Tourney road game may be perfect fit for Redhawks

~ Southeast is faring better in OVC action away from the Show Me Center.

The chances of Southeast Missouri State earning a home game for the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference tournament are fairly slim.

Which might not be such a bad thing, according to the Redhawks.

Southeast continues to play better on the road than at home. The Redhawks won at Tennessee-Martin 73-69 Saturday night.

That gives Southeast four wins in its last five OVC road games and puts the Redhawks' league record away from home at 4-3, compared to 3-5 at the Show Me Center.

Southeast (9-15, 7-8) moved into sixth place in the 11-team OVC by breaking an overall two-game losing streak Saturday night.

The top eight squads make the OVC tournament, with the top four playing opening-round home games.

With five OVC contests remaining, Southeast is three games out of fourth place. Tennessee Tech and Murray State -- who share third and fourth -- are 11-5.

"With the way we've shown that we can play on the road, it would give us a lot of confidence going on the road for the tournament," said senior guard Terrick Willoughby, whose 3-pointer with 35 seconds left Saturday broke a 66-66 tie. "I don't think a lot of teams would want to play us."

Said junior point guard Paul Paradoski: "Coach talked about that [before Saturday[']s game], how since it's pretty much a longshot that we can finish in the top four, we need to keep playing well on the road to keep giving us confidence for the tournament."

Naturally, Southeast coach Scott Edgar would rather be at home for the first round of the conference tournament, even though the Redhawks have struggled at the Show Me Center.

Still, he agrees with his players that the Redhawks would at least not feel uncomfortable starting the tournament on the road.

"First of all, we have to play our way in [to the OVC tournament]. I think a few more victories and we will be in," Edgar said during his weekly media briefing Monday. "If I had my choice, do you want to be four or five, I'd say four.

"When the time comes, if we are five, six or whatever, seven, eight or whatever, and we continue to play well on the road, then we should have confidence."

At a loss about road wins

Edgar said following Saturday's win at Tennessee-Martin that he really can't explain why the Redhawks have been better on the road than at home.

But he added with a smile: "We're the resilient road warriors."

The Redhawks will have ample opportunity to continue proving that, since they play three of their final five OVC games on the road.

But in the meantime, Southeast would like to improve on its Show Me Center record with wins in its last two league home dates this week.

Southeast hosts Morehead State (10-12, 6-8) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Eastern Kentucky (13-9, 8-6) at 6 p.m. Saturday in a game that will be nationally televised by ESPNU.

Morehead State has lost six straight -- including a 61-59 setback to Southeast on Jan. 24 in Morehead, Ky. -- to fall into a seventh-place OVC tie.

Fifth-place Eastern Kentucky has won three straight. Southeast beat the Colonels 88-74 on Jan. 2 for its first OVC road victory.

"One thing you don't want to happen, and it's starting to creep in, is that people come into the Show Me Center expecting to win," Edgar said. "If you're going to build a championship team, you have to establish yourself at home.

"I never want to lose another game at the Show Me Center."

Johnson a spectator

Junior swingman David Johnson, Southeast's second-leading scorer, did not start for the first time this season Saturday.

And Johnson also wound up barely playing, mainly because of foul trouble and the situation of the game.

Johnson came off the bench in the first half and picked up two quick fouls, so he played only two minutes.

He picked up his third foul soon after entering the contest in the second half.

With the Redhawks faring well most of the night, Johnson ended up playing only five minutes. He scored two points.

"We wanted to try some different things, and what even furthered that, David had the loss of a friend within 48 hours of the start of the game," said Edgar in explaining why Johnson did not start.

Johnson is tentatively slated to again come off the bench Thursday, although Edgar said, "The lineup could change."

OVC attendance leader

Although Southeast is currently averaging less fans per home game than it did during last year's 7-20 season, the Redhawks lead the OVC in attendance.

Southeast is averaging 3,458 fans through 10 home dates, although that figure should wind up increasing considerably given that the Redhawks' three biggest crowds at the Show Me Center have come in their last three games.

Last season, Southeast averaged 3,550 fans for its 13 home contests.

"I really appreciate how our crowds have grown since the beginning of the season," Edgar said.

Tennessee State is No. 2 in the OVC in attendance with an average of 3,125 fans per game.

National exposure

Saturday's game with Eastern Kentucky will be the first of two straight Southeast contests televised nationally on ESPNU, the other being Tuesday's matchup at Eastern Illinois.

Those are among the eight OVC regular-season men's games that ESPNU is airing this year.

In addition, ESPN2 carried Saturday's game between host Eastern Illinois and Samford, and ESPN2 will also air the OVC tournament championship game on March 3. Both OVC tournament semifinals on March 2 will be on ESPNU.

ESPNU is not available on local cable, but Saturday's game will be televised locally on WQWQ (cable channel 33).

"I think it's great for our conference that we do have a [television] package," Edgar said.

Dan McLaughlin, the television voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, will handle the play-by-play Saturday.

"It's a chance for us to showcase what I think is the finest mid-major facility in the country," Edgar said.