Southeast Missouri (4-8) vs Chicago State (3-9)

Game Information
Date: Thursday, December 22, 2016
Tip-Off: 2 p.m., CT
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Arena: Orleans Arena (9,500)
Series History: Tied, 1-1
Last Meeting: SEMO 125, Chicago State 95 (Dec. 9, 1993 / Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
Head Coaches: Rick Ray (46-92 overall; 9-32 at SEMO; 2-14 OVC). Tracy Dildy (33-127 overall; 33-127 at CSU).

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

Las Vegas Bound
Southeast Missouri (4-8) travels to Las Vegas, Nevada to face Chicago State (3-9) Thursday. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m., CT, at Orleans Arena.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to Thursday's game live on the radio at ESPN 92.9 FM and Real Rock 99.3 FM with Erik Sean calling the action from Orleans Arena. Live stats are available at StatBroadcast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOMBB.

Series History
Southeast and Chicago State meet for the third time. The overall series stands tied at 1-1. The Redhawks and Cougars last faced each each in 1993-94. Southeast won that game, 125-95, in Cape Girardeau on Dec. 9. That year was the Redhawks third season as an NCAA Division I program.

Pre-Christmas Road Trip
The Redhawks have been on the road since Friday, Dec. 16. Southeast visited Missouri State (Dec. 17) before making a seven-and-a-half our bus trip to face DePaul (Dec. 19). Southeast flew from Chicago to Las Vegas, Nevada Tuesday and will take on Chicago State (Dec. 22) and Troy/Cornell (Dec. 23) at Orleans Arena.

Tough Break
Southeast lost its last two games by a combined eight points. The Redhawks trailed by 20 points before using a late 12-0 run to cut Missouri State's lead to two in a 71-66 loss on Dec. 17. Two days later, the Redhawks erased a 15-point first half deficit and led by 14 in the second half before dropping an 81-78 heartbreaker at DePaul.

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 1-5 all-time in the Las Vegas Classic. The Redhawks beat Longwood (81-77) and lost to Kansas State (88-68), Iowa (75-41), Oakland City (81-63), Missouri State (71-66) and DePaul (81-78).

Five-Game Skid
Southeast is looking to snap a season-long five-game losing streak when it squares off against Chicago State Thursday. The Redhawks dropped an 83-55 decision at #10 Indiana (Dec. 4) before losing home games to Missouri State (79-71, Dec. 7) and Northern Kentucky (80-66, Dec. 10) and a pair of road matchups at Missouri State (71-66, Dec. 17) and DePaul (Dec. 19). Southeast has lost six of its last seven and is currently 1-5 in December.

Kellum Out
Forward Trey Kellum missed Southeast's last two games. Kellum did not play due to a knee injury he sustained during practice on Dec. 14. He is currently Southeast's top rebounder (6.7 rpg) and second-leading scorer (12.5 ppg) this year. Kellum will be out for Thursday's contest.

Strong Shooting
The Redhawks shot a season-high 50.9 percent and made 13 three-pointers in their close loss at DePaul (Dec. 19). Southeast, after trailing 23-8 with 9:18 left to play in the first half, made a furious recovery. The Redhawks heated up to bury eight of their final 10 threes of the opening stanza following a 1-of-6 start from beyond the arc. Southeast carried its momentum in to the second half, where it hit 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from the field.

Cleveland and Calvin Score Career-Highs
Guards Antonius Cleveland and Jamaal Calvin reached new career-highs in the scoring column at DePaul (Dec. 19). Cleveland scored 28 points on 12-of-17 field goals and Calvin followed with 20 points on 6-of-8. Calvin made six-straight 3-pointers against the Blue Demons. It was the first time Southeast had two 20-point scorers in a game this season.
 
100th Career Game
Monday's matchup at DePaul marked the 100th career game for Southeast guard Antonius Cleveland. A three-year starter, Cleveland has accumulated 100 games and 88 starts. He ranks fifth all-time in career starts at Southeast. Cleveland has started 22-consecutive games dating back to last season.

Another Milestone Ahead
Antonius Cleveland is coming up on 200 career assists. Cleveland needs just six more to reach that mark. He ranks third on the team with 25 assists this season.

Closing In
Jamaal Calvin is closing in on 100 career three-pointers made. Calvin leads the Redhawks with 18 threes this season and has a total of 96 in his career. He made a career-high six treys during his last start at DePaul (Dec. 19).

22 and Counting
Guard Antonius Cleveland scored double figures in 22-straight games and 29 of his last 30 starts. Cleveland leads the Redhawks with 66 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.

First in the OVC
Southeast leads the Ohio Valley Conference in total steals (110) and steals per game (9.2). The Redhawks forced 20 or more turnovers in two of their last three games. Southeast was eighth in the league in turnover margin a year ago.

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)    12th (+5.5)
Turnovers Forced    100th (13.6)    14th (17.5)
Turnovers Per Game    286th (13.9)    58th (12.0)
Assist/Turnover Ratio    282nd (0.9)    78th (1.2)
 - 351 ranked

Pulling Rank
The Redhawks rank among the top 20 NCAA Division I programs in turnover margin (12th, +5.5), total steals (10th, 110), turnovers forced (14th, 17.5) and steals per game (16th, 9.2). Individually, Jaylen Benton is 12th in assist/turnover ratio (34/9, 3.78) and Jamaal Calvin is 15th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (37/10, 3.7) and 25th in total steals (25). Meanwhile, Antonius Cleveland ranks 21st in total field goals made (82).

OVC Status
As a team, Southeast is among the top five in the Ohio Valley Conference in turnover margin (2nd, +5.5), fewest turnovers (1st, 12.0), steals per game (1st, 9.2), total steals (1st, 110), turnovers forced (2nd, 17.5), assist/turnover ratio (4th, 1.2), free throw percentage (3rd, .713), defensive rebounding percentage (2nd, 73.1 pct.) and rebounding defense (4th, 35.0). Individually, Jamaal Calvin (2nd in assist/turnover ratio, 3.7; 4th in steals, 2.1 spg; 15th in assists, 3.2 apg; t15th in 3-Point FG Pct., .391), Antonius Cleveland (6th in field goal percentage, .562; t7th in blocks, 1.0 bpg; 5th in scoring, 17.7 ppg; t9th in minutes played, 32.5 mpg; 12th in steals, 1.3 spg; t14th in defensive rebounds, 4.1), Trey Kellum (1st in offensive rebounds, 3.3 rpg; 12th in rebounding, 6.7 rpg; 18th in scoring, 12.5 ppg; 12th in field goal percentage, .511; 11th in free throw percentage, .775), Denzel Mahoney (8th in free throw percentage, .811; 24th in scoring, 11.8 ppg) and Jaylen Benton (1st in assist/turnover ratio, 3.8) are among league leaders.