Balanced offense leads Redhawks MBB past UT Martin 90-79

The motto “there’s no I in team” could not have applied more to the Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball team Thursday night.

That foiled UT Martin’s defensive game plan against the well-balanced, hot-shooting Redhawks.

Five SEMO players dropped double digits, including Braxton Stacker’s team-high 19, and the Redhawks used a complete performance to beat UT Martin 90-79 at the Show Me Center.

SEMO avenged a 66-63 road loss to the Skyhawks on Jan. 4.

“We kind of knew their game plan and they do a lot of switching,” Stacker said. “They hold down a lot, so we just kept moving the ball, kept good spacing, and had a lot of cutting off the ball. We made open shots today. On the defensive end, we were kind of worn out there at the end, but we started off well, got some stops, and stopped them in transition. That definitely helped.”

Outside of Stacker, junior Rob Martin dropped 18 points, sophomore BJ Ward tallied 15, and seniors Teddy Washington Jr. and TJ Biel each had 11 apiece to power a high-octane Redhawk offense that seemingly executed at their efficient best.

SEMO, who improved to 8-3 at home this season, made 17 of 22 free throws and shot a spectacular 63% from the field. They were also more physical against the Skyhawks, outscoring them 34-26 in the paint.

“We didn't just have a crazy night shooting from the outside,” head coach Brad Korn. “We dominated in the paint from the standpoint of our guards making the right plays. The poise and the passing that we showed today was tremendous, and then we got downhill and dropped it off. TJ Biel and Brendan Terry got two buckets early in the start the second half. So, I think all of them just played with great poise.

“When you can shoot 60%, score 90 points and you only made seven 3s, you were doing a lot of things correctly, and we were doing a nice job of moving the basketball.”

Biel had a loud first half, slamming down a monster dunk to make it 27-17 before posting a highlight-reel-type defensive block with 7:53 remaining.

After leading 46-33 at the break, UT Martin pulled to within nine with 3:49 remaining before Washington Jr.’s pull-up jumper pushed the lead to 83-72. Biel then closed the victory with an alley-oop dunk with 53 seconds to go. UT Martin only shot 40% from the field.

“We just kept it simple,” Biel said. “We knew exactly what we had to do. We lost to UT Martin the first time and they play a tough, European style, so we had to adjust to that and work on it all week. Then we got the dub.”

One of the conference’s top long-range shooting teams (9.8 3s per game), the Skyhawks shot 9-of-22 (41%) from 3-point land and ran out of gas in the second half.

“If it wasn't for that stretch when they went on a 9-0 run there in the first half right to that four-minute mark, we did an excellent job,” Korn said. “They had the one kid have like five 3s, went 12-for-12 from the line and scored 31 points. But outside of that, I thought we did an excellent job of playing position defense.”

Josue Grullon dropped a game-high in points (31) and rebounds (8) to lead UT Martin, but outside of his teammate Taren Guinyard’s 12, no Skyhawk hit double figures scoring wise.

Big Picture

SEMO had room for improvement in several phases and were ultra-efficient on both ends. The only weakness was 7-of-19 shooting from beyond the arc, which ultimately did not matter because they were dominant enough in the paint behind a 63% clip from the field.

The Redhawks responded well after cruising by Western Illinois 72-51 on Saturday — their largest margin of victory this season — and turned in one of their most well-rounded performances of the entire campaign. UT Martin entered the night with all five conference losses coming by four points or less — four of which came by a single point — and SEMO defeated the Skyhawks by 11.

While contributions from Martin and Stacker were important as usual for the Redhawks, Ward once again found his groove from long range after draining three 3s and Biel continued to carry on as a quiet superstar.

“This is a good team and this is a good season up to this point,” Korn said. “So, we’ve just got to come and play because Tennessee State’s one of the hottest teams in the league right now. They’ve won four straight. We’ve got to take care of home and just keep building what we're trying to build here within our program, and we do that through our energy and effort.”

What’s next?

SEMO continues its home stretch on Saturday when the Redhawks host Tennessee State (10-12, 6-5) at 3:45 p.m. at the Show Me Center.