The Salukis welcome in Brad Korn and the Redhawks of Southeast Missouri State.
SEMO is 5-5 on the year with their biggest win being the opening night win at Missouri State but they don't have a quality win outside of that and have plenty of bad losses.
The Redhawks are coached by former SIU Center Brad Korn in his 2nd year with the program. SEMO went 11-16 and 9-11 in the OVC in Korn's first year.
Meet the Redhawks:
The Redhawks were picked 4th of 10 in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll behind Belmont, Morehead State, and Murray State. SEMO returns 76.3% of their minutes from last year which is 19th in the country. They're still a very young team though averaging 1.38 years which is 304th in the country and they're not a big team at all with their average height being 75.3", 347th in the country. The Redhawks will feature a different style than SIU has seen most of this season as they're playing at the 46th fastest tempo in the country and have the 28th shortest average possession length on the offensive end (15.7 seconds).
The Redhawks are a tale of two teams, their offense has been great while their defense has been dreadful. SEMO takes care of the ball well as they're 72nd in the country in turnover % on the offensive end (16.9%) and 13th in the country in steal % on the offensive end (6.6%). The Redhawks have been able to get to the free throw line often, they're 50th in the country in free throw attempts per field goal attempts (36.3%) and 20.9% of their total points come from the free throw line (53rd in the country). And when the Redhawks get to the free throw line, they're knocking them down, they're 77th in the country in free throw % (74.7%). In terms of shooting, SEMO is 119th in the country in effective field goal % (51.3%), 141st in the country in 2 point % (50.7%), and 110th in the country in 3 point % (34.9%). On the negative side for offense, SEMO is 326th in the country in offensive rebounding % (21.8%).
On the defensive end, SEMO has allowed players to drive to the rim and get fouled at will. They're 348th in the country in free throw attempts per field goal attempts on the defensive end (44.2%) and 24.9% of their opponents scoring has come from the free throw line this season, 8th in the country. The Redhawks have struggled to get any kind of turnovers on the defensive end as they're 311th in the country in turnover % on the defensive end (16.0%) and 320th in the country in steal % on the defensive end (7.1%). SEMO has been below average at defending the 3, teams are hitting 33.9% of their 3's good for 218th in the country and they haven't been great defending 2's either, 268th in the country at 52.4%.
SEMO's leading scorer this season is 6'2 Junior guard Eric Reed Jr. averaging 16 points per game on 44.7% shooting. Reed Jr. started his collegiate career at JUCO Howard College in Texas before transferring to SEMO last season. In his first season with the Redhawks, Reed Jr. was 2nd on the team in scoring averaging 11 points per game on 47.3% shooting. Reed Jr. leads the Redhawks in shot % and is 165th in the country in turnover % (9.8%).
The Redhawks' leading rebounder is 6'4 Junior Nygal Russell averaging 7.1 rebounds per game. Russell in his 4th year with SEMO and he's shown great improvement this year with a minutes increase. Russell is 12th in the country in defensive rebounding % (29.6%) and is 315th in the country in 2 point % (12-20, 60%). Russell missed SEMO's last game with an illness.
5'10 Freshman Phillip Russell has been a huge piece for the Redhawks this year. Russell initially signed with SEMO out of high school but de-committed and played for Saint Louis last season as a walk-on and played in 8 games off the bench. This season he's getting a bunch of minutes for SEMO and he's their 2nd leading scorer at 13.8 points per game. Russell has been SEMO's leading 3 point threat at 45.5%, 129th in the country. He's also getting to the free throw line at a high clip as he is 181st in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (5.2) and 141st in the country in free throw rate (49.4%).
6'3 Junior Chris Harris is averaging 11.2 points per game this year for the Redhawks and leads the team in assists with 2.9 assists per game. Harris is from Antioch, Illinois and played for the Illinois Wolves as a high schooler. He started his collegiate career at Division 2 Missouri S&T before transferring to John A. Logan in his Sophomore season. Last season, Harris was SEMO's top scorer which led to him being named to the Ohio Valley Conference all-preseason team. This season, Harris has struggled a bit with his shot but he's getting to the free throw line at a high clip. He's 211th in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (5.1) and 185th in the country in free throw rate (46.5%).
Last season:
SIU had their season kick off with COVID problems missing a lot of practices & conditioning before their season opener at SEMO on December 3rd, 2020. Bryan Mullins was unable to coach due to testing positive for COVID and Brendan Mullins stepped in. SIU trailed 65-54 with 6:01 to go but rallied for an 87-79 overtime win behind 24 points from Marcus Domask and 22 points from Ben Harvey. On the SEMO side, Eric Reed Jr. led the Redhawks in scoring with 17 points and Chris Harris had 15 points.
SIU had a 6.1% minimum win probability when they trailed 65-56 with 4:32 left:
Links:
Bryan Mullins Press Conference 12/14
If Brad Korn wins this he will be 3-0 vs the Valley this season? Wow
I predict we'll struggle to win at home against a team we should beat soundly, as usual. 😕
SEMO is just not very good......the win over Missouri State seemed like a good one at the time, but Missouri State has proven that they are no better than the rest of the "middle of the pack" teams in the MVC. If this game follows suit to the season, we will see a post like "I can't believe SEMO is only 5-5, they look great". The reality is that SIU, at home, should beat this team handily but after what I've watched of this season so far, I wouldn't be surprised at any outcome, win or lose, close game or blow out.
SEMO is just not very good......the win over Missouri State seemed like a good one at the time, but Missouri State has proven that they are no better than the rest of the "middle of the pack" teams in the MVC. If this game follows suit to the season, we will see a post like "I can't believe SEMO is only 5-5, they look great". The reality is that SIU, at home, should beat this team handily but after what I've watched of this season so far, I wouldn't be surprised at any outcome, win or lose, close game or blow out.
Think you can chalk up the first game as Missouri State being unprepared and poorly coached. They haven't really played anyone good since that game and they're 4-5 in those games with 2 non D-1 wins. Montana State is decent but the game wasn't as close as the score indicates. Montana State went on a 25-4 run from the end of the 1st to the beginning of the 2nd and were up 49-34 and 59-44 with 7:02 left.
I know Korn is going to have SEMO fired up though and they probably have some confidence after almost beating SIU last year with nearly the same team.
Ben Harvey will be available - has been practicing and working on conditioning this week according to Coach.
Ben Harvey will be available - has been practicing and working on conditioning this week according to Coach.
Full press conference:
Ben Harvey will be available - has been practicing and working on conditioning this week according to Coach.
Glad to hear this from a health standpoint. Hopefully Ben can stay healthy going forward.
As to whether Harvey can carve out a role on this team and help make Southern better, it’s TBD. He fell out of favor in the rotation late last season and competition for playing time is stiffer this season, especially once Brown returns, which also should be pretty soon, from the sound of the press conference today.
We need to absolutely pummel semo from pre-game warmups to handshakes postgame. Its time to start playing complete games in year 3....so tired of the generic excuses. Are we really in the bottom half of all D.1 teams? If we lose this game I propose we exchange entire coaching staffs with semo and let Ginger coach our new Ginger next year. I really thought we were finally recruiting over existing players but to see 2 out of our 3 Frosh redshirting is disappointing...How will they get PT next year if we only lose Ben and Anthony? Do you really think the #2 player in Michigan can't get any run time with this team? As always...Go Dawgs.
I predict we'll struggle to win at home against a team we should beat soundly, as usual. 😕
should beat them like the proverbial red headed stepchild but i share you apprehension. it's time to grow a bit and keep the foot on the gas.
Craving a McBride Special!
I am going to be interested in seeing how Banks is handled as far as playing time. Also if Lance is doing better with recovering his full ability. He still hasn't fully recovered his burst of speed and first step quickness it appears. That might also contribute to some of his fouls. One thing I am going to pay more attention to with the center position is how screens are being set and the movement. If they aren't going to score much then it is really going to be critical that they create opportunities for the rest of the team and also focus on the offensive rebound. We should win this game but I think every game is going to be a new adventure and a challenge. Looking for progress game by game up to the start of the conference season hopefully.
I really thought we were finally recruiting over existing players but to see 2 out of our 3 Frosh redshirting is disappointing...How will they get PT next year if we only lose Ben and Anthony?
This would be a reason for redshirting them though because they're unlikely to get much run next year too and you'd rather have that be their Freshman year than their Sophomore year. I think it applies mainly to Ebube given the amount of frontcourt depth SIU has and the fact that Hornecker is coming in next year. Wonders I think should be getting run this year either way but oh well. Sounds like Harvey and Brown are back soon at least (Harvey tomorrow).
The way SIU has played this season, no guarantee they beat SEMO. Korn has SEMO playing better basketball and The Dawgs, like to play to the level of the competition. If they have long lapses and can't consistently hit shots, it's going to be ugly.
Bryan Mullins pregame with Mike Reis:
