Redhawks shoot for 2-0 start vs. IPFW

~ Southeast will try to build on a shaky opening victory tonight against Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne.

Since his team is so inexperienced, Southeast Missouri State coach Gary Garner considered a strong start extra important this year.

Despite barely getting past Division II Truman State 59-56 in Friday night's opener, the Redhawks have an opportunity to begin the season 2-0 before heading out on a tough two-game road trip.

In order to accomplish that, Southeast must beat an Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne team that is something of an unknown commodity entering tonight's 7:30 p.m. tipoff at the Show Me Center.

"It's very important for us to win these first two games," Garner said. "We need to start out 2-0 before we go on the road trip, but it's not going to be easy to beat IPFW."

The Mastodons, who began their season by losing at home to Loyola-Chicago 69-61 Saturday night, were just 7-22 last year.

But IPFW has an almost completely retooled roster, with only three players returning, along with a new coach in former Indiana University standout Dane Fife.

Fife, an assistant at Indiana the previous two seasons, became the nation's youngest current Division I head coach when he was hired at age 25.

"They've got mostly new players, so it's really hard to know what to expect from them," Garner said. "I remember him [Fife] as a player. He was a very good player, and he was really a good defensive player. I'm sure his team will take on that personality."

IPFW's returning players accounted for only 13 points per game last season, led by junior guard Quintin Carouthers, who ranked fourth on the squad at 8.4 points per game.

Carouthers scored 13 points in Saturday's loss to Loyola-Chicago, while IPFW was led by freshman guard Kyle Savely's 17 points.

While IPFW has a new-look team, so does Southeast. The Redhawks returned just four players from last year's 15-14 squad. They have seven newcomers.

That's why Garner realizes the Redhawks will remain a work in progress for some time. That was evident by the near-upset loss to Truman State, as Southeast trailed most of the game before Roy Booker's 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left broke a 56-56 tie.

"We've got a long way to go," Garner said.

Garner said it was obvious the Redhawks did not take their Division II opponent seriously enough Friday night, but that certainly shouldn't be the case tonight against the Division I Mastodons.

"We'll find out a lot more about our team in this game," Garner said. "We'll have to have a lot more intensity than we did against Truman State, but I know we will."

Booker, playing his first and only season with Southeast after transferring from Montana last year, led the Redhawks with 17 points in the opener. He said he expects a much better effort tonight.

"We took them [Truman State] lightly because they were Division II," Booker said. "We won't take this team lightly, because we know they'll be pretty good.

"We've got a lot of new players and everybody is still learning to play together. But we'll be fine. We're going to have a good team."

The Redhawks should have their full roster available tonight after freshman guard Eric Jones was held out of the opener as a minor disciplinary measure for missing a class.

Following tonight's game, the Redhawks face their first road tests of the season, as they play at South Dakota State Thursday night and at Nebraska Sunday afternoon.

"That's going to be a really difficult trip for us," Garner said. "That's why this game is so important."