Southeast Missouri (10-7, 2-1 OVC) at Belmont (11-4, 2-0 OVC)

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Date: Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013
Tip-Off: 7 p.m., CT
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Site: Curb Event Center (5,000)
Series: First Meeting
Coaches: Dickey Nutt (231-255 overall, 42-68 at Southeast, 20-35 OVC). Rick Byrd (648-343 overall, 556-288 at Belmont, 2-0 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.
Webcast: OVC Digital Network                                   
Live Stats: BelmontBruins.com
Facebook: GoSoutheast
Twitter: @GoSoutheast

Quick Tips

Redhawks Travel to Belmont Thursday
Southeast Missouri (10-7, 2-1) travels to first-year Ohio Valley Conference member Belmont (11-4, 2-0) Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., CT, at the Curb Event Center.
    
Life on the Road
Southeast hits the road for the first time in Ohio Valley Conference play when it steps outside its division to face Belmont Thursday. The Bruins will host the Redhawks in their home OVC-opener.
Southeast is currently 4-3 on the road as one of only three league teams with winning records in away games this season. Belmont (5-3) and Murray State (5-1) are the others.   

Grabbing Momentum Early
The Redhawks tipped off Ohio Valley Conference play with a three-game homestand. Southeast went 2-1 in those contests, posting back-to-back come-from-behind wins against UT Martin (Dec. 29) and Austin Peay (Jan. 3). The Redhawks trailed by 15 points with 9:39 remaining in the first half before coming back to beat the Skyhawks, 65-60. Southeast were then behind, 66-60, with 5:52 left to play, but used a 16-2 run over a span of 3:11 to edge the Governors, 86-84.

Series History
Thursday marks the first-ever meeting between Southeast and Belmont. The Bruins are in their first year as a full-fledged member of the Ohio Valley Conference. Belmont is the league's preseason-favorite to win the East Division and returns home on a two-game conference winning streak after beating Jacksonville State (73-62, Jan. 3) and Tennessee Tech (83-52, Jan. 5) on the road.  
      
Seven of 10
Southeast has won seven of its last 10 games and went 4-1 in its previous five matchups. The Redhawks last played on the road when they defeated Kansas City (Dec. 22), 66-65. Southeast will look to win back-to-back road games for the second time this season. The Redhawks beat New Orleans (Nov. 29) and Southeastern Louisiana (Dec. 1) for their last consecutive road victories.

Keeping Up with Jones
Junior guard A.J. Jones is starting to come into his own. A native of Memphis, Tenn., Jones scored double figures in back-to-back starts for the first tie in his Southeast career last week. He scored 16 points and helped key a 16-2 run which led to Southeast's victory over Austin Peay (Jan. 3). Jones scored 10 points during that decisive surge that gave the Redhawks an eight-point lead with 2:41 left. Two days later, he poured in 20 points to lead all Southeast scorers against Murray State. Jones shot 70 percent (7-of-10) from the field, 3-of-3 from three-point range and 3-of-3 at the free throw line in that game. He finished with a .636 (14-of-22) field goal percentage, a .667 (4-of-6) three-point field goal percentage, grabbed nine rebounds and averaged 18 points per game as the Redhawks top scorer for the week.

Battle Tested
Five days after coming up short against Ohio Valley Conference West Division leader and preseason-favorite Murray State, Southeast now sets to go head-to-head with the preseason-favorite on the east side. After Thursday's game at Belmont, the Redhawks head to Tennessee State (Jan. 12) for another tough matchup, as the Tigers are presently leading the East Division with a perfect 3-0 league record. While this year's NCAA Tournament is a ways off, Joe Lunardi, has Belmont and Tennessee State penciled in on his first bracket (Jan. 8), according to ESPN.com. Lunardi's early projections indicate Belmont (No. 12) playing New Mexico (No. 5) at Austin, Texas, and Tennessee State (No. 16) facing Arizona (No. 1) at Salt Lake City, Utah in the first round.

Johnson Among Southeast Leaders in Blocks
Nino Johnson ranks among Southeast's all-time single-season and career blocks leaders. Johnson leads the team, ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference and rates 28th in the nation with 44 swats. He finished as the Redhawks top shot-blocker in 13 games this season. Johnson's 44 blocks in 2012-13 currently stand seventh among the school's single-season leaders. Meanwhile, his 52 career blocks are 10th.

Guards Deliver
Southeast's perimeter players have been tough to handle as of late. At least two Redhawk guards have scored double figures in two-straight games. Corey Wilford (19), A.J. Jones (16) and Lucas Nutt (14) combined for 49 points to lead Southeast against Austin Peay (Jan. 3). The majority of that production came after the Redhawks leading scorer, Tyler Stone, fouled out with 7:50 on the clock. Jones (20) and Wilford (15) then accounted for 53 percent of Southeast's scoring output against Murray State (Jan. 5).  

Nutt Second in Assist/Turnover Ratio
Junior point guard Lucas Nutt is second in the Ohio Valley Conference in assist/turnover ratio. Nutt has a team-high 82 assists to 33 turnovers for a 2.5 ratio through 17 starts. He turned the ball over just five times in his last five games, spanning a total of 166 minutes. In addition, Nutt has dished out a season-high 10 assists on two occasions and enters this week with a streak of eight consecutive free throws made.

Offense vs. Defense
Thursday's game between Belmont and Southeast features the league's best field goal percentage offense against the top field goal percentage defense. The Bruins, who are outscoring opponents by an Ohio Valley Conference leading +12.1 margin, are shooting 47.3 percent from the floor. Defensively, the Redhawks are holding opponents to 38 percent from the field and rank 30th nationally. Southeast is also third in the OVC and 47th in the nation defending the three, as opponents are shooting 29.3 percent. Five opponents (Missouri, Central Arkansas, New Orleans, Austin Peay, Murray State) shot over 40 percent from the field against Southeast this season. The Governors own a season-best .531 field goal percentage against the Redhawks on Jan. 3. It marked the first time in 21-straight games where an opponent shot 50 percent or better.