the Indians' biggest-ever margin of victory over an OVC team.

"I'll remind our players of how we blew them out the first time, and about how it'll be a different game this time," said Garner, whose team has won five straight. "We just can't afford to overlook any team."

The Tigers are led offensively by Jamie Roberts, a talented 6-foot-3 junior guard who averages 16.1 points per game.

Three other players are scoring in double figures for TSU: 6-3 junior guard Samuel (13.1 ppg), 6-3 junior forward Carl Sykes (13.6 ppg) and 6-6 junior forward Kurtis Murry (11.5 ppg).

Sykes is one of the players who recently became eligible, as are 6-1 junior guard Terrick Brown (9.0 ppg) and 6-11 junior center Aaron Brochman (2.7 ppg). Sykes was one of the heroes against Murray State, leading the Tigers with 21 points.

"They're capable of beating any team in the conference on their floor, as they showed against Austin Peay and Murray State," said Garner of the Tigers. "They're definitely a team that can turn it around in a hurry and win some games, which they've shown by winning the last two. They have that kind of talent, and now they have depth."

After tonight's game, the Indians will remain on the road to take on Austin Peay Saturday night in Clarksville, Tenn. The Governors, although tied for just sixth in the OVC at 4-6, are widely regarded as having some of the best if not the best talent in the league, led by Trenton Hassell, who is arguably the OVC's top player.

Garner knows the Indians will be focused and ready to play the Governors, partly because of Hassell and partly because Southeast barely beat Austin Peay on Jan. 8 at the Show Me Center. The Indians needed a basket and free throw by Antonio Short in the closing seconds to pull out a 62-60 victory.

What Garner will be trying to avoid is a less-than-focused effort by the Indians tonight. He regards this two-game road trip as eerily similar to a two-game road set earlier this season, when Southeast faced Tennessee-Martin on a Thursday and Murray State on a Saturday.

During that earlier trip, the Indians, apparently looking ahead to the powerful Racers, suffered an upset loss at the hands of the Skyhawks.

"It's not quite the same scenario, but it's really similar and it reminds me a lot of the Tennessee-Martin game," said Garner. "I know we'll be ready to play Austin Peay. They've got the best player in the league in Hassell and they've got a very good team.

"I'm going to remind our players of what happened at Tennessee-Martin. We have got to be ready to play Tennessee State, because they're good enough to beat us if we're not."

Garner figures what the Tigers have accomplished the last two games particularly the big upset of Murray State will help prevent Southeast from looking past them tonight.

"I think them beating Murray State will make it pretty easy for us to get their attention," he said.