Southeast Missouri (14-15, 6-8 OVC) at Austin Peay (7-22, 3-11 OVC)
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Date: Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013
Tip-Off: 7 p.m., CT
Location: Clarksville, Tenn.
Site: Dunn Center (7,875)
Series: APSU leads, 32-17
Coaches: Dickey Nutt (235-263 overall, 46-76 at Southeast, 24-42 OVC). Dave Loos (448-375 overall, 366-323 at Austin Peay, 234-152 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: APSUGovernors.com
Facebook: GoSoutheast
Twitter: @GoSoutheast
Quick Tips
Final Stretch
Southeast closes out its 2012-13 regular-season with two road games this week. After Thursday's matchup, the Redhawks head to Murray State (Mar. 2), which locked up the Ohio Valley Conference West Division and is guaranteed a top-two seed in the league's postseason tournament next week.
OVC Tournament Picture
The top four seeds (but not in order) for the Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament have been determined; in alphabetical order: Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State and Tennessee State. Murray State has clinched the West Division and is guaranteed to be either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed and get a double bye to the semifinals (the first-place team in the East will also receive a double bye). One more win by Belmont and the Racers are locked into the No. 2 slot. Morehead State is the only other team that has secured a spot in the field at this point. The final three spots will be determined this week. Southeast will clinch a spot with one more win or if SIUE loses to Belmont on Feb. 27, although it currently appears to be in even if it loses its last two games (based on tiebreaker scenarios). Other teams also fighting for a tournament spot include UT Martin, Tennessee Tech (own head-to-head tiebreaker with UT Martin if the Golden Eagles end up in a tie with the Skyhawks), SIUE and Eastern Illinois. Austin Peay was eliminated from the OVC Tournament when it lost to Eastern Kentucky, marking the first time since 1984 that the Governors are not participating in the eight-team event.
Let's End This Thing
Austin Peay holds a 32-17 lead in the all-time series against Southeast. The Redhawks have lost 13-straight games against the Governors in Clarksville. In fact, the last time Southeast won there was on Dec. 3, 1998 (74-65). The 1998-99 campaign also marked the last time the Redhawks beat APSU twice in a season. Southeast won the first meeting between these teams, 86-84, in Cape Girardeau on Jan. 3.
Johnson Breaks Single-Season Blocks Record
Nino Johnson gathered three blocks in his latest outing against Ball State (Feb. 23). As a result, Johnson broke Southeast's all-time single-season blocks record, pushing his total to 76 this year. He ranks second in the Ohio Valley Conference and 19th in the nation in blocked shots. Johnson is nine swats away from the 10th-place spot on the OVC single-season blocks list. He surpassed Bud Eley's previous record of 75 blocks in 1998-99.
Another Double-Double for Johnson
Nino Johnson turned in his team-high ninth double-double of the season when he scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds vs. Ball State (Feb. 23). Johnson, despite not being in the starting lineup for six-straight games, continues to put up good numbers. He finished with double-digit rebounds four times and posted a double-double on three occasions, while getting a total of 22 blocks since being held out of the starting lineup.
Hitting the Three is Key
The Redhawks have buried 10 or more threes in four-straight games. Southeast has also shot over 53 percent from three-point range in the first half during each of those contests. The hot shooting from long range has resulted in Southeast leading at halftime on all of those occasions. The Redhawks also boosted their three-point field goal percentage by 27 points (from .360 to .387) in its last four games alone. The Redhawks, who have buried 50 treys (most in a four-game stretch this season), now rank third in the Ohio Valley Conference in three-point field goal percentage.
Smith Heats Up
Marland Smith has been on fire from three-point range as of late. Smith, who has scored double figures in five-straight starts, knocked down 26 threes in that span. He also scored 20+ points in three of his last four games with a season-high 29 vs. Eastern Illinois (Feb. 9). Smith has shot 66.7 percent (26-of-39) from three-point range. Smith finished with double figures in the scoring column seven of his last eight contests.
