Southeast Missouri State men's basketball rides second-half surge past visiting Central Arkansas

The Southeast Missouri basketball team cheer during a game between Southeast Missouri and Central Arkansas Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Southeast won 87-63.

Andrew J. Whitaker

Trey Kellum obviously recognized there was a momentous swing in the latter half of Thursday's men's basketball game against Central Arkansas, but the Southeast Missouri State senior forward didn't realize how momentous it was until he was confronted with the stat moments after the dust had settled.

The Redhawks quickly erased a seven-point halftime deficit and didn't allow a field goal through the opening 9 minutes, 50 seconds of the second half, stringing together a 36-1 run and cruising to an 87-63 victory at the Show Me Center.

"I knew they didn't score, but I didn't know it was 36-1," said Kellum, who finished with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds. "I just zoned out. ... I was just focusing on the defensive end, and the offensive game will come to us."

Antonius Cleveland (1) of Southeast Missouri dribbles the ball around Thatch Unruh (25) of Central Arkansas during a game between Southeast Missouri and Central Arkansas Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Southeast won 87-63.

Andrew J. Whitaker

Kellum led a group of four Redhawks who notched double figures in scoring. Senior Antonius Cleveland added 13 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Denzel Mahoney added 13 points and junior Jaylen Benton contributed 12 points and five boards.

After getting outscored 37-30 in the first half, Southeast (4-3) churned out 57 points in the second half while limiting UCA (1-6) to only 26 points during that span.

The Bears shot 28 percent (8 of 29) from the floor during the final 20 minutes.

"Defensively I thought we played with a sense of urgency," Redhawks coach Rick Ray said. "I thought that our guys got a lot of loose balls. They got their hands on balls, a lot of deflections, and that ignited our transition offense. I just thought the way our guys flew around on the defensive end really helped us offensively.

"Then on the offensive side of the basketball, I told them it was real simple. They run a matchup zone, but you can't get wrapped up in a zone. All you have to do is penetrate, throw the ball behind you, shoot it or throw the ball inside to Trey -- it's that simple. Our guys executed that in the second half, but it was easy to execute those things because we were running out so much because of our defensive execution.

"I told them, 'We have to get an identity.' Hopefully our identity established what we did in the second half and not the first half."

ANDREW J. WHITAKER ~ awhitaker@semissourian.com Trey Kellum (13) of Southeast Missouri shoots the ball during a game between Southeast Missouri and Central Arkansas Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Southeast won 87-63.

Andrew J. Whitaker

Kellum tied the game at 37-all on a feed inside from Benton with 17:26 remaining before a pair of free throws by Cleveland gave the Redhawks a 39-37 lead less than a minute later.

A free throw by Albert Christensson trimmed the Bears' deficit to one point, 39-38, but Southeast never trailed after taking the lead in the second half.

Kellum corralled his own miss and converted the putback before Benton drained a 3-pointer from the right corner to give Southeast a six-point lead at the 15:27 mark of the period. The monstrous run reached its peak nearly four minutes later when Benton found Kellum inside to give Southeast a 66-38 advantage.

Although shots started falling for the Redhawks, Ray believes the activity on defense was the difference in creating scoring opportunities.

"We were even playing some zone, and our guys that are on the wings -- Antonius and Denzel -- I told them, 'You have to come all the way up from the wing, take away that guard shot and then fly all the way back down to the corner. As soon as that guy throws it, you've got to come all the way back up.' Those guys bought into that and flew around and got a lot of deflections, even in the zone," Ray said. "I just thought our activity was really good, especially on the ball screen, switching."

Jaylen Benton (22) of Southeast Missouri dribbles the ball during a game between Southeast Missouri and Central Arkansas Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Southeast won 87-63.

Andrew J. Whitaker

Southeast finished 33 of 66 (50 percent) from the field but had assists on all but five buckets. The Redhawks finished with a season-high 28 assists.

"That means we're sharing the basketball," Ray said. "That's an unbelievable stat right there."

Senior guard Jamaal Calvin led the way for Southeast with a game-high nine assists and four steals. He also didn't turn the ball over.

"Jamaal takes a lot of pride in his defense, being a point guard and running this team," Benton said. "We always tell him basically, 'If you come out and lead this team, everybody's going to follow up.' That's what he tries to do every night."

Calvin's numbers were perhaps even more impressive given he saw only 20 minutes on the floor. Ray was most pleased with Calvin's ability to move the ball up the floor, thus creating scoring chances in transition.

"Most point guards want to keep the ball in their hand and try to make a play in transtion, but what Jamaal does is willingly kick the ball ahead to guys like Antonius and Jaylen and Daniel [Simmons]," Ray said. "I just thought he played a tremendous floor game for us."

Despite a dominant effort in the second half, the Redhawks struggled on both sides of the ball in the opening 20 minutes.

Daniel Simmons (23) of Southeast Missouri dribbles the ball during a game between Southeast Missouri and Central Arkansas Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Southeast won 87-63.

Andrew J. Whitaker

UCA jumped out to a 10-0 lead that culminated when Derreck Brooks hit a 3 from the right key with 17:44 left in the half.

"We came out kind of lackadaisical and thinking that we can just roll over teams," Kellum said. "We've got to be more efficient on the defensive end and just keep bringing the intensity."

A trey by Cleveland trimmed the Bears' lead to 23-22, but UCA outscored Southeast 14-8 during the final 5:20 of the half to take a 37-30 lead into the break.

Ray said his players weren't attacking UCA's matchup zone in the opening period, during which the Redhawks where held to a 38-percent clip (11 of 29) from the field.

"We just kind of passed the ball around the horn," Ray said. "I told the guys before the game, 'If you're getting the ball against that zone and just putting the ball above your head and reversing the basketball, I can put managers out there to do that. You guys are on scholarship. We need you to make plays.'"

Southeast shot 41 percent (14 of 34) from beyond the arc, including 56 percent (10 of 18) in the second half. Benton paced the Redhawks from long range, knocking down 3 of 6 treys.

"We recruited him because we thought he would be able to shoot the basketball and make some plays for us, and he really hadn't shot the ball well up until this point in time," Ray said about Benton. "What we saw tonight -- what we really think he can be -- is a guy who can be a 3-point threat for us.

"The things that happen because he can make a 3-point shot, now he's able to put the ball on the deck and go make some more plays, but until you start making shots, guys are not going to come up and guard you. So he was able to start making shots. Guys got it going a little bit, and now he was able to get some dribble penetration."

The Bears were led in scoring by Jordan Howard, who finished with 15 points, while Brooks, Mathieu Kamba and Darraja Parnell each contributed 11 points.

The visitors finished 43 percent from the floor after shooting 59 percent in the opening half. UCA was 6 of 20 (30 percent) from 3-point range.

Ray hopes his team can build off an impressive second half heading into a daunting matchup this weekend. Southeast returns to action at 3 p.m. Sunday against No. 13 Indiana at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.

"When you're able to push the ball up the court and have fun and play in transition and see guys out there making 3s, now you go back and guys are excited and even more intense on the defensive end," Ray said. "I just saw a building of momentum because of the way we were playing on the defensive end. Guys were knocking down shots, like, 'Hey, let's get another stop so we can run out again. Let's get another stop so we can run again.' It just becomes contagious."