Slumping E. Illinois will visit Redhawks

Southeast Missouri State's Derek Thompson drives to the basket during Tuesday's victory against SIU-Edwardsville at the Show Me Center. (TIM BRUMITT) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The Eastern Illinois men's basketball team was rolling the last time Southeast Missouri State got a look at the Panthers.

EIU is anything but rolling now entering Saturday's 7:45 p.m. matchup at the Show Me Center.

The Redhawks hope to keep the Panthers reeling and also enhance their bid to make the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

"It's time for some paybacks," junior forward Eric McCrary said.

The Redhawks play five of their final seven OVC games at home, including several against squads that thumped them on the road.

Count EIU among that group. The Panthers routed Southeast 88-68 on Jan. 9 in Charleston, Ill. -- in a contest televised nationally by ESPNU, no less.

"They got us on national television," junior guard Anthony Allison said. "It's time to do it again."

Since that impressive EIU performance, the Panthers (11-11, 5-7) have lost six of seven games as they have dipped into seventh place in the 10-team OVC.

Southeast (7-15, 3-8) is in eighth place, which is important because the top eight finishers make the conference tournament.

But Southeast would like to move up in the standings as much as possible and a win over EIU would pull the Redhawks within a half-game of the Panthers. The squads then would be even on the loss side.

The Redhawks look forward to making a late push with a favorable home schedule.

"We've had a tough road schedule," Allison said. "It feels good to play in front of our fans."

Southeast has won just two of its past eight contests, but snapped a three-game losing streak with Tuesday's 68-49 home rout of future OVC member Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Although the Redhawks won comfortably, they led by only six points at halftime and Southeast coach Dickey Nutt was not all that thrilled with their performance. He knows they'll have to play much better Saturday.

"It's a big game for us. We feel it's a winnable game," Nutt said. "We'll have to play with a lot of energy, a lot more than we had [Tuesday]."

The Jan. 9 contest at EIU was the last game junior forward Cameron Butler took part in.

Butler, who has a foot injury, is Southeast's top scorer in OVC play and No. 2 rebounder overall. He capped a string of four straight double-figure scoring performances with 17 points against the Panthers.

But Butler suffered the injury the following day in practice and has missed the past seven games.

Nutt said Butler, who has returned to practice on a limited basis, is getting closer to returning but remains questionable for Saturday.

"If I had to predict, I'd say no. We're shooting for next week, Nutt said. "It's a shame because Cameron was really playing well. But I think we're getting better and better adjusting to playing without him."

EIU is led by junior guard Tyler Laser, among the OVC's top 10 scorers with a 14.3 average. He had a game-high 20 points in the earlier win over Southeast.

"They beat us pretty handily, and I'm sure they think they can come in here and win," Nutt said. "But we certainly feel like we can [finish strong in the OVC]. I think our team believes that."