Southeast Missouri (9-6, 1-0 OVC) vs. Austin Peay (4-10, 0-0 OVC)

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Date: Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013
Tip-Off: 7 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Site: Show Me Center (7,000)
Series: Austin Peay leads, 32-16
Coaches: Dickey Nutt (230-254 overall, 41-67 at Southeast, 19-34 OVC). Dave Loos (445-364 overall, 363-311 at APSU, 231-141 OVC).

Southeast Missouri Game Notes

Media Coverage
Redhawks Radio Network: K103 FM (KEZS), flagship; 1440 AM (KSIM); 903 AM (KWOC); 1470 AM (KMAL). Erik Sean, Play-by-Play; Todd Bonacki, Color Analyst.
Video: GoSoutheast.com                                        
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Facebook: GoSoutheast
Twitter: @GoSoutheast

Quick Tips

Redhawks Resume Homestand
Southeast Missouri (9-6, 1-0) continues its three-game homestand when it hosts Austin Peay (4-10, 0-0) Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center.

Keep it Going
Southeast is on a three-game winning streak for the third time this season after coming back to beat UT Martin, 65-60, in its Ohio Valley Conference opener on Dec. 29. The Redhawks finished December with a 4-2 record. As a result, Southeast posted winning records in back-to-back months for the first time under head coach Dickey Nutt. The Redhawks have won six of their last eight contests.

Southeast Downs UT Martin in OVC Opener
The Redhawks opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a win for the second year in a row when they beat UT Martin, 65-60, on Dec. 29. Southeast trailed by 15 points (21-6) with 9:39 remaining in the first half, but scored nine points in the final 4:22 of the game to pull out the win. The Redhawks moved to 9-13 all-time in league-openers.

Series History
Southeast is 16-32 in its all-time series against Austin Peay. The Redhawks are 1-6 versus the Governors under head coach Dickey Nutt. Southeast snapped a seven-game losing streak in the series with a 65-60 win over APSU at home last season. The Redhawks enter Thursday's matchup looking to earn home victories against the Governors in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1998-99 (87-71) and 1999-2000 (62-60).

Tough Stretch
The Redhawks have an opportunity to gain some serious momentum on the front end of their 16-game Ohio Valley Conference slate. Southeast faces three West Division rivals right off the bat, two of which were picked among the top-three on that side of the league (Murray State, first; Austin Peay, third). The Redhawks go head-to-head with West Division preseason-favorite Murray State in a nationally-televised ESPNU matchup at the Show Me Center Saturday.

Struggling Govs
Austin Peay limps to Cape Girardeau on a six-game losing streak. The Governors, who begin Ohio Valley Conference play against Southeast, are coming off an 84-77 loss to Utah Valley (Dec. 28) and a 76-74 setback against High Point (Dec. 29). APSU is 0-5 in away games (not including neutral site contests) this season. In fact, the four teams below Southeast in the West Division standings are a combined 0-24 in away contests -- Austin Peay (0-5), SIU Edwardsville (0-5), Eastern Illinois (0-6), UT Martin (0-8).

Above .500
Southeast hits the halfway point of its season three games above .500 with a 9-6 overall record. That mark is the Redhawks best under head coach Dickey Nutt through the first 15 games of a season. Southeast is currently one of five teams in the Ohio Valley Conference with nine or more victories. Jacksonville State (10-3), Eastern Kentucky (10-3), Belmont (9-4) and Murray State (9-3) are the others.

Nutt Second in Assist/Turnover Ratio
Junior point guard Lucas Nutt moved to second in the Ohio Valley Conference in assist/turnover ratio. Nutt has a team-high 69 assists to just 29 turnovers for a 2.4 ratio through 15 starts. He turned the ball over only once in his last three games, spanning a total of 102 minutes during that span.

Speaking of Turnovers . . .
Southeast has turned the ball over a season-low seven times in each of its last three games. As a team, the Redhawks are second in the Ohio Valley Conference in assist/turnover ratio behind Eastern Kentucky. Southeast is turning the ball over 12.4 times per game, second-fewest in the league.

Block Leaders
Thursday's matchup between Southeast and Austin Peay features the top two shot blockers in the Ohio Valley Conference. Chris Horton and Nino Johnson are neck-and-neck in that category. Horton currently holds a slight edge with 42 blocks, while Johnson is close behind with 41. Both Horton (freshman) and Johnson (sophomore) are underclassmen. The Governors (75, 5.4 avg.) and Redhawks (71, 4.7 avg.) have a minimum +15 advantage in blocks over the other 10 teams in the conference. Horton (9th) and Johnson (19th) rank among the top-20 in the nation, as well.

Tough Defense
The Redhawks lead the Ohio Valley Conference and rank 16th in the nation in field goal percentage defense. Opponents are shooting just 36.7 percent (350-of-953) against Southeast's defense. The Redhawks are also second in the OVC and 17th nationally defending the three, as opponents are shooting 27.6 percent (82-of-297) behind the arc. Only three opponents (Missouri, Central Arkansas, New Orleans) shot over 40 percent from the field against Southeast this season. Additionally, the Redhawks have held opponents under a .500 field goal percentage for 21-straight games dating back to 2011-12.

Stone Steps Up
Tyler Stone scored a game-high 28 points, went perfect at the free throw line and made the game-winning free throws with 28 seconds left to send Southeast to a 66-65 win at Kansas City (Dec. 22). A week later, Stone led all scorers with 23 points and scored seven-straight during a key stretch late in the game to grab the Redhawks a 65-60 win against UT Martin (Dec. 29). Stone has scored more than 20 points in three of his last four starts and a total of 10 times in his career.

Doubling Up
Nino Johnson has scored double figures 11 times and pulled down double-digit rebounds on seven occasions this season. Most recently, Johnson recorded his team-high sixth double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds against UT Martin (Dec. 29). He ranks 14th in the nation in double-doubles, averaging 12.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game in 15 starts.

Nice Recovery
Southeast fell behind by 15 points and trailed at halftime in its conference-opening win against UT Martin (Dec. 29). The Redhawks also shot just 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from the field and 40.9 percent (9-of-22) at the free throw line in the game's opening 20 minutes. Southeast overcame its slow start by shooting 50 percent (13-of-26) from the field in the second half.

Rolling Stone
Tyler Stone, who leads Southeast and ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference in scoring with 17.7 points per game, reached double figures in the scoring column 14-straight games. Stone needs to score 10 or more points twice more to match his career-long streak of 16-consecutive games scoring double figures (Nov. 29, 2011-Feb. 2, 2012).

Homecourt Advantage
Southeast is on a two-game winning streak at home. The Redhawks improved to 5-1 at the Show Me Center when they beat UT Martin, 65-60, on Dec. 29. Southeast is 15-5 in its last 20 home games dating back to the start of the 2011-12 campaign. The Redhawks 5-1 home start is their best since going 6-0 in 2007-08 (all those wins were vacated due to NCAA violations).