Southeast Missouri (4-6) at Missouri State (6-3)

Game Information
Date: Saturday, December 17, 2016
Tip-Off: 5:05 p.m., CT
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Arena: JQH Arena (11,000)
Series History: MSU leads, 91-55
Last Meeting: MSU 79, SEMO 71 (Dec. 7, 2016 / Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
Head Coaches: Rick Ray (46-90 overall; 9-30 at SEMO; 2-14 OVC). Paul Lusk (79-116 overall; 77-93 at MSU).

Media Coverage
Radio: SEMO ESPN 92.9 FM, Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
Video: ESPN3, WatchESPN
Live Stats: MissouriStateBears.com
Twitter Updates: @SEMOMBB
Southeast Missouri Notes

Redhawks Open Las Vegas Classic Play
Southeast Missouri (4-6) begins Las Vegas Classic Play when it visits Missouri State (6-3) Saturday. Tip-off is set for 5:05 p.m., CT, at JQH Arena.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to Saturday's game live on the radio at ESPN 92.9 FM and Real Rock 99.3 FM with Erik Sean calling the action from JQH Arena. Video can be accessed online at ESPN3, WatchESPN. Live stats are available at MissouriStateBears.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOMBB.

Series History
Southeast and Missouri State meet for the 147th time Saturday. The Redhawks and Bears also play for the second time in 10 days. Southeast opens a four-game stretch as part of the Las Vegas Classic in Springfield this weekend. MSU owns a 91-55 advantage in the all-time series which began in 1911. It is the Redhawks second-longest series in program history. Southeast has played only Central Missouri (155 games) more than the Bears.

Pre-Christmas Road Trip
The Redhawks hit the road for a week and will make stops to three cities prior to the Christmas holiday. After Saturday's game in Springfield, Southeast travels to Chicago to face DePaul (Dec. 19). The Redhawks will then fly out of Chicago to Las Vegas, Nevada to face Chicago State (Dec. 22) and Troy or Cornell (Dec. 23) at Orleans Arena.  

Against the Missouri Valley
Missouri State and Southeast meet for the second time in 10 days. The Redhawks are 0-2 against Missouri Valley Conference teams this season after losing, 84-78, at Bradley (Nov. 18) and, 79-71, at home against Missouri State (Dec. 7). Southeast is 107-189 all-time against the MVC. That record includes a 45-70 mark against SIU, 0-1 record vs. Drake, 4-9 record vs. Evansville, 2-8 mark vs. Bradley, 1-8 record vs. Illinois State, 0-2 record vs. Indiana State and a 55-91 mark vs. Missouri State.

Las Vegas Classic
Wyoming, USC, DePaul, Missouri State, Cornell, Troy, Chicago State and Southeast are the eight teams participating in this year's Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. The Redhawks play in the event for second time and make their first appearance since 2008-09. Southeast is 1-3 all-time in the Las Vegas Classic. The Redhawks beat Longwood (81-77) and lost to Kansas State (88-68), Iowa (75-41) and Oakland City (81-63) in their other trip to the Las Vegas Classic.

Three-Game Skid
Southeast is looking to snap a season-long three-game losing streak when it visits Missouri State Saturday. The Redhawks dropped an 83-55 decision at #10 Indiana (Dec. 4) before losing back-to-back home games against Missouri State (79-71, Dec. 7) and Northern Kentucky (80-66, Dec. 10). Southeast is currently 1-3 in December.

20 and Counting
Guard Antonius Cleveland scored double figures in 20-straight games and 27 of his last 28 starts. Cleveland leads the Redhawks with 64 double-digit scoring games and eight double-doubles in his career. He began the 2016-17 campaign with 10 points and scored the Redhawks first eight points of the season at Illinois (Nov. 11). It is the longest double-digit scoring streak of his career.

Halftime Disadvantage
Southeast trailed at halftime in five-straight games and eight of 10 contests this season. The Redhawks scored under 30 points in the first half four times with a season-low 26 at Indiana (Dec. 4) and vs. Missouri State (Dec. 7). Southeast's largest halftime deficit stands at 12 points (39-27 at UMKC; 45-33 vs. Northern Kentucky). The Redhawks are 2-6 in games they trail at the half.

Mahoney On a Roll
True freshman guard Denzel Mahoney scored double figures in five-straight starts. A native of Oviedo, Florida, Mahoney averaged 14.8 points per game during that stretch. He dropped in a season-high 20 points on 8-of-14 field goals (57.1 pct.) at UMKC (Nov. 28). Mahoney followed that up with 12 points vs. Central Arkansas (Dec. 1) and pitched in a team-high 16 points at #10 Indiana (Dec. 4). He had 12 of his points in the second half against the Hoosiers. Most recently, Mahoney scored 14 points vs. Missouri State (Dec. 7) and 12 against Northern Kentucky (Dec. 10). His seven double-digit scoring games this season are second-most by a freshman in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Simmons Produces
Daniel Simmons scored 13 points in 24 minutes off the bench against Northern Kentucky (Dec. 10). Simmons shot 5-of-8 from the field en route to his second double-digit scoring game this season. His 13 points surpassed his point total (12) in his previous four games combined.

Kellum Surpasses 200 Career Rebounds
Forward Trey Kellum, who leads Southeast with 6.7 rebounds per game this season, went over 200 in his career against Missouri State (Dec. 7). Kellum had a team-high eight boards in that game and pulled down his 200th rebound with 15:59 left in the second half. Seven of his rebounds came in the final 20 minutes. Kellum has a total of 209 rebounds in his career.

Highly Active
Antonius Cleveland is second among Ohio Valley Conference active career leaders in points (1,168), rebounds (457) and steals (125). Cleveland also ranks fourth in assists (188) and blocks (56). Trey Kellum and Jamaal Calvin are  among the league's active career leaders, as well. Kellum is 13th in rebounds (209) and Calvin is 10th in assists (143), fifth in steals (74) and tied for seventh in 3-pointers made (90).

Major Improvement
Southeast has seen significant improvement in several areas over the course of its first 10 games this season. Here are the jumps the Redhawks have made in the NCAA national statistics since the end of the 2015-16 campaign.
                                     2015-16    2016-17
Turnover Margin    191st (-0.2)    8th (+5.9)
Turnovers Forced    100th (13.6)    17th (17.5)
Turnovers Per Game    286th (13.9)    44th (11.6)
Assist/Turnover Ratio    282nd (0.9)    71st (1.2)
 - 351 ranked

Pulling Rank
The Redhawks enter the week ranked among the top 20 NCAA Division I programs in turnover margin (8th, +5.9), total steals (12th, 92), turnovers forced (17th, 17.5) and steals per game (15th, 9.2). Individually, Jamaal Calvin is 22nd in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (31/9, 3.4). Calvin leads the Ohio Valley Conference in that category, as well.

OVC Status
As a team, Southeast is among the top five in the Ohio Valley Conference in turnover margin (2nd), fewest turnovers (4th, 116), steals per game (1st, 9.2), total steals (1st, 92), turnovers forced (2nd, 17.5), turnovers per game (1st, 11.6) and assist/turnover ratio (4th, 1.2). Individually, Jamaal Calvin (1st in assist/turnover ratio, 3.4; 6th in steals, 1.9 spg; 15th in assists, 3.1 apg), Antonius Cleveland (9th in field goal percentage, .545; t8th in blocks, 1.0 bpg; 6th in scoring, 16.1 ppg; 14th in minutes played, 31.5 mpg; t14th in steals, 1.3 spg), Trey Kellum (2nd in offensive rebounds, 3.3 rpg; 12th in rebounding, 6.7 rpg), Denzel Mahoney (t15th in free throw percentage, .767) and Milos Vranes (t15th in 3-point field goal percentage, .400) rank among league leaders.

Stealing the Show
The Redhawks lead the Ohio Valley Conference and rank 12th in the nation with 92 steals this season. Southeast is averaging 9.2 per game. Jamaal Calvin (19), Antonius Cleveland (13), Milos Vranes (11) and Trey Kellum (11) have accounted for 58 percent of the team's steals.