Jan. 18, 2006

Southeast Missouri State At Tennessee State

Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006, 7:30 p.m.

Gentry Complex, Nashville, Tenn.

Southeast Missouri State At Tennessee Tech

Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006, 7:30 p.m.

Eblen Center, Cookeville, Tenn.

The Teams: Southeast Missouri is 6-9 overall and 3-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Redhawks have wins over Truman State, South Dakota State, Tennessee State, Central Methodist, Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Illinois and losses to IPFW, Nebraska, Tennessee-Martin, Tennessee Tech, Samford, Jacksonville State, nationally ranked Illinois, Murray State and Austin Peay.

Tennessee State is 4-9 overall and 3-4 in the OVC. The Tigers have lost two straight. They are 3-1, 2-0 in the OVC, at the Gentry Complex.

Tennessee Tech is 12-5 overall and 7-2 in the OVC. The Golden Eagles, who are tied for first in the OVC, host Eastern Illinois on Thursday night.

The Coaches: Gary Garner has an overall record of 372-286 in his 23rd year as a collegiate head coach with a record of 125-121 in his ninth season at Southeast.

Cy Alexander is 25-47 in his third season at Tennessee State. He is 295-228 in his 19th season as a collegiate head coach.

Steve Payne is 12-5 in his first season as acting head coach at Tennessee Tech.

The Series: Southeast leads the Tennessee State series 15-14. Tennessee Tech leads the Redhawks 19-11.

Earlier Games: Southeast edged Tennessee State 70-69 on Dec. 8 at the Show Me Center and the Redhawks lost to Tennessee Tech 79-65 at the Show Me Center on Dec. 10.

REDHAWKS NOTES

Booker Leads OVC Scorers: Senior Roy Booker leads the Redhawks in scoring with 21.5 points per game, tops in the OVC. He had a career high 33 points in Saturday night's loss to Austin Peay. Booker was last week's OVC Newcomer of the Week after averaging over 20 points per game in three conference games last week. He was also honored as the OVC Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 2 after averaging 24.5 points per game over the prior three games.

Booker ranks fourth in the OVC in 3-point field goals per game with 2.57, ranks sixth in 3-point field goal percentage at .357 and ranks fifth in free throw percentage at .822.

The Montana transfer had 27 points in the win over Tennessee State He had 26 points at Illinois and at Eastern Illinois.

Booker was named the OVC Player of the Week after scoring 60 points in three games the week of 11-21. He had is first career double-double at Nebraska with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

In the first game of career at Southeast Missouri State, Booker came up with the game winner when he hit a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining to give the Redhawks a 59-56 win over Truman State.

Booker Graduates: Roy Booker became a Southeast graduate on Dec. 17 when he graduated with a bachelor's degree in University Studies. He will continue to play while taking graduate courses.

Willoughby Hot and Cold: Junior Terrick Willoughby has had a roller coaster season. After three straight hot shooting games, Willoughby was 0-7 vs. Austin Peay. He was 4-9 from the field and 3-6 from three in the OVC win over Eastern Kentucky, was 6-9 from the field and 3-4 from three in the win at Eastern Illinois and was 5-8 from the field and 1-3 from three at Murray State.

In the three games prior to Austin Peay, Willoughby was 15-26 (.577) from the field and 7-13 (.538) from three.

Willoughby ranks seventh in 3-pointers per game with 2.0. Willoughby averages 10.5 points per game.

Thornton Leads Rebounders: Junior college transfer Andrais Thornton leads the Redhawks in rebounding with 7.1 rebounds per game, fifth best in the OVC. He is third the OVC in offensive rebounding with 2.79 per game.

Paradoski Assists: Sophomore point guard Paul Paradoski leads the team in assists with 4.08 which ranks him seventh in the OVC. He is fifth in the league in assist/turnover ratio with 1.90. He led the OVC in assist/turnover ratio last season.

Paradoski is averaging 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. He ranks 10th in the OVC in defensive rebounds with 3.67 per game.

Hitting The Boards: Southeast Missouri ranks second in the OVC in rebounding margin with a plus 2.6. Andrais Thornton leads the way for the Redhawks with 7.1 caroms per game while Ketshner Guerrier averages 4.7 per game and Waylon Francis 4.4.

OVC Team Stats: The Redhawks rank third in the OVC in scoring defense, allowing 68.8 points per game. They are also third in free throw percentage with .721 and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage with .363. Southeast is 10th in overall field goal percentage with .411.

Two Transfers Will Sit Out: Two transfers will sit out the 2005-2006 season under NCAA transfer rules. The transfers are 6-9 Michael Rembert from Bradley and 6-6 Brandon Foust from Oklahoma.

Two Early Signings: Southeast signed two players during the early signing period. JaJuan Maxwell, 6-6, 205, is from Raytown High School in Raytown, Mo. He averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds per game as a junior and was all-conference and all-metro in the Kansas City area.

Roderick Pearson, 6-2, 175, is from Raytown South High School in Raytown. He averaged 12 points, six assists and three steals per game as a junior and was recently voted the MVP of the prestigious William Jewell High School Tournament in Liberty, Mo.

Southeast On Radio: All Southeast games will be broadcast on the Southeast Sports Network anchored by K-103 Radio in Cape Girardeau. Erik Sean will be in his fifth season as play-by-play announcer with Todd Bonacki adding commentary for home games while Sports Information Director Ron Hines will do color on the road broadcasts.

All the games can be heard worldwide on the internet at www.k103fm.com.

Television: The Redhawks vs. Murray State game at the Show Me Center on Jan. 28, 3 p.m., will be televised live by ESPN 2. Bucky Waters and Jerry Punch will be the announcers. Southeast had two appearances on ESPNU, the Illinois game on Dec. 28 and the Eastern Kentucky game on Jan. 2.

Gary Garner TV Show: Southeast Basketball with Gary Garner is seen each Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on UPN-The Beat. Todd Richards, sports director of UPN and KFVS-TV, is host for the 30-minute show.

SID Streak: Southeast sports information director has worked 742 consecutive games, the longest streak in NCAA Division I. Hines hasn't missed a game since 1980.

Next For The Redhawks: Following the games at Tennessee State on Thursday, Jan. 19 and at Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Jan. 21, the Redhawks return to the Show Me Center on Thursday, Jan. 26 vs. Morehead State.