Southeast Missouri (15-13, 6-8 OVC) vs. Austin Peay (11-17, 5-9 OVC)

Date: Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014 Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Site: Show Me Center (7,000)
Series: Austin Peay leads, 32-19
Head Coaches: Dickey Nutt (253-277 overall; 64-90 at Southeast; 32-50 OVC). Dave Loos (464-503 overall; 382-350 at APSU; 240-162 OVC).


Media Coverage
Radio: ESPN 92.9 FM; Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean, Play-by-Play
Video: OVC Digital Network
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Twitter Updates: @GoSoutheast
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri

Back Home
Southeast Missouri (15-13, 6-8) returns to Cape Girardeau for its final two games of the regular-season this week. The Redhawks host Austin Peay (11-17, 5-9) in a crucial Ohio Valley Conference matchup Thursday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center.

Follow the Action
Thursday's game will be broadcast live on the radio at ESPN 92.9 FM and Real Rock 99.3 FM. Erik Sean will call the action. Video is available online at the OVC Digital Network. Live stats can be accessed at GoSoutheast.com.

OVC Tournament Berth on the Line
If Southeast beats Austin Peay Thursday, the Redhawks are in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. So far, six teams have punched their tickets, including Belmont, Murray State, Morehead State, Eastern Kentucky, SIU Edwardsville and Tennessee Tech. Southeast, Eastern Illinois and APSU are fighting for the final two spots. The Redhawks have made the OVC Tournament and won a postseason game in each of the last three years under head coach Dickey Nutt. The 2014 OVC Tournament is slated for Mar. 5-8 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

Lots at Stake
There is a chance that Southeast could finish as high as fifth. If the Redhawks, Tennessee Tech and SIU Edwardsville are tied at 8-8, Southeast would be the No. 5 seed based on its 2-1 record in the composite tiebreaker.  If it loses Thursday and beats Murray State Saturday, Southeast would be 7-9. Assuming Austin Peay wins its final two games, Eastern Illinois wins and SIU Edwardsville loses its last two contests, there would be four teams tied at 7-9. In this scenario, Southeast would be eliminated based on its 2-4 composite record. EIU would win the composite tiebreaker and be the No. 6 seed, while SIUE (won season series against APSU) would be No. 7 and APSU would be No. 8.

Now's the Time
The Redhawks hit the final leg of their season on a two-game winning streak. Southeast, which won three of its last four, beat Jacksonville State (Feb. 20) at home and UT Martin (Feb. 22) on the road in its previous two contests. A victory over Austin Peay Thursday would give the Redhawks a three-game winning streak in Ohio Valley Conference play for the first time this season.   

Final Week
Southeast's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament fate comes down to the final week of the season for the second-straight year. The Redhawks learned they were in the OVC Tournament the night before they played Austin Peay on the road around this time in 2012-13. Southeast then broke a single-game school and OVC record with 20 three-pointers in a 108-81 victory over the Governors (Feb. 28, 2013). That win gave the Redhawks the No. 6 seed. Fast forward to Thursday, where, this time, Southeast needs a victory over APSU on its homecourt to make the postseason. The Redhawks beat the Governors the last two years at the Show Me Center, winning, 65-60, on Jan. 26, 2012 and, 86-84, on Jan. 3, 2013.

Redhawk Sweep
The Redhawks became the first in the Ohio Valley Conference to sweep all three of the league's weekly awards this season. Tyler Stone was named Player of the Week, Jarekious Bradley was tabbed Newcomer of the Week and Antonius Cleveland was Co-Freshman of the Week on Feb. 24. The last time a team won all three awards in the same week was on Jan. 10, 2011. Southeast accomplished the feat then as well when Leon Powell won both Player and Newcomer of the Week honors, and Lucas Nutt was Freshman of the Week. Redhawk athletes accounted for seven OVC honors this week between men's basketball (3), women's basketball (1), baseball (1) and track and field (2).

Series History
Austin Peay owns a 32-19 lead in its all-time series against Southeast. The Redhawks, however, won three of the last five meetings between these teams. Southeast holds a two-game winning streak against the Governors at the Show Me Center. The Redhawks lost their last matchup against APSU, 80-74, on Jan. 4 in Clarksville, the second game of the Ohio Valley Conference season.

Cleveland Buries Buzzer Beater
True freshman Antonius Cleveland banked in a desperation halfcourt shot at the buzzer to send Southeast to a 77-74 victory at UT Martin (Feb. 22). Dee Oldham made two free throws to tie the game at 74-74 with 4.3 seconds on the clock. Southeast inbounded the ball to Cleveland who dribbled to midcourt and buried his shot. The play made the fantastic finishes segment leading into ESPN SportsCenter and came in at No. 4 on FOX Sports Live "the 1" segment's Top-5 plays that night.

What Goes Around Comes Around
Before Southeast won its first game on a buzzer-beater at UT Martin (Feb. 22), the Redhawks had been on the other end of such games on three occasions. Missouri State and Eastern Kentucky each made a shot in the final second to beat Southeast. The Redhawks also fell victim to a game-tying shot in the final second of regulation at SIU Edwardsville. The Cougars went on to win that game in overtime.

Mr. Clutch
Jarekious Bradley scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 33 minutes off the bench at UT Martin (Feb. 22). Bradley shot 8-of-15 from the field and 5-of-7 at the free throw line. He was 1-of-7 from three-point range with his only three tying the game at 72-72 with 48 seconds left. Bradley later added two free throws to give Southeast a 74-72 edge with 15 seconds remaining prior to the thrilling finish.

Nutt Breaks Another Record
Lucas Nutt made his 102nd career start at UT Martin (Feb. 22). As a result, Nutt surpassed Derek Winans (101, 2001-05) for Southeast's all-time career record in games started. He has started 27 games this season.

Free Throw Streak
Lucas Nutt is Southeast's top free throw shooter with a 83.9 percent (78-of-93) clip this season. Nutt enters the week with a streak of 20-consecutive free throws made. His last miss was with 4:38 left in the game against Kansas City (Jan. 29). Nutt made his last  four free throws against the Kangaroos, went 4-of-4 at Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 1), Eastern Illinois (Feb. 8) and UT Martin (Feb. 22), and made 2-of-2 vs. UT Martin (Feb. 12) and Jacksonville State (Feb. 20).

Stone Nabs First OVC Player of the Week Award
Tyler Stone won his first career Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week award on Feb. 24. Stone averaged a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds per game to lead the Redhawks to a pair of wins last week. He scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds in an 87-70 win over Jacksonville State (Feb. 20). Two days later, Stone finished with a double-double 12 points and 11 rebounds at UT Martin. He shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the field and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) at the free throw line in his last two starts.

Stone Now Sixth on Southeast's Scoring List
Tyler Stone is sixth on Southeast's all-time scoring list with 1,465 points in his career. Stone ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference and second on the team in scoring with 19.1 points per game this season. He has gone 41-straight games with 10 or more points in the scoring column.

About Austin Peay
Austin Peay comes to Cape Girardeau on a three-game losing streak. The Governors have dropped four of their last five and are currently ninth in the overall Ohio Valley Conference standings. APSU is 5-9 in league play this season and last posted a conference win when it beat Eastern Illinois at home on Feb. 13. Travis Betran is ninth in the OVC in scoring with 14.9 points per game. APSU is 11th in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 78.6 points per game. The Governors are also second-to-last in free throw percentage (.657). APSU does lead the OVC in blocks, averaging over five (5.3) per game. Chris Horton is the league's top shot-blocker with 86 this season.

Difference-Maker
Junior forward Nino Johnson registered a double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds against Jacksonville State (Feb. 20). Johnson shot 4-of-6 from the field and 6-of-8 at the free throw line in his first start since Jan. 25 (vs. Eastern Illinois). Johnson has two double-doubles this year. He followed that up with 13 points and eight rebounds at UT Martin (Feb. 22).

Countdown to 1,000
Lucas Nutt is 80 points away from getting 1,000 in his Southeast career. Nutt has scored a total of 920 points since joining the Redhawks in 2009-10. He is averaging 7.7 points per game this season.  If Nutt hits the mark, he will become the third 1,000-point scorer under head coach Dickey Nutt.