WITH MURRAY STATE IN VIEW, SE STRIVES TO FOCUS ON MARTIN

Southeast Missouri State University men's basketball coach Gary Garner had one primary goal regarding preparation for tonight's 7:45 Ohio Valley Conference game at Tennessee-Martin.

Focus.

The Indians are riding high with a 4-0 OVC record, good for first place in the 10-team league. Looming on the horizon for Southeast is a Saturday night showdown at Murray State, which is the only other OVC team with a perfect league record.

But before the Indians can even begin to think about the Racers, they must first give all of their attention to the Skyhawks, who are just 3-9 overall and 0-2 in OVC play but nonetheless dangerous in Garner's eyes.

"This is the kind of game that really scares you," said Garner, whose squad is 11-2 overall and has won three straight. "My biggest concern is winning the game, but our approach to the game is very important. You know everywhere they (the players) go in town, people are talking about Murray State.

"Our mental preparation for this game is the biggest thing. That's harder than people think, with Murray coming up."

Even though UTM has struggled so far under first-year coach Bret Campbell, a former Austin Peay assistant, Garner said the Skyhawks are much more athletic than they've been in the past.

And the Skyhawks' home record of 3-1 which includes a recent upset over a solid Butler squad should be enough to get the Indians' attention.

"They're a good team and they've played well at home," Garner said. "If we go in there thinking it will be easy, we'll get it handed to us.

"If we lose to Martin and beat Murray, we're still only 1-1 in those two games, the same if we beat Martin and lose to Murray. So this game is really important for us."

The Indians certainly don't want to lose any of the momentum they've generated by winning three OVC games during a five-day stretch, including Monday's impressive 61-48 road victory over a Middle Tennessee team picked to finish high in the league standings.

"We've been playing well and we want to keep that up," said Garner.

One area in which the Indians have really improved in recent weeks is rebounding. Since Southeast was hammered on the boards in the second half of a loss at Montana on Dec.10, the Indians have outrebounded their last seven opponents.

"Since Montana, we've really done a good job on the boards," Garner said. "Some teams we've outrebounded by 11 or 12 and some by three or four, but since the second half at Montana, we've really rebounded well."

Garner figures the Indians will have a challenge on the boards tonight, particularly on the defensive end. Despite UTM starting no player taller than 6-feet-6, the Skyhawks have grabbed 44 more offensive rebounds than their opponents.

"They're a good offensive rebounding team and that comes from having athletes," said Garner. "They really crash the boards."

UTM has virtually a totally new roster from last season, with only two players and just one starter back from a year ago.

The Skyhawks are led by 5-foot-9 sophomore point guard Andrae Betts, the lone returning regular from last season who averages 11.2 points per game and has dished out 32 assists.

Also scoring in double figures for UTM are 6-5 junior center Byron Benton (10.8 ppg) and 6-5 junior forward Hayden Prescott (10.3 ppg). Benton and Prescott lead the rebounders at five per game.

"They don't really have any one player where you say you have to stop him," said Garner of the Skyhawks. "Most teams have one or two players that you have to set you defense and game plan against. But sometimes that (not having one or two stars) can make it even tougher to prepare."

Because of the Skyhawks' lack of size, Garner believes the Indians have success inside.

"I think they might press us to try and keep us from getting the ball inside," Garner said. "I think we can go inside on them, and if we can get the ball inside to Roderick (Johnson), I think he can have some success."

Johnson is the Indians' second-leading scorer (11.7 ppg) and top rebounder at 8.5 a game after pulling down a career-high 17 against Middle Tennessee Monday.

Mike Branson leads Southeast offensively (12.5 ppg) while shooting 44 percent from 3-point range and 83 percent from the free-throw line.

Michael Stokes is also in double figures (10.3 ppg) while recording a team-high 57 assists.

Brian Bunche, averaging seven rebounds per game, has joined Johnson in leading the Indians' recent surge on the boards.

INDIAN NOTES: Saturday's game at Murray State, set for a 7 p.m. tipoff, will be televised by FOX Sports South. That's not normally on local cable, but cable channel 33 will carry the contest in Cape Girardeau and Jackson only...

An interesting OVC game will take place tonight as Murray State hosts Eastern Illinois. The Racers are 2-0 in league play while the Panthers are 3-1. Murray State has won 46 straight home games for the nation's longest home-court winning streak