Semoball

SEMO MBB survives slow finish with incredible start in OVC win

Southeast Missouri State junior guard Eric Reed Jr. drives to the basket against Eastern Illinois on Saturday at the Show Me Center.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

To gauge how the expectations for the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball program have been altered in 24 months, Saturday’s 63-56 win over Eastern Illinois at the Show Me Center was a perfect example.

The Redhawks beat a team that it should have by playing tremendous basketball for 24 minutes, followed by mediocre to poor play for 16 minutes, which left the 924 fans in attendance relieved, but less than exuberant.

“We started off very, very well,” second-year SEMO coach Brad Korn said following the win, “especially after the way we had played (very poorly) against (UT Martin on Thursday).”

The fact that SEMO can now win games when playing less than well, is a sign of growth for this program.

In addition, the SEMO fans that were exhaling in relief as they filed out of the Show Me Center were many the same, who prior to Korn’s arrival, were just happy for a win. Any win.

The expectation for this program now, and this is a positive thing, not a negative, is that the Redhawk Nation not only expects success but also wants to see good execution in those victories.

“Today,” Korn said, “no matter what you say (about Eastern Illinois), they are 18 to 22-year-olds and we beat them by 30 the last time, and then we were up by 20, we’ll just keep existing in the game.”

SEMO (10-13, 5-5 Ohio Valley Conference) won for the fourth time in six games and remain in fourth place, which is another measurement of how far this program has traveled in two seasons.

As bad as the Redhawks looked in Thursday’s 84-63 loss at UT Martin, that is how great Korn’s team played for the initial 24 minutes on Saturday.

SEMO scored the first 12 points of the game, led 34-13 late in the first half, and eventually stretched the margin to 22 points on a lay-in by freshman guard Phillip Russell with 16:03 remaining in the game.

THAT is how the SEMO fans are growing to expect this program to perform – especially at the Show Me Center.

However, over the next 7:20, the Redhawks missed 9 of 11 shots and turned the ball over three times, as the Panthers (4-18, 2-7) cut their deficit to seven (46-39).

“We’re up 22,” Korn explained, “and I think naturally, we were like ‘OK,’ and then they make a little run. We had a couple of breakdowns defensively. Now the clock stops, and they hit two free throws. Now they bang in a 3, and it goes from up 19 down to 12, and it becomes a different type of ball game.”

Eastern Illinois, which had won two consecutive games coming into the contest, continued to battle with SEMO for the remainder of the game, eventually pulling to within four points with 65 seconds left. However, Redhawk junior guard Eric Reed Jr. hit three key 3-pointers at varying times over the final minutes to squelch each time the Panthers sensed some life.

“The biggest (problem) was communication on defense,” Reed Jr. said following the win. “They were getting a lot of switches and we weren’t communicating enough, so we left guys open, and they knocked down some shots.”

The Panthers are the second-worst shooting team in the OVC, and for the game, the Redhawks held them to their average (39 percent). However, Eastern Illinois made 50 percent of their shots in the second half.

Typically, Eastern Illinois makes just 31 percent of its 3-point shots but drained 40 percent (8 of 20) against SEMO, including 7 of 13 (53.8 percent) in the final 20 minutes.

“It’s not anything that isn’t correctable,” Reed Jr. said of the defensive play.

Korn said he was pleasantly surprised by the incredible start by his team, given the time of the season that it is.

“I was a little bit worried, to be quite honest,” Korn said, “just how we would come out, with the temperature of the team, and being February. It is just kind of those ‘dog days,’ where you start seeing crazy scores and crazy things happen in college basketball.

“Teams are kind of in flux. They are tired of listening to their coach and tired of their teammates.”

Reed Jr. said his teammates feel good about where the Redhawks are physically and mentally, as they close out the final three weeks of the regular season.

“We’ve got the pieces (for success),” Reed Jr. said. “We’ve got the experience. I think we have a very good combination of young guys and old guys. I think we can beat anybody in this conference.”

The Redhawks have shown that ability, but as Thursday and Saturday attest, “anybody in this conference” can also beat SEMO.

Reed Jr. led SEMO with 21 points, while redshirt junior forward Nygal Russell and senior center Manny Patterson each had eight.

Freshman forward Dylan Branson pulled down a team-leading six boards, while redshirt junior guard Chris Harris had a team-best four assists.

The Redhawks have a quick turnaround and visit SIU Edwardsville (7-16, 1-9) on Monday at 8 p.m. in a game that was originally postponed due to COVID-19.

SEMO beat the Cougars 85-77 on Jan. 29 at the Show Me Center, but SIU Edwardsville, which has lost eight straight games, is 4-3 at home this season.

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