Southeast Missouri at Saint Louis

Date: Friday, Nov. 8, 2013
Location: St. Louis, Mo.
Site: Chaifetz Arena (10,600)
Series: SLU leads, 8-4
Head Coaches: Dickey Nutt (238-264 overall; 49-77 at Southeast; 26-42 OVC). Jim Crews (382-355 overall, 28-7 at Saint Louis)



Media Coverage
Radio: ESPN 92.9 FM; Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean, Play-by-Play; Jess Bolen, Analyst
TV: FOX Sports Midwest. Pat Parris, Scott Highmark
Live Stats: SLUBillikens.com
Twitter Updates: @GoSoutheast
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri

Southeast Opens Season Friday
Southeast Missouri opens its 2013-14 season when it travels two hours north on Interstate 55 to face Saint Louis Friday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., CT, at Chaifetz Arena.

Follow the Action
Friday's game will be televised on FOX Sports, with Pat Parris and Scott Highmark on the call. The radio broadcast will air live on ESPN 92.9 FM and Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will handle the play-by-play and Jess Bolen will provide analysis. The game will also be streamed live, for a fee, online at SLUBillikens.com through the A-10 Digital Network.

Season-Openers
Southeast is 9-13 all-time in season-openers since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1991-92. The Redhawks have lost seven-straight season-opening games, all of which were on the road. Southeast lost to Kansas (74-55) in 2012-13, Missouri (83-68) in 2011-12, UAB (78-56) in 2010-11, Saint Louis (59-41) in 2009-10, New Mexico (102-59) in 2008-09, Xavier (90-59) in 2007-08 and Arkansas (92-52) in 2006-07 during that stretch.

Series History
Saint Louis leads the all-time series against Southeast by a count of 8-4. The Billikens defeated the Redhawks, 59-41, in the last meeting on Nov. 14, 2009. It was the first game Southeast played with Dickey Nutt as its head coach. The Redhawks last victory in the series was a 65-49 win at Scottrade Center on Dec. 29, 2004.

OVC West Division Favorite
Southeast and rival Murray State were tabbed co-favorites in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division. The Redhawks received 13 first-place votes, while the Racers (defending West Champions) picked up the remaining 11. Both finished with 117 total points in the league's preseason poll. Austin Peay (90 pts.), UT Martin (66 pts.), Eastern Illinois (58 pts.) and SIU Edwardsville (44 pts.) rounded out the West. Eastern Kentucky earned 18 of a possible 24 first-place nods and a total of 128 points to lead all vote-getting. The Colonels were followed in the East Division by defending OVC Champion Belmont (116 pts.), Morehead State (74 pts.), Jacksonville State (72 pts.), Tennessee State (60 pts.) and Tennessee Tech (42 pts.).

Redhawks Go Undefeated in Exhibition Play
The Redhawks went 2-0 in exhibition play with a 115-45 win over Hannibal-LaGrange (Oct. 29) and 88-75 victory over Ouachita Baptist (Nov. 2) last week. Tyler Stone averaged 24.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in those contests.

Stone Named OVC Preseason Player of the Year
Senior forward Tyler Stone was named the 2013-14 Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year. A native of Memphis, Tenn., Stone earned Second-Team All-OVC honors each of the last two seasons. He was the Redhawks leading scorer with 15.5 points per game in 33 contests and 29 starts in 2012-13. Stone ranked second on the team in field goal percentage (.492), rebounds (7.8 rpg), blocks (44) and steals (25), and averaged a team-high 32.2 minutes per game. He was eighth in the OVC in scoring, fifth in rebounding and fifth in blocks, as well.

Johnson Nabs Preseason Honors
Forward Nino Johnson, who hails from Memphis, Tenn., joined Tyler Stone on this year's preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference team. Johnson ranked 22nd in the nation with a Southeast single-season record 84 blocks in 2012-13. He was the Redhawks top rebounder (8.8 rpg), shot-blocker and third-leading scorer (11.1 ppg). Johnson also led the team in field goal percentage (.556).

Stone and Johnson Out for First Two Games
Southeast will be without forwards Tyler Stone and Nino Johnson for its first two games of the 2013-14 season. Stone and Johnson were suspended due to a violation of team rules and will return when the Redhawks play at IUPUI on Nov. 16.

Let's Get Started
Lucas Nutt has made 54-consecutive starts at the point guard spot. Nutt was the only Redhawk who started all 33 games last season. He led the team with 178 assists and 25 steals, while ranking second in the Ohio Valley Conference and 21st in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (2.51). Nutt rank fifth all-time at Southeast with 75 career starts.

Record Chasers
Guard Lucas Nutt and forwards Nino Johnson and Tyler Stone are moving up Southeast's career record lists. Nutt currently ranks third all-time in assists (419), needing 123 more to break Dwayne Rutherford's record of 541 from 1986-90. Meanwhile, Johnson (3rd, 92) and Stone (7th, 78) are among career leaders in blocks. Johnson needs 65 blocks to break William "Bud" Eley's record of 156 from 1995-99.

Southeast Debuts
Forward Jarekious Bradley and guards Antonius Cleveland and Darrian Gray are expected to make their first career starts when Southeast faces Saint Louis Friday. Bradley and Cleveland started both of the Redhawks exhibition games last week. Bradley led the Redhawks with 25 points against Hannibal-LaGrange (Oct. 29). Gray has not played since the 2011-12 campaign when he was at Lake Land College.

Nutt Begins Fifth Year
Dickey Nutt begins his fifth year as head coach at Southeast. The Redhawks have improved each of the first four seasons under Nutt, and this year figures to be one of the program's best chances for a major breakthrough. Southeast went 17-16 overall and 8-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference during the 2012-13 campaign. The Redhawks turned in their first winning season since 2004-05 and advanced to the OVC Tournament for the third straight year. The 17 victories were the program's most in a season since 2000-01, as the Redhawks took second in the OVC West Division and tied for fifth in the league overall. Nutt is 238-264 overall and 49-77 at Southeast.

About Saint Louis
Saint Louis is receiving votes in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches' Polls. SLU posted a 28-7 record last season, setting a school record in victories. The Billikens went 13-3 in conference play. SLU is the reigning Atlantic 10 Conference champion. The Billikens captured the 2012-13 A-10 regular-season title outright, then rolled to three consecutive victories at the A-10 Championship in Brooklyn, N.Y. SLU claimed a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season and knocked off New Mexico State in the second round in San Jose, Calif. The Billikens came up short in their bid to advance to the Sweet Sixteen when they fell to Oregon in the third round. Jim Crews, the NABC and Sporting News National Coach of the Year, had the interim tag removed from his title April 12, 2013. In 25 years as a collegiate head coach, Crews boasts a 382-355 record. Senior forward Dwayne Evans, an Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year candidate, led the Billikens in scoring (14 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg) last season. Evans registered 21 points per game in SLU's five postseason games. The Billikens also return the senior guard tandem of Jordair Jett and Mike McCall Jr. A two-time A-10 All-Defensive team pick, Jett has 123 career steals and needs two more to crack SLU's all-time top-10 list. McCall Jr. led the team with 46 steals and was second in assists a year ago.

Up Next
Southeast returns to Cape Girardeau to host NAIA Central Baptist College in its home-opener Monday, Nov. 11. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center.