Game Information

Southeast Missouri vs. Missouri-Rolla

Nov. 21, 7:00 p.m., Show Me Center

Southeast Missouri (1-0)
 Probable Starters		    Ppg.	Rpg.
F  23 Drew DeMond, 6-7, So.	    12.0	 8.0
F  15 Emmanuel McCuthison, 6-4, Sr. 17.0	 5.0
C  54 Nyah Jones, 6-11, Sr.	     6.0	 5.0
G  12 Michael Stokes, 6-0, Jr.	     7.0	 2.0
G  03 Amory Sanders, 6-1,  Sr.       8.0	 4.0


Missouri-Rolla (1-0)
F  33 Bob Tebbe, 6-6, Jr.	    18.0        13.0
F  10 Brad Fischer, 6-2, Fr.	    11.0	 2.0
C  44 Brian Westre, 6-8, Fr.	    23.0        16.0
G  40 Ben Wood, 6-5, Sr.	    10.0	 1.0
G  11 Kasim Withers, 6-0, Sr.	    17.0	 4.0

THE TEAMS: Southeast Missouri, defending regular season and post-season champion in the Ohio Valley Conference, is 1-0 after beating Truman State 70-59 in the season opener. The Indians were led by Emmanuel McCuthison with 17 points while Drew DeMond had 12 points and eight rebounds. Missouri-Rolla, a Division II team that plays in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), is 1-0 after a season opening 81-52 win over William Penn. The Miners placed all five starters in double figures and opened the game with a 21-0 run on the way to the victory. Freshman center Brian Westre had 23 points and 16 rebounds for the Miners who were 6-19 last season.

THE COACHES: Gary Garner is 59-29 in his fourth season at Southeast and is 306-191 in his 18th season as a collegiate head coach. Dale Martin is 169-176 in his 14th season at Missouri-Rolla.

THE SERIES: Southeast leads the series 101-32. The teams both played in the MIAA until Southeast moved to Division I in 1991.

SOUTHEAST NOTES

SHORT RETURNS: Senior Antonio Short will return to action in the Missouri-Rolla game. He was suspended for the first three games because of a violation of team rules. Short, a preseason honorable mention All-OVC selection, averaged 8.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game last season.

McCUTHISON RECOVERS: Emmanuel McCuthison missed two days of practice last week after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the final exhibition game, but bounced back to score 17 points and pull down five rebounds in the season opening win over Truman State. He was 7-11 from the field and 3-5 from three-point range.

ILLNESS: Senior Matt Morris has been sidelined by mononucleosis and will be lost from one to four weeks. Junior Terry Rogers also missed the season opener with bronchitis. He is expected to be available for action in the Missouri-Rolla game.

GOOD SHOOTING: The Indians shot 50% from the floor and from three and 90% from the line in the season opener. Southeast was 27-54 from the field, 7-14 from three and 9-10 from the line.

DEMOND RETURNS AND BLOCKS: Junior Drew DeMond had a solid opening game with 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Last season, DeMond had 26 blocked shots in 23 games played.

SAGARIN RATINGS: The preseason Sagarin Rating has Southeast ranked 115th nationally and second in the OVC. The Indians have a rating of 76.26. Some of the early Southeast opponents are highly ranked. Southwest Missouri is ranked 47th, Toledo 71st and Southern Illinois 76th. Auburn, a possible Southeast foe in the Energia Thanksgiving Tournament is ranked 26th.

SOUTHEAST PICKED THIRD IN OVC: Southeast has been picked to finish third in the league race in balloting of league coaches and sports information directors. Austin Peay was picked to win the OVC followed by Murray State, Southeast Missouri, Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech.

STOKES PRESEASON ALL-OVC: Senior point guard Michael Stokes was selected first team preseason all-OVC. Ranked as the 16th best point guard in Division I basketball by the Sporting News, Stokes was third team all-OVC and a member of the OVC all-tournament team last season. Antonio Short was selected as honorable mention preseason all-OVC.

AT THE SHOW ME CENTER: Southeast is 156-45 (.777) since the Show Me Center opened in 1987. Last season, Southeast again led the OVC in attendance with 5,066 fans per game.

KANSAS CITY TOURNEY IS NEXT: Southeast will play in the talent laden Energia Systems Thanksgiving Tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving. The opening game will be at 12 Noon on Friday when Southeast goes against Toledo of the Mid-American Conference. It will be the opening game of the season for Toledo.