Eight in a row: Red-hot Redhawks MBB throttles Western Illinois to stretch historic win streak

It could be a different player who rises to the occasion on any given night for Southeast Missouri State men’s basketball.

In Thursday’s 87-66 home victory over Western Illinois, it was junior Brendan Terry’s turn to emerge as the alpha on the hardwood.

The 6-foot-7 forward poured in a career-high 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds to lead SEMO (18-10, 13-4 Ohio Valley Conference) to its eighth straight win — the program’s longest winning streak in the NCAA Division I era.

“That’s probably the most I’ve had since high school,” Terry laughingly said about his career night. “Their game plan was to kind of just stop Teddy (Washington Jr.) and Rob (Martin) coming from the ball screen, so that really left me open. And then I know when they kind of switch it up later in the game, they started getting on me, but then you’ve got those three (Martin, Washington Jr., Stacker). So, I mean, for me, I feel like it was just the game plan, just make the easiest passes, make the easiest reads and I was just finishing around the hoop.”

While Terry continued to play at the height of his game and stole the show, Thursday marked another complete performance for SEMO. Four other Redhawks scored double figures, as Washington Jr. (19), BJ Ward (15), Braxton Stacker (12), and Martin (10) all lit it up on the floor.

SEMO shot 50% from the floor and led by double digits for the majority of the game en route to victory.

“I feel like we’ve got really good chemistry,” Terry said. “I feel like it's all just because we did our own part and just keep moving like that. I feel like a lot of teams don't do that. A lot of teams it’s one guy or just two guys, and we have six or so, honestly.”

To say that the entire first half belonged to Terry would be an understatement.

The junior college transfer scored SEMO’s first 13 points of the night, seamlessly driving through lanes and making easy layups at the basket. Terry had 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first 20 minutes, highlighting his performance with a vicious slam dunk with 7:24 left in the frame.

Up 35-21 at halftime, the Redhawks stretched their lead to 16 behind back-to-back 3s from Washington Jr. and Ward. Washington Jr. had a trio of 3s in the second half alone, including a beautiful fadeaway jumper while being knocked down by a WIU defender, setting off the home crowd.

Stacker put an exclamation point on the outing with a loud alley-oop dunk from Washington Jr. at the 7:51 mark to push the advantage to 65-46.

Martin also exited the night with a career-high 11 assists to record a double-double.

“I’ve got a lot of guys around me that could score the ball at a high level,” Martin said. “So, just getting them involved and just finding them in their spot, such as BT dominating and Teddy lifting up on that 3. It opens up for me because scoring-wise, I feel like that's the main thing, and talking to them and encouraging them has just helped me all around.”

The Redhawks held the upper hand in forced turnovers (16 to 8) and shot prolifically from 3-point territory behind a 50% clip. Defensively, SEMO held the Leathernecks' top shooters in Marko Maletic (17.1 points per game) and Ryan Myers to 5-of-20 shooting from the floor, using its athleticism and length to turn the water off against the Western Illinois backcourt duo.

Korn said his team’s noticeable growth in fundamentals and basketball IQ is a big reason for the leap in production this season.

“They're a competitive group,” Korn said. “They have a high basketball IQ. They have high basketball maturity. So, what I mean by that is we don't have to spend a ton of time on the court walking through 13 plays or certain offensive things. I can verbalize some things to them and we can get it executed. We can see something that's happened within the game, and I can move pieces, and they can execute it on the court. You don't always have to have that luxury as a coach. So, again, it speaks to their basketball maturity, but also their basketball IQ has risen across the board.”

With the victory, the scorching-hot Redhawks, who already clinched an automatic bid in the OVC Tournament, remain atop the conference and seek their first regular-season OVC championship since the Gary Garner era in 2000. They also improved to 11-3 at the Show Me Center this season.

Not bad for a program that was projected to finish seventh in the OVC in the preseason.

“It was a little disrespectful, but we took it humbly,” Washington Jr. said. “They’re going to see us out here. We’re going to win the tournament.”

Donate Life game

Thursday night’s matchup against Western Illinois (10-18, 4-13) marked SEMO’s annual Donate Life game, which is dedicated to raising awareness for the importance of organ and tissue donation. The university partnered with Mid-American Transplant and gave away free green T-shirts to fans who are organ donors.

The family of Dominic Hooper was recognized at center court during halftime. Hooper was a Scott City High School student who was tragically killed in an ATV accident Feb. 23, 2014, and had his organs given to five people upon his death. His legacy has lived on ever since.

What’s next?

SEMO will conclude its home schedule when the Redhawks host Lindenwood at 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. The Lions took down SEMO 72-68 at home last month.