Southeast Missouri State University's men's basketball team, saddled with a two-game losing streak for the first time all season, will try to get well tonight against the Ohio Valley Conference's hottest squad.

Middle Tennessee's Blue Raiders will bring a five-game winning streak and all kinds of momentum into the 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center.

"They're just playing with so much more confidence now," said Southeast coach Gary Garner of the Blue Raiders. "I think they're mainly just playing like everybody thought they were capable of playing all along."

To be sure, most OVC observers figured the Raiders would be one of the prime contenders for the championship.

But they floundered through the early part of league play, winning just one of their first seven games to apparently fall hopelessly out of contention for an upper-division finish.

That, however, has all changed. The Raiders, 10-10 overall, have evened their OVC record at 6-6 to move into a tie for fifth place in the 10-team league. The top four finishers earn first-round home games for the OVC Tournament.

"They're playing for a home-court spot (in the league tourney), so they're really going to come out ready to play," said Garner. "We're going to have to match that. We'll have to play real emotional and start out playing great defense."

The Indians still lead the OVC, but two road losses last week tightened up the race considerably.

Southeast, 16-5 overall, is 9-3 in the league. Murray State (8-3) trails the Indians by one-half game and Tennessee Tech (8-4) is just one game back.

Eastern Illinois (7-5) is also very much in contention at two games back while Middle Tennessee, Austin Peay (6-6) and Tennessee-Martin (5-5) are in the hunt as well.

"Needless to say, last week was not a good week for us," said Garner, whose squad lost at Tennessee State by four points and at Austin Peay by three points in double overtime. "But I said at the beginning of the season that it was going to be a very close race. We were 9-1 (before last week), but it was not realistic to think we were going to run the table. Nobody in our league is good enough to do that.

"Nobody will give us the championship. We have to take it. Now we see what we're made of."

Garner, whose squad is 11-0 at the Show Me Center this season, knows that the three-game homestand this week the Indians play Tennessee-Martin Thursday night and Murray State Saturday afternoon is vital to the Indians' OVC championship hopes.

While the Indians won't likely be able to secure the title this week, they could certainly damage their chances.

"This week is do or die, you might say," Garner said. "We cannot lose at home and win the conference championship.

"We are in control of our own destiny, but we must take care of our home court. We have to win three games this week, and that starts with Middle Tennessee."

When Southeast and Middle Tennessee met on Jan. 10 in Murfreesboro, Tenn., the Indians were barely threatened during a 61-48 victory.

But that game was played at a time during which the Raiders were struggling, as Garner was quick to point out.

"So much depends on when you play a team," said Garner. "When we played Middle Tennessee the last time, they weren't playing very well. Now they're playing extremely well."

Garner believes a big key to the recent success of the Raiders has been the play of guards Fernando Ortiz and Jonathan Whitworth.

Ortiz, the Raiders' leading scorer at 14.8 points per game, has averaged about 18 points in the last six games.

Whitworth, who was shooting less than 35 percent from 3-point range the last time the teams met, has been on fire from long distance. He hit nine of 13 3-pointers in two games last week and now leads the OVC in 3-point shooting at 51 percent (34 of 67).

"Ortiz is really coming on for them and Whitworth is really shooting the three well," Garner said.

Whitworth has also been solid at the point, with 92 assists and just 42 turnovers, which is an impressive ratio of assists to turnovers that leads the OVC. In two games last week, Whitworth had 11 turnovers and only one assist.

While Middle Tennessee's guard have been extremely good lately, the Raiders also have an imposing frontline featuring 6-foot-11 center Lee Nosse, 6-8 forward Iiro Tenngren and 6-6 forward Cedrick Wallace.

Wallace is second on the team in scoring at 12.9 points per game while Tenngren, a Vanderbilt transfer, is third at 11.4. Nosse averages 7.3 points and leads the OVC in blocked shots with 33.

Ron McKnight, a 6-5 swingman, also averages in double figures at 10.5.

"They're the biggest team in the OVC and they've probably got the best post-up game in the league. All of the players they post up will be bigger than our guys," said Garner. "Now that they've got Ortiz and Whitworth shooting well, along with that inside game, they're going to be very hard to defend."

Garner said he is somewhat concerned that Southeast's confidence might be a bit shaken following the two losses last week. That's why he believes a strong start is vital tonight.

"We were really playing with a lot of confidence (before last week), and now we've lost two in a row. I'm worried about it," Garner said. "That's why getting off to a good start is going to be so important."

INDIAN NOTES: Despite losing its last two games, Southeast somewhat surprisingly continued to receive votes in the USA Today/ESPN poll released Monday. The Indians received five votes, which ties them for 38th in the nation. It is the fifth week Southeast has received votes in the poll.