Murray State (7-8, 4-6 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (6-10, 4-6 OVC)

Game Information
Date: Monday, February 1, 2021
Tip-Off: 6 p.m., CT
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Arena: Show Me Center (7,000)
Series: MSU leads, 60-21
Last Meeting: MSU 96, SEMO 91 (OT) (Jan. 18, 2020 | Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
Head Coaches: Brad Korn (6-10 overall, 6-10 at SEMO; 4-6 OVC). Matt McMahon (117-59o overall; 117-59 at MSU).

Follow the Redhawks
Radio: Real Rock 99.3 FM (Erik Sean)
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: GoSoutheast.com
Twitter: @SEMOMBB
Game Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)

Redhawks Host Rival Murray State 
Southeast Missouri (6-10, 4-6) plays its fourth game in six days when it hosts rival Murray State (7-8, 4-6) Monday. Tip is set for 6 p.m., CT at the Show Me Center.

Follow the Redhawks
Listen live on the radio at Real Rock 99.3 FM with Erik Sean handling the play-by-play. Watch on ESPN+. Live stats are available at GoSoutheast.com. Twitter    updates provided @SEMOMBB.

Series History
Southeast Missouri and Murray State hook up for the 82nd time Monday. MSU leads the all-time series, 60-21, and has won its last six games against the    Redhawks. The Redhawks and Racers have gone to overtime three times in their last seven meetings at the Show Me Center. The three overtime contests were decided by a combined 10 points with MSU going 2-1 in those matchups.  

Longest Homestand
The Redhawks continue their five-game homestand against Murray State Sunday. Southeast Missouri is at the Show Me Center for eight of 10 games through Feb. 22. The five-game stretch is Southeast Missouri's longest Ohio Valley Conference homestand in program history. It also matches the longest homestand in SEMO's NCAA Division I era. The other time the Redhawks played five home games in a row since moving to Division I was in 1997-98 (vs. Central Methodist, vs. Bradley, vs. Oakland City, vs. Tennessee State, vs. Austin Peay). 

Back-to-Back Wins
Southeast Missouri is on a winning streak for the first time this season. SEMO opened its current homestand with a 64-62 win in the final second over SIU Edwardsville (Jan. 28) and a 75-44 drubbing of Eastern Illinois (Jan. 30). A win Monday will give the Redhawks their first three-game conference winning streak since 2017-18.

Largest Victory
The Redhawks put together a dominating complete game 75-44 victory over Eastern Illinois (Jan. 30). Southeast Missouri won a game by double figures for the first time this season. The 31-point victory marked the first time SEMO won an Ohio Valley Conference home game by more than 30 points since 2016-17. SEMO beat Eastern Kentucky, 81-48, on Dec. 31 that year.

.500 January
Southeast Missouri finished January with a .500 record (4-4). SEMO ended the month on a two-game winning streak with victories in three of its last five January matchups. The Redhawks scored 75 or more points for the fourth time when it blew out Eastern Illinois, 75-44, on Jan. 30.  

Makeup Date
Southeast Missouri and Murray State were initially supposed to play on Jan. 14, but that game was rescheduled for Monday. SEMO's basketball activities were paused due to COVID-19 protocols at that time. 

Dominating the Glass
In its latest win over Eastern Illinois (Jan. 30), Southeast Missouri outrebounded the Panthers, 50-25. SEMO's +25 rebounding margin was its largest in an Ohio Valley Conference game since it outrebounded Austin Peay, 50-26 (+24) at home on Jan. 26, 2012.

More on the Win Over Eastern Illinois
The Redhawks 75-44 win was their second-largest in 57 games against Eastern Illinois. Southeast Missouri took control of the game early and never let up. SEMO man-handled the Panthers in points in the paint (32-2), points off turnovers (20-6), second chance points (17-3) and fast break points (12-0).

Last Time vs. Murray State
Southeast Missouri's best performance of the 2019-20 season came against Murray State in a 96-91 overtime loss at the Show Me Center (Jan. 18). SEMO and MSU exchanged leads nine times and there were 10 lead changes in the slugfest. At the end, the Racers pulled away by scoring the first five points in overtime and outscored the Redhawks, 18-13, in the final five minutes. DQ Nicholas led SEMO with 21 points and made 11-of-13 free throws.

About Murray State
Murray State is coming off a one-point 72-71 loss to Ohio Valley Conference leader Belmont. MSU heads to Cape Girardeau with an overall record of 7-8 and 4-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Racers are one spot ahead of the Redhawks in the league standings at seventh. MSU has won three of its last five games and ranks third in the OVC in scoring offense (78.6 ppg) and second in scoring defense (68.1 ppg allowed). The Racers also top the conference in field goal percentage (.510), rebounding offense (38.3 rpg), rebounding margin (+6.9) and assists (17.5 per game). KJ Williams is the Racers top scoring threat and ranks sixth in the OVC with 15.1 points a game.

Taylor Misses First Game
Forward Nolan Taylor missed his first game of the season vs. Eastern Illinois (Jan. 30). Taylor was out with a knee injury. Manny Patterson made his first career Southeast Missouri start in place of Taylor. Patterson scored a season-high 11 points and had four rebounds against the Panthers.

Rebounding Binge
Point guard DQ Nicholas averaged eight rebounds per game in his last three starts. Nicholas, Southeast Missouri's second-leading rebounder with an average of 4.8 per contest, grabbed a total of 24 rebounds in that span.

Last Second Win
Eric Reed, Jr. made two free throws with five tenths of a second left to send Southeast Missouri to a 64-62 win over SIU Edwardsville Thursday. SEMO never led in the game until Reed, Jr. made his big free throws. The Redhawks erased a 13-point deficit en route to their fifth win of the season. SEMO's three wins in January are its most in a month this year.

Big Seven
DQ Nicholas had seven huge points in the second half in Southeast Missouri's latest win over SIU Edwardsville (Jan. 28). Nicholas made the game-tying 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to set things up for Eric Reed, Jr.'s last second free throws. Nicholas also led the Redhawks with seven rebounds. Nicholas is SEMO's fourth-leading scorer with 9.3 points a game.

Six NCAA Division I Wins 
Southeast Missouri picked up its sixth NCAA Division I win this season with its 75-44 victory over Eastern Illinois (Jan. 30). SEMO surpassed its number of wins over NCAA Division I teams a year ago. 

Nice Defense 
For the second time this season, Southeast Missouri forced over 20 turnovers in a game when it smothered SIU Edwardsville into committing 21 on Jan. 28. SEMO forced 14 turnovers in the second half and turned those miscues into 15 points. At one time, the Redhawks forced five turnovers in a span of 3:41.

Redhawks to Play Eastern Kentucky Twice at Home in February
Southeast Missouri will now host Eastern Kentucky twice at the Show Me Center in late February. SEMO faces EKU on Saturday, Feb.  20 (5 p.m.) and Monday, Feb. 22 (6 p.m.) as part of the recent schedule change. The Redhawks initial home date against the Colonels scheduled for Feb. 18 will move to Saturday behind SEMO's women's game vs. Morehead State. The Redhawks original road game at EKU on Jan. 23 that was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols in the Colonels program has been rescheduled for Feb. 22 in Cape Girardeau. 

COVID Protocols
The Redhawks have had six of of their initially scheduled dates (Dec. 12, Jan. 9, Jan. 11, Jan. 14, Jan. 16, Jan. 23) affected by COVID protocols this season. All of those games were rescheduled.

Getting to the Free Throw Line
In its game at Morehead State (Jan. 21), Southeast Missouri shot 18-of-27 free throws, marking the sixth time this season it had 27 or more free throw attempts. In the last eight games alone, SEMO has shot a total of 208 free throws for an average of 26 per contest. In two games against Tennessee State, the Redhawks shot 86 free throws and matched a single-game program record with 40 makes in 51 attempts vs. the Tigers on Jan. 2. SEMO outscored its last six opponents by a combined 139-106 for a +33 margin at the free throw line. 

Akenten Playing Well
Nana Akenten led Southeast Missouri with a double-double 20 points and 11 rebounds at Belmont (Jan. 7). Akenten then topped the Redhawks with 14 points vs. Morehead State (Jan. 16). He made four 3-pointers against the Eagles, marking the third time he drained four in a game this year. Most recently, Akenten led SEMO with 18 points at UT Martin (Jan. 26), 10 points vs. SIU Edwardsville (Jan. 28) and 13 points vs. Eastern Illinois (Jan. 30). He stands second on the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) and leads SEMO with 6.1 rebounds per contest.

Leading at Halftime
The Redhawks have either led or been tied at halftime in 11 of its 16 games this season. Southeast Missouri held a 35-33 edge at the intermission at Ohio Valley Conference leader Belmont (Jan. 7). It was the first time SEMO led at the half in 10 meetings with the Bruins. Five of the the Redhawks six wins have come when they led at the half this year.

Homecourt Success
Four of Southeast Missouri's six wins have come at the Show Me Center this season. The Redhawks beat Lipscomb, 82-77, on Dec. 7, Tennessee State, 83-79, in double overtime on Jan. 2, SIU Edwardsville, 64-62, on Jan. 28 and Eastern Illinois, 75-44, on Jan. 30. The Redhawks are 4-3 overall at home this year. SEMO had six wins at the Show Me Center last season.

Multiple Threes
Eric Reed, Jr. has gone eight of his last 12 games with at least two made threes. Reed, Jr. has made multiple 3-pointers in 10 of his 15 contests this year. He buried a season-high three 3-pointers vs. Southern Illinois (Dec. 2), Lipscomb (Dec. 7) and at Evansville (Dec. 15). Reed, Jr. ranks tied for second on the team with 26 three-pointers in 2020-21.

3-Point Percentage
Southeast Missouri ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference with a .340 3-point field goal percentage. The Redhawks have made 117-of-344 three-pointers through 15 contests. SEMO is averaging 7.3 three-pointers a game. 

Top Scorer
Chris Harris scored double figures for the 12th time in 15 starts this season when he finished with 11 points vs. Eastern Illinois (Jan. 30). Harris, who leads Southeast Missouri and ranks 13th in the Ohio Valley Conference with 13.7 points a game, has scored over 20 points twice this year. He also ranks tied for second on the team with 26 three-pointers made. Harris finished as SEMO's leading scorer six times thus far. 

Board Certified
The Redhawks outrebounded their opponent 10 times this season. Southeast Missouri ranks fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference with a +4.2 rebounding margin and is outrebounding its opponents, 583-515. The Redhawks are also averaging 9.8 offensive rebounds per contest.