Southeast Missouri (0-1) at Evansville

Game Information
Date: Sunday, November 15, 2015
Tip-Off: 2 p.m., CT 
Location: Evansville, Ind.
Arena: Ford Center (11,000)
Series: Evansville leads, 8-4
Last Meeting: Southeast 87, Evansville 77  |  Nov. 20, 2007  |  Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Head Coaches: Rick Ray (37-61 overall; 0-1 at Southeast; 0-0 OVC). Marty Simmons (224-207 overall; 126-134 at UE; 57-87 MVC).

Media Information 
Radio: ESPN 92.9 FM, Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean) | Listen Live
Video: ESPN3, WatchESPN
Live Stats: GoPurpleAces.com
Twitter Updates: @SEMOmbb
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Head to Evansville
Southeast Missouri (0-1) plays its second game in three days when it visits Missouri Valley Conference foe Evansville Sunday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m., CT, at the Ford Center.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to Sunday's game live on the radio at ESPN 92.9 FM and Real Rock 99.3 FM with Erik Sean on the call from the Ford Center. Video is available online at ESPN3, WatchESPN. Live stats can be accessed at GoPurpleAces.com. Twitter updates will be provided @SEMOmbb.

Series History
Southeast trails its all-time series against Evansville, 8-4. The Redhawks and Purple Aces meet for the first time since 2007-08. Southeast and UE last hooked up in a home-and-home series with the Purple Aces winning, 65-45, in Evansville on Nov. 27, 2006 and the Redhawks winning, 87-77, in Cape Girardeau on Nov. 20, 2007. Southeast's win, however, was vacated due to NCAA violations. Southeast is 1-5 against UE in Evansville and has lost in each of its last four trips there.

Against the Missouri Valley
Evansville is one of three Missouri Valley Conference opponents on Southeast's schedule this season. The Redhawks also travel to regional rival Southern Illinois on Dec. 2 and in-state rival Missouri State on Dec. 22. Southeast is 106-183 all-time against the MVC. That record includes a 45-69 mark against SIU, 0-1 record vs. Drake, 4-8 record vs. Evansville, 2-6 mark vs. Bradley, 1-7 record vs. Illinois State, 0-2 record vs. Indiana State and a 54-90 mark vs. Missouri State. Evansville is the first MVC opponent Rick Ray faces as a head coach.

Familiar with the MVC
Rick Ray's first NCAA Division I coaching job was at Indiana State. Ray was an assistant coach there from 1997-2004, helping ISU to consecutive 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. In 1999-2000, the Sycamores compiled a 14-4 record in the Missouri Valley Conference and won the regular-season title. ISU then won the MVC Tournament the following season. The Sycamores upset No. 4 seed Oklahoma in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. In addition, Ray was part of the ISU staff that defeated perennial power Indiana in back-to-back seasons.

Redhawks Drop Season-Opener
Southeast dropped its season-opener to Dayton, 84-53, at UD Arena on Nov. 13. The Redhawks, who met preseason Atlantic 10 favorite Dayton for the first time, never led in the game and trailed, 46-16, at halftime. Southeast turned the ball over 12 times in the opening stanza and shot 31.3 percent (20-of-64) from the field, 20 percent (5-of-25) from 3-point range and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) at the free throw line for the game. Marcus Wallace led the Redhawks with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Wallace Starts Strong
Point guard Marcus Wallace started a season-opener at Southeast for the first time in his career at Dayton (Nov. 13). Wallace led the Redhawks in both points (12) and rebounds (7), shooting 5-of-9 from the field in 27 minutes. It was the first time in his career where Wallace was Southeast's leading scorer and rebounder in a game.

Angus III and Anderson Make Starting Debuts
Junior forward Joel Angus III and true freshman forward Tony Anderson made their first career starts at Dayton (Nov. 13). Angus scored six points and had three rebounds, while Anderson added four points and six boards. Angus and Anderson played 18 and 26 minutes, respectively. Anderson was the first freshman to start a season-opener at Southeast since C.J. Reese scored three points and had two rebounds in 24 minutes at Saint Louis on Nov. 8, 2013.

Jones Notches Career-Highs
Walk-on J.T. Jones notched career-highs in free throws made (4), free throws attempted (6), assists (4) and minutes played (17) at Dayton (Nov. 13). Jones made his way into the scoring column for the seventh time in his career.

Shorthanded Redhawks
Southeast has 10 available players for its season-opening road trip to Dayton (Nov. 13) and Evansville (Nov. 15). Guard Jamaal Calvin and fowards Trey Kellum and Ladarius Coleman are currently suspended. Calvin is out for four games (including the Nov. 7 exhibition game), while Kellum and Coleman will miss the Redhawks first two regular-season contests. Calvin returns from his suspension when the Redhawks travel to Texas Rio Grande Valley on Nov. 24 and both Kellum and Coleman will be back for Southeast's game at Alabama A&M on Nov. 19.

Rick Ray Era Underway
A new era of Southeast basketball is underway with first-year head coach Rick Ray. Ray was hired as the program's 20th head coach on Apr. 13, 2015. He comes to Cape Girardeau after spending the last three years as head coach at Southeastern Conference member Mississippi State. Ray is one of four new head coaches in the Ohio Valley Conference, joining SIU Edwardsville's Jon Harris, Murray State's Matt McMahon and Eastern Kentucky's Dan McHale.

Starting Streak
Junior guard Antonius Cleveland made  31-consecutive starts. He was one of two Redhawks to start every game a year ago. The last time Cleveland was out of the starting lineup was vs. Eastern Kentucky on Mar. 6, 2014.

Road Warriors
Southeast starts the 2015-16 season with six of its first seven games outside of Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks open with a four-game road trip, visiting Dayton (Nov. 13), Evansville (Nov. 15), Alabama A&M (Nov. 19) and Texas Rio Grande Valley (Nov. 24). Southeast, which has only one home game in November, also heads to regional rival Southern Illinois (Dec. 2) and Memphis (Dec. 5) during that rugged stretch.

About Evansville
Evansville opens its season when it hosts Southeast Sunday. UE was picked second in this year's Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll. accumulating 350 points in the overall voting. The Purple Aces have two preseason All-MVC selections in guard D.J. Balentine and 6'10", 225-pound center Egidijus Mockevicius. Balentine, named to the Lute Olsen Award Preseason Watch List, enters his senior year with a total of 1,750 points. He is the No. 2 scorer in the nation since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, behind only Tyler Haws of BYU. UE returns all five of its starters in 2015-16. The Purple Aces are coached by Marty Simmons. Simmons was the head coach at SIU Edwardsville for five years before taking over the UE helm in 2007-08. He posted an overall record of 88-59 at SIUE.

Up Next
Southeast travels to Alabama A&M on the backend of a home-and-home series Nov. 19. AAMU, which was picked fourth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Preseason Poll, has the SWAC's Preseason Player of the Year in guard Ladarius Tabb.