Ole Miss will be first SEC school to visit Show Me Center

Southeast Missouri State men's basketball coach Rick Ray understands from personal experience the rarity of a Southeastern Conference team traveling to play a road game against an Ohio Valley Conference foe.

But that's exactly what's happening when the Ole Miss Rebels come to the Show Me Center on Saturday afternoon to face the Redhawks, who are in search of both their first win this season and first under Ray. Tip-off for the game, which will be televised on the American Sports Network, is set for 2 p.m. It is the first time an SEC school has played on Southeast's home court.

"Well, I know that if I was still the head coach at Mississippi State, when I was scheduling there I would never schedule an OVC team on the road like that," Ray said with a laugh. "So it's quite an accomplishment to get a team from the SEC to come in to the Show Me Center."

Ray, who spent the previous three seasons at Mississippi State in the SEC, has plenty of experience against coach Andy Kennedy's Rebels. Ray's Bulldogs squads were 5-2 vs. Ole Miss.

"Obviously I'm familiar with it, so that helps. This is not going to be a new scout for me," Ray said. "Their personnel obviously has changed some. They're still doing some of the concepts, but the most important thing that returns to that team is Stefan Moody."

Moody, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, ranks first in the SEC and 11th in the nation in scoring. He averages 23.0 points per game and is a 42.7 percent shooter. He's knocked down 20 3-pointers and is shooting 88.1 percent from the free-throw line. He's also averaging 4.6 assists per contest.

"I don't know what the terminology is for somebody that has more than a green light, but Andy gives him a great deal of freedom to create shots," Ray said about Moody. "I was trying to explain to our guys, and we'll get a chance to show them on tape, I was getting on them about guarding all the way out to the coach's box, to the hash there. They're like, 'Coach, way out there?' and I'm like, 'Yes. He will shoot it from way out there.' He has no conscience, and the fact that he has a lot of confidence in his game makes him a really good player."

Moody had 13 points in an 82-51 Ole Miss victory vs. Southeast. His lowest points total this season was 13 in a 75-63 loss to Seton Hall on Nov. 22. The Rebels (6-2) have since won three in a row. Their other loss was a 68-62 defeat by George Mason on Nov. 19.

Moody has scored 30 points twice this season, including in the Rebels' latest game, a 74-64 victory vs. Massachusetts on Saturday.

"The No. 1 thing that we have to do is we can't let Stefan Moody get loose, and that starts with transition defense," Ray said. "He's the type of guy that can get the ball and attack. He'll pull up from 25-feet for a 3 in transition. He can take the ball all the way to the rim. But we have got to get him stopped because he ignites their offense with the transition."

Sebastian Saiz, a 6-9 junior forward, is averaging 13.0 points, on 55.4 percent shooting, and 9.6 rebounds per game.

He had 11 points and seven rebounds against the Redhawks a year ago.

"I think Saiz has turned into a guy that can score in a variety of ways," Ray said. "He can score with his back to the basket. He's got a good touch from 15 feet. He does a great job with offensive rebounding, and I think the biggest thing is because of the freedom that Moody has on the offensive end you're kind of caught off guard sometimes about the shot selection. But those guys on the Ole Miss team, especially the front-court, know that [Moody] is shooting the basketball so they do a great job of crashing the glass and getting offensive rebounds."

While the Redhawks are prepped for the Rebels' attack, Ray has kept most of the focus on improving the deficiencies of his winless team.

Southeast's 0-8 start is its worst since the Redhawks started the 2010-11 season 0-10.

"I think the biggest thing for us is trying to fix the things that's wrong with us," Ray said. "Obviously, we have to worry about Ole Miss and some of the things that they do, but we've got to figure out a way to play with some confidence on the offensive end. I don't care what type of defense we play, but we've got to have a chance to put some pressure on the other team by scoring the basketball."

Southeast is averaging 59.4 points per game, which ranks 337th out of 346 Division I teams, and has been held below 56 in half of its games.

The Redhawks likely will face multiple defenses against Ole Miss.

"They'll be in a 1-3-1, they'll be in a 2-2-1, they'll be in a 2-3 zone, they'll be in a man, they'll be switching in man, and all they're trying to do is get you off balance and not let you establish a rhythm," Ray said. "We've got to do a really good job of not trying to figure out what defense they're in all the time, but being in attack mode and having some rhythm to our offense."

The Redhawks are shooting 36.9 percent from the floor and 23.5 percent from 3-point range. Those numbers rank them at 340 and 344, respectively. They're last in the nation in free-throw percentage at 53.5.

Ray sounded optimistic about his team's potential to progress after practice Thursday night.

"Those guys are going to have to go out there and experience some success in a game, and I think it starts with practice," Ray said. "I thought we had a great practice today. I thought our guys were energetic. I thought they came out with a lot of enthusiasm -- they were excited. When you come out and practice like that, and guys are flying around and uplifting and trying to help each other out as teammates, I think you always have a chance then."