SEMO MBB digs early hole, falls on road in OVC play

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Brad Korn speaks to his team during a timeout against Eastern Illinois on Saturday at the Show Me Center.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

Southeast Missouri State found itself shorthanded once again on Thursday, as it battled at Austin Peay in Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball action.

The Redhawks dug themselves an early hole and never recovered, as they fell 74-66.

“We got off to a slow start,” second-year Redhawk coach Brad Korn said. “We missed too many lay-ups early and on the road.”

The Redhawks (11-14, 6-6 OVC) were without key reserves Chris Harris and Nana Akenten for the second straight game (not a disciplinary issue), as well as reserve center Nate Johnson (foot injury), who hasn’t played in 2022. They fell behind by as many as nine points in the opening half, as they allowed the Governors (8-14, 4-8) to grab eight offensive boards and turn those into 16 second-chance points.

“Defensively,” Korn said, “we were OK, but we didn’t rebound the ball in the first half and that put us in too big of a hole.”

SEMO would’ve been capable of fighting its way back to a victory in the second half for it not been its offensive woes.

The Redhawks are the third-best free-throw shooting team in the OVC and outshot Austin Peay 28-20 from the line. However, SEMO made just 17 of its 28 free throws.

“We’re not making free throws,” Korn said, “we’re not making lay-ups, and our 3-ball wasn’t there for us. We didn’t have a whole lot of rhythm and continuity offensively.”

SEMO is the second-most prolific scoring team in the conference (81.9 points per game) but finished well below that mark.

Akenten and Harris’ absence was notable from long range, where the Redhawks typically thrive.

SEMO leads the OVC in making 38.4 percent from 3-point range yet missed 16 of its 21 3-pointers (23.8 percent) on Thursday.

Conversely, as good as the Redhawks are from 3-point range, that is how bad the Governors normally are.

Austin Peay, on average, makes 25.4 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks 9th in the league, but sank 44.4 percent against SEMO.

The Governors average 5.8 3-pointers per game, but canned double that (12) against the Redhawks, who rank dead last in the league in field goal percentage defense.

“They were the worst, or one of the worst, 3-point shooting teams in the league,” Korn explained, “and with a shortened roster, we weren’t going to be out there pressuring full-court or anything like that.

“We had a similar gameplan (as against SIUE recently), where we would protect the paint, and protect inside the arc. They hit a couple of shots, but we helped that with some breakdowns and leaving some guys wide open.”

Austin Peay stretched its lead to 11 early in the second half, but a pair of free throws by Redhawk wing Nygal Russell trimmed the deficit to five points at the 8:33 mark.

The Governors led by 11 again at the 1:18 mark, but a furious SEMO rally by Nygal Russell and Phillip Russell, again, cut the margin to five. However, the Governors sank three free throws in the final 39 seconds, while SEMO missed its final four shot attempts, to decide the outcome.

“We’d cut it to five or six,” Korn lamented, “and then we’d miss a couple of free throws or turn it over. We could never get our footing to get over the hump.”

The Redhawks played nine players, and each produced offensively, led by the two Russells.

Phillip had 18 points, while Nygal added 11, as well as pulled down a team-leading 13 boards.

SEMO’s leading scorer, junior guard Eric Reed Jr., struggled mightily offensively.

He missed all nine of his shot attempts, including an o-for-5 night from long range.

Both Reed Jr. and sophomore guard DQ Nicholas returned to action after missing one game (not disciplinary).

SEMO will host OVC-power Belmont (21-5, 11-2) on Saturday at 4 p.m.