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Recent injuries have SEMO hoops in 'desperation mode' following latest loss
Saturday, January 8, 2022
Southeast Missouri State freshman center looks to make an offensive move against Austin Peay on Saturday at the Show Me Center.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com
The Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball squad entered this season with five different options for post play.
As of this morning, the Redhawks are down to Option No. 5, and second-year coach Brad Korn is going to have to figure out how to concoct Option No. 6 and Option No. 7.
SEMO (6-11, 1-3 Ohio Valley Conference) fell 95-84 at Tennessee State (6-8, 1-1) on Saturday and Nashville, and on this two-game road trip, Korn’s team lost more than just two games.
Midway through the first half, freshman center Sam Thompson injured his right foot and spent the second half in street clothes with ice on his injured foot.
“He stepped on somebody,” Korn said following the game, “and couldn’t go back in.”
Thompson is in the midst of a solid season, albeit he’s already missed eight of the Redhawks’ 17 games with an earlier injury. However, his latest injury is devastating because SEMO’s post depth chart has been decimated.
Returning veterans Nate Johnson (toe) and Manny Patterson (right leg) both tried to practice Friday, but “couldn’t go,” according to Korn.
Nolan Taylor started 15 games a year ago but is out for the season with health issues. That leaves freshman Chase Thompson as the only true post player remaining on the roster.
“I don’t want to say that we’re in complete desperation mode,” Korn said.
But the truth is, SEMO is in “complete desperation mode.”
Korn utilized redshirt junior Nana Akenten (6-foot-6) at the post in the second half, as the Tigers stretched their lead to as many as 19 points.
“That isn’t fair to Nana,” Korn said of the typical wing.
Korn said both junior Nygal Russell and freshman Dylan Branson are also going to have to spend some minutes defending the other team's post players.
“Those guys are 6-4 guards,” Korn lamented. “I’m not going to make excuses. It is what it is. But Jesus…”
Tennessee State led 42-30 at the break and still led by 19 (86-67) with 3:16 remaining in the game. To the Redhawks’ credit, they fought back to cut their deficit to as little as eight points twice over the final minutes.
“At Belmont (on Thursday), it was a 40-point game and we just stopped playing,” Korn said of a recent loss. “We were like ‘Well, the game is over, what does it matter?’
“Today, we could have gone that same way. We had a bunch of excuses. We were playing 6-4 centers and we could’ve shut it down. But we didn’t.”
Nygal Russell, DQ Nicholas, and Akenten each hit 3-pointers late to boost the Redhawks, while Phillip Russell also scored in what was a bounce-back game after notching 0 points against Belmont.
“We came back and fought,” Korn said, “and I was proud of that. That is progress. Now we have to start the game with that desperation to give ourselves a chance.”
Korn remained concerned about his team’s poor defense, which is the worst in the OVC this season. Tennessee State hit a season-best (against NCAA Division I competition) 60.9 percent from the floor, which included a 59.6 percent performance in the first half when Sam Thompson was still playing.
“We don’t give ourselves a chance defensively,” Korn said, “because we are too inconsistent.”
Phillip Russell paced SEMO with 22 points, while Akenten had 16 points, following a season-high 19-point performance against Belmont.
Nicholas had 15 on Saturday while leading scorer Eric Reed Jr. was limited to just nine points.
SEMO returns to the Show Me Center on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Tennessee Tech (3-10).
The Golden Eagles have not played a game due to COVID protocols since Dec. 21.