Southeast Missouri (4-4) vs. Missouri State (4-2)

Game Information
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Tip-Off: 6:34 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Arena: Show Me Center (7,000)
Series History: Missouri State leads, 90-55
Last Meeting: SEMO 78, MSU 74 (Dec. 22, 2015 / Springfield, Mo.)
Head Coaches: Rick Ray (46-88 overall; 9-28 at SEMO; 2-14 OVC). Paul Lusk (77-115 overall; 75-92 at MSU).

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

Redhawks Open Homestand
Southeast Missouri (4-4) opens a two-game homestand against in-state rival Missouri State (4-2) Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center.

Follow the Redhawks
Fans can listen to Wednesday's game live on the radio at ESPN 92.9 FM and Real Rock 99.3 FM with Erik Sean and Jess Bolen calling the action from the Show Me Center. Video can be accessed online at the OVC Digital Network. Live stats are available at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter updates provided @SEMOMBB.

Series History
Southeast and Missouri State meet for the 146th time Wednesday. The Redhawks and Bears play twice this season. Southeast returns the trip to Springfield as part of the Las Vegas Classic on Dec. 17. MSU owns a 90-55 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. MSU lost in three of its last four trips to Cape Girardeau. The Redhawks and Bears dueled to a 5-5 record in their last 10 matchups.

Last Time Against the Bears
The Redhawks ended an 11-game losing streak and gave Rick Ray his first win as their head coach when they beat Missouri State, 78-74, in Springfield on Dec. 22, 2015. Southeast created lots of problems for MSU, which turned the ball over 16 times and shot only 21.4 percent (6-of-28) from 3-point range. Jamaal Calvin, after missing four games with a hamstring injury, missed three free throws before sinking a pair to give the Redhawks a four-point cushion with 30 seconds remaining. Antonius Cleveland had a double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds, and made a free throw with five seconds left to ice the win. All five starters reached double figures in the scoring column against the Bears.

Against the MVC
Missouri State is the second Missouri Valley Conference opponent on the Redhawks schedule this season. Southeast dropped an 84-78 decision on the road at Bradley (Nov. 18). The Redhawks are 107-188 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 55-90 mark vs. Missouri State.

We Meet Again
Southeast head coach Rick Ray (2006-10) and Missouri State head coach Paul Lusk (2004-11) were assistant coaches on Matt Painter's staff  at Purdue. The Boilermakers were a combined 103-37 (.736) with four NCAA Tournament appearances when Ray and Lusk worked together as assistants at Purdue.

Highly Active
Antonius Cleveland is second among Ohio
Valley Conference active career leaders in points (1,132), rebounds (447) and steals (121). Cleveland also ranks third in assists (186) and blocks (55). Trey Kellum and Jamaal Calvin are among the league's active career leaders, as well. Kellum is 13th in rebounds (198) and Calvin is 10th in assists (139), fifth in steals (70) and tied for seventh in 3-pointers made (89).

Major Improvement
Southeast has seen significant improvement in several areas over the course of its first eight 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 (+5.9)
Turnovers Forced    100th (13.6)    18th (17.6)
Turnovers Per Game    286th (13.9)    62nd (11.7)
Free Throw Percentage    331st (.641)    70th (.744)
Assist/Turnover Ratio    282nd (0.9)    76th (1.2)
 - 351 ranked

Pulling Rank
The Redhawks enter the week ranked among the top 20 NCAA Division I programs in turnover margin (12th, +5.9), turnovers forced (18th, 17.6), total steals (19th, 72) and steals per game (20th, 9.0). Individually, Jamaal Calvin is ninth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (27/6, 4.5) and Trey Kellum is 29th in offensive rebounds per game (3.5). Calvin and Kellum lead the Ohio Valley Conference in those categories, as well.

OVC Status
As a team, Southeast is among the top five in the Ohio Valley Conference in turnover margin (2nd), free throw percentage (3rd, .744), rebounding defense (4th, 34.2 rpg), scoring defense (5th, 74.2 ppg allowed) and assist/turnover ratio (117/96, 1.2). Tahj Eaddy (1st in 3-Point FG percentage, .600), Jamaal Calvin (1st in assist/turnover ratio, 4.5; 6th in steals, 1.9 spg), Antonius Cleveland (7th in blocks, 1.1 bpg; 9th in scoring, 15.6 ppg), Trey Kellum (1st in offensive rebounds, 3.5 rpg; 9th in free throw percentage, .793) and Denzel Mahoney (t10th in free throw percentage, .786) rank among league leaders.

Big Week Mahoney
True freshman guard Denzel Mahoney scored double figures in three-straight starts for Southeast last week. A native of Oviedo, Florida, Mahoney averaged 16 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest over that stretch. He opened the week with 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 rounded out the week with a team-high 16 points at #10 Indiana (Dec. 4). He had 12 of his points in the second half against the Hoosiers.

Freshman Charge
Denzel Mahoney currently ranks second among Ohio Valley Conference freshmen in scoring with 11.3 points per game this season. Mahoney ranks behind Eastern Kentucky's Asante Gist (12.8 ppg).

200 in Sight
Trey Kellum, who leads Southeast with seven rebounds a game this season, needs two more to reach 200 in his career. Kellum has 198 rebounds with 80 on the offensive end during his two-year stint with the Redhawks. He has a total of 10 games with eight or more rebounds in his career.

Scoring Rise
Southeast is averaging 75 points a game through eight contests this season, a +8 improvement from where it finished last season (67 ppg). The Redhawks scored 83 or more points in three of their four wins this year. Southeast put up 80 or more points just four times in 2015-16.

Ahead of the Curve
The Redhawks, who won just five games in 2015-16, are one away from matching that win total. Southeast picked up its fourth victory with an 87-63 victory over Central Arkansas (Dec. 1). The Redhawks didn't get four wins until nearly halfway through their Ohio Valley Conference season a year ago (68-60, vs. UT Martin on Jan. 24, 2016).

Board Certified
Southeast, which outrebounded its opponent 10 times in 29 games last season, is nearly halfway to that mark. The Redhawks won the battle of the boards in four of their last six contests and are averaging 32.6 rebounds per game, just 3.7 rebounds from where they finished in 2015-16 (35.3 rpg).

Turnover Free
Point guard Jamaal Calvin went his fifth game in eight starts without turning the ball over. Calvin leads the Ohio Valley Conference and ranks ninth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio. He has 27 assists and only six turnovers. Calvin has not turned the ball over in a span of 44 minutes over his last two starts.

Dalton Returns
After missing a game and a half due to a concussion, Jonathan Dalton made his return at #10 Indiana (Dec. 4). Dalton played seven minutes off the bench.

Climbing the Ranks
Antonius Cleveland ranks among Southeast's all-time career leaders in scoring (15th, 1,132), free throws attempted (6th, 410), steals (t5th, 121) and games started (t5th, 84). Cleveland needs 105 more points to crack the Redhawks top-10 all-time scoring list.

Bombs Away
Southeast attempted 87 three-pointers in its last three games. The Redhawks shot 8-of-28 at UMKC (11/28), 14-of-34 vs. Central Arkansas (12/1) and 5-of-25 at #10 Indiana (Dec. 4). Southeast is shooting 21.8 threes per game, 4.2 more than it attempted from beyond the arc last season (17.6).

Stealing the Show
The Redhawks leads the Ohio Valley
Conference with 72 steals this season. Southeast is averaging nine per game. Jamaal Calvin (15), Antonius Cleveland (9), Milos Vranes (10) and Trey Kellum (9) have accounted for 59.7
percent of the team's steals.

Undefeated at Home
Southeast holds a 3-0 record at home this season as one of six Ohio Valley Conference teams without a loss on their homecourt. The Redhawks are undefeated at home to start a season for the first time since 2014-15 when they won their first four contests in Cape Girardeau.

Balanced Scoring
The Redhawks had multiple double-digit scorers in all eight games this season. Most recently, Denzel Mahoney scored 16 points and Antonius Cleveland had 13 at #10 Indiana (Dec. 4).