Game Information

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002
Southeast Missouri at Tennessee Tech
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
Eblen Center, Cookeville, Tenn., 7:30 p.m.

Probable Starters

Southeast Missouri (6-21,  4-12 OVC)
				Ppg	Rpg
F  20  Tim Scheer, 6-7, Jr.	13.5	4.9
F  24  Damarcus Hence, 6-6, So.	 6.3   	1.7
C  30  Monte Gordon, 6-5, Sr.	 7.3   	2.6
G  33  Derek Winans, 6-2, Fr.	14.9	4.7
G  03  Brett Hale, 6-3, Fr.	 9.0	3.0

Off the Bench
   11  Demetrius King, 6-4, Jr.	 7.0	2.8
   12  Kenny Johnson, 5-9, Jr.	 6.2	2.3
   14  Kevin Roberts, 6-3, Fr.	 1.8	0.9
   22  Adam Crader, 6-11, Fr.	 1.3	1.0
   23  Drew DeMond, 6-7, Jr.	10.4	5.5
   44  Daniel Weaver, 6-8, Jr.	 3.1	2.3

Tennessee Tech (22-5, 15-1 OVC)
F  20  Joey Westmoreland, 6-8, Sr.    7.3	5.7
F  35  DeAntoine Basley, 6-6, Sr.     6.3	3.2
C  33  Damien Kinloch, 6-8, Jr.       16.8	8.4
G  10  Brent Jolly, 6-5, Jr.          10.6	2.1
G  23  Cameron Crisp, 6-2, So. 	      11.4	3.0

The OVC Tournament: The top eight teams vie for the tournament title beginning with games at the sites of the top four seeds on Tuesday. The semi-finals and finals will be played on Friday and Saturday in Louisville, Ky.

Tuesday Quarterfinals #8 SE Missouri @ #1 Tennessee Tech, 7:30 p.m. #5 Tenn.-Martin @ #4 Austin Peay, 7:30 p.m. #7 Eastern Illinois @ # 2 Morehead St., 6:30 p.m #6 Tennessee State @ #3 Murray State, 7 p.m.

The Teams: Southeast Missouri has won three of its last five games to stand 6-21 overall. The Indians finished eighth in the OVC with a conference record of 4-12. Tennessee Tech was the regular season OVC champion for the second straight year. The Golden Eagles are 22-5 overall and 15-1 in the OVC. They have won five in a row, 17 of their last 18 and are a perfect 13-0 at home this season.

The Series: Tennessee Tech leads the series 12-10 including two wins this season.

Earlier Games: Tennessee Tech overcame a halftime deficit to defeat Southeast 75-62 at the Show Me Center on Jan. 24. The Golden Eagles beat the Indians 82-67 on Feb. 2 at Cookeville.

The Coaches: Gary Garner is 82-62 in his fifth season at Southeast and is 329-225 in his 19th year as a collegiate head coach. Garner is 5-3 in OVC tournament games. Known for having teams ready at tournament time, Garner has taken teams to the finals of conference tournaments in six of the last eight years and has won five of those title contests. Jeff Lebo is 70-41 in his fourth season at Tech. He is 1-3 in OVC tournament games.

**Southeast Basketball Notes**

OVC Tournament: Southeast is 5-4 in OVC Tournament games. The Indians won the tourney in 2000 and finished second in 1999. Last season, Southeast lost a first round tournament road game at Austin Peay, 72-70 in overtime.

Good Shooting Is A Key: Although the Indians did not shoot well in a lopsided loss at Austin Peay on Saturday night, they had been shooting very well. In the prior four games, the Indians shot .554 from the field, .509 from three and .767 from the line.

Southeast 13th Nationally in FT%: The Indians are shooting .764 from the free throw line to rank 13th nationally in the latest NCAA Division I rankings. The Indians are second in the OVC behind Morehead State, the number one free throw shooting team in the nation.

Indians 2nd in OVC 3-Point %: A steady improvement has moved Southeast into second place in OVC 3-point field goal percentage. The Indians are 176-494 for .356. Southeast ranks fourth in field goal percentage with .450.

Winans Leads The Way: Derek Winans, who had a career high 32 points in last Tuesday night's win over Eastern Illinois, has been selected as the OVC Rookie of the Week five times this season Winans is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game over the last five games and is now the Indians' rebounding leader in OVC games with an average of 5.5 per game. He had a career high 12 rebounds at Eastern Kentucky. Winans leads the Indians in scoring (14.9 ppg), 3-pointers (52), steals (39), assists (76), minutes played (34.7) and is third in free throw percentage (.800) and rebounding (4.7 pg). With 388 points scored, he is on course to become the top freshman scorer at Southeast since William "Bud" Eley scored 465 points during the 1995-96 season. In OVC statistics, Winans is ranked in nine different statistical categories. Winans is 8th in scoring 8th in free throw percentage, 20th in rebounding, 8th in assists, 9th in steals, 9th in 3-point field goal percentage, 8th in 3-point field goals made, 9th in defensive rebounds, and 7th in assist/turnover ratio. Winans was also OVC Rookie of the Week on Nov. 26, Dec. 3, Jan. 14 and Jan. 21.

Scheer Is Consistent: Junior Tim Scheer has scored in double figures in 19 of 27 games this season. He is second on the team in scoring, rebounding and 3-point percentage. Scheer averages 13.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game with 36-99 for .364 from three. His .843 from the line is fourth best in the OVC. Scheer, who had double-doubles against Western Illinois and Lincoln, had a career high 23 points against North Alabama and Tennessee State.

Hale Starts At Point: Freshman guard Brett Hale will return to the starting lineup after battling a leg injury that forced him to miss the Eastern Illinois game. He played but did not start Saturday night at Austin Peay. Hale had been lighting it up from the field. In his last seven games, Hale is 34-70 from the field for .485 and is 15-32 from three for .469. He is also 6-7 (.857) from the line. His hot shooting has raised his seasonal percentages to .432 from the field, .364 from three and .907 from the line. He averages 9.0 points per game. Hale has hit 39-43 free throws for a team leading .907 from the line. He is short of qualifying for the OVC rankings in free throws (2.0 made per game minimum). Hale was selected as OVC Rookie of the Week on 12-10, 2-4 and 2-11.

DeMond Is Back: Junior center Drew DeMond, who missed three games including the second game with Tennessee Tech with a knee and ankle sprain suffered in the first Tech game, has bounced back with big games off the bench. Since returning from the injury, DeMond is 23-38 (.605) from the field and 17-23 (.739) from the line. For the season, DeMond averages 10.4 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. DeMond is second on the active OVC career 0list in blocked shots with 112. He had 26 blocks as a freshman, 48 as a sophomore and 38 this season. He had a season-high five blocks vs. Vanderbilt. DeMond is 4th in OVC blocks with 1.6 per game.

Johnson Assists: Kenny Johnson, who became eligible at the end of the first semester, is second on the team in assists with 72 in 19 games played for an average of 3.8 per game. Johnson, who averages 6.2 points per game, had a career high eight assists vs. Lincoln.

Hence Back In Starting Lineup: Sophomore Damarcus Hence, who averaged 15 points per game in the two prior games with Tech, has started 15 of 26 games played. He averages 6.3 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

Roberts Contributes: Walk-on freshman point guard Kevin Roberts, who got his first start against Eastern Illinois, has averaged 4.5 points and 5.0 assists per game over the last four games. He is 3-6 (.500) from the field, 1-1 from three and 11-12 (.917) from the line in the last four games.

King Adds Spark Off The Bench: Demetrius King has been instant offense off the bench. Over the last five games, King has averaged 10.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. In those games he shot 20-28 (.714) from the field, 6-10 (.600) from three and 8-14 (.571) from the line.

Gordon Solid In The Middle: Senior Monte Gordon, who was academically ineligible the first semester, has played in all but one game since becoming eligible and has started the last seven games. Since becoming a starter, Gordon is shooting 18-31 (.580) from the field and 17-21 (.809) from the line while averaging 7.9 points per game. For the season, Gordon averages 7.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game and is shooting .603 from the field.

Perfect Grades: Winans and Hale both had perfect 4.0 grade point averages for the fall semester. Winans also has a 4.0 cumulative grade point average for his three semesters at Southeast. Men's basketball had a 2.912 GPA in the fall and has a cumulative 2.743.

OVC Honors: 11-26 - Derek Winans, Rookie of the Week 12-3 - Derek Winans, Rookie of the Week 12-10 -- Brett Hale, Rookie of the Week 1-14 - Derek Winans, Rookie of the Week 1-21 - Derek Winans, Rookie of the Week 2-4 - Brett Hale, Rookie of the Week 2-11 - Brett Hale, Rookie of the Week 2-18 - Derek Winans, Rookie of the Week

At The Show Me Center: Southeast is 170-59 (.742) in games played at the Show Me Center which opened in 1987. Southeast, which has led the OVC in attendance for nine of 10 years in the league, again leads the OVC in attendance with an average of 4,123 per game.

Winning Tradition: Only 42 of the nation's 311 Division I basketball teams won more games over the last three seasons than Southeast Missouri. The Indians had 63 wins over the last three years.

It Doesn't Happen Often: The last time Southeast lost 21 games in a season was the 1975-76 team that finished 5-21. This is the first time a Gary Garner coached team has lost 20 games. His 1983-84 Drake team finished 8-20. The 21 losses ties the school record for losses in a season.

SID Streak: Ron Hines, Southeast sports information director has worked 631 consecutive basketball games at Southeast, the longest streak in Division I basketball. He has not missed a game since 1980.

Next Game: A win in the first round game would send Southeast to Louisville for the tournament semi-finals on Friday at 5 p.m. (CST) against the winner of the Austin Peay vs. Tennessee-Martin game. A loss ends the season.

Final OVC Regular Season Standings (Through Games of Feb. 23)

Tennessee Tech	  	15-1  	22-5
Morehead State		11-5	17-10
Murray State		10-6	16-12
Austin Peay		 8-8	13-17
Eastern Illinois	 7-9	15-15
Tennessee State		 7-9	11-16
Tennessee-Martin	 7-9  	15-13
Southeast Missouri	 4-12	 6-21
Eastern Kentucky	 3-13 	 7-20