COLUMN: Ticket to March Madness is SEMO’s to lose

What does Southeast Missouri State need to do to be one of the four 16-seed teams that don't have to play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio?

With their convincing 83-69 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday, Feb. 15, the Redhawks (17-10, 12-4) are a game ahead of SIU Edwardsville and Little Rock for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference. It's understood that only the conference tournament winner will get into March Madness but ESPN, CBS, and USA Today project SEMO in the First Four against American U? Why does Merrimack (14-11), who plays in a gym smaller than Jackson High School, get to walk right up to Alabama in the first round?

To be honest, the fact that I get to rage against the bracketology machine over SEMO being projected to play in the First Four after the Redhawks won only nine games the previous season is astonishing.

"They have had an unbelievable mental and physical approach to practices," SEMO head coach Brad Korn said. "They're a competitive, motivated group. The thing I love about them most is that none of them get small when we coach them hard and then add on top of that, they're good players."

Most impressively, outside of Brendan Terry and Teddy Washington Jr., the players who struggled last year are now behind the Redhawks' current domination over the OVC.

"Especially in an era when you can just turn and run when things aren't easy, they stuck it out," Korn said. "They went through those struggles, and I think we're seeing the fruits of that labor now. So I give them a ton of credit for sticking with it because you need to go through some of that hard stuff to find out what you're about to come back and bounce back, whether that's basketball or life."

Washington was the lone Division I transfer to join the Redhawks and instantly became the leading scorer. He scored 21 points Saturday for the first time since tying a career-high 28 points against Eastern Illinois on Dec. 19.

"It just opens up a lot for me getting Teddy involved," SEMO point guard Rob Martin said. "They have a lot of game plans on Teddy and how to guard him. So I just tell Teddy, 'I'm gonna find you,' and he trusts me, and that's the big connection me and Teddy have."

Martin is also among SEMO's top scorers, as both he and Washington average around 13 points per game. On top of his scoring, Martin is among the top distributors in the OVC, averaging 4.2 assists per game.

“He just always finds me and makes the right play,” Washington Jr. said. “He just puts everybody in position, not even just me. He can score the ball at a high level, so there's so much attention on him that it’s got to open up everybody else. He's kind of helped me with my facilitating a little bit by just watching him making his 3s and stuff like that. You can never be too knowledgeable.”

Martin arrived at SEMO from Indiana State last year and was the Redhawks' leading scorer and distributor with 11.0 ppg and 3.5 apg. According to Korn, it means more to see Martin's stats improve now that the team is much better than before.

“Every team has a leading scorer,” Korn said. “A year ago, he was our leading scorer, but we were terrible, so that didn't mean much. So now, to be able to do it with a good team and other guys around you, it's made a big difference for him. I know he enjoys playing with the guys that he plays with because it's not just Rob. We’ve got a lot of guys that help make this thing go.”

Chemistry has been a key factor in the Redhawks not just turning it around from last year to this year, but the turnaround within this season. The Redhawks were facing .500 at 10-10 before going on the longest winning streak since 2004-05 under head coach Gary Garner, who led SEMO to its first March Madness appearance in 2000.

As Washington Jr. said, it's about "everybody jelling in the locker room. It's bigger than basketball," Washington Jr. said. "Everybody's playing for each other. We're playing off each other. It feels good to win."

There was a time this season when it felt the Redhawks were not able to compete in the OVC, much less contend. They dropped back-to-back road games at Murray State and Lipscomb after coming off a dominating home win against Kansas City. They were sitting at 4-6 before starting the conference slate.

Even after winning five straight games, the Redhawks lost four of their next six games to fall to 10-10 overall and 5-4 in OVC play. The questions of their ability to contend remained in question.

Those questions are no longer there. It's not enough that the Redhawks are winning this many games in a row, they're doing it by wide margins. Only their home game against Tennessee State and road game against Southern Indiana were single-digit wins.

When SEMO defeats Western Illinois on Thursday, Feb. 20, Korn will have led the Redhawks to the longest Division I winning streak in school history. If SEMO wins at least three of the final four games of the regular season, Korn also will be the only other head coach in SEMO's DI history to have a 20-win season.

The top two seeds in the OVC will advance straight into the OVC Tournament semifinals, so there is potential for SEMO to enter the NCAA Tournament riding a 13-game winning streak at 23-10, and hopefully not in Dayton.

Any pressure for the Redhawks?

"I think the only time the pressure comes into play, whether that's in your life or in basketball, is when you're not prepared," Korn said. "Our guys are prepared.