Southeast men try to regain form vs. Flames

~ Redhawks look to end two-game slide at Illinois-Chicago

The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team had a disappointing road trip to Chattanooga, Tenn., losing two of three games at the CBE Classic.

Southeast (3-3) will look to get back on track Saturday at Illinois-Chicago (3-1) in a 3 p.m. tipoff

"It's going to be even tougher," said Southeast coach Dickey Nutt, whose squad is in the middle of a stretch that has it playing seven of eight games away from home. "Illinois-Chicago is having a heck of a year."

The Redhawks played three games in three days in Chattanooga. They beat the host squad 77-65 on Sunday, lost to Louisiana Tech 67-63 on Monday and lost to Troy 59-56 on Tuesday.

"It was disappointing, the way we played those last two games in Chattanooga, especially against Troy," Nutt said. "We weren't ready to play. I was very disappointed with our performance."

Nutt said he hasn't lost confidence in the Redhawks.

"I still believe in our team. I still like our team," Nutt said. "We just have to fix a lot of issues."

UIC is off to a strong start after struggling the past three seasons with a combined 23-68 record.

Last year the Flames went 8-22 overall and 3-15 in the Horizon League. Their most recent winning season came in 2008-09.

The Flames' only loss has been 66-59 to a strong New Mexico squad at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.

UIC concluded the Paradise Jam by routing Mercer 62-36 and rallying from a 12-point deficit with under seven minutes left to beat Iona 86-81. The Flames opened the season with a 59-52 home win over UC-Riverside.

The Flames have been led offensively by 6-foot-8 junior forward Hayden Humes (15.5 ppg) and 6-1 senior point guard Gary Talton (13.8 ppg). They are among four UIC players averaging double-figure points.

Humes is shooting 63.2 percent from 3-point range (12 of 19) as the Flames are hitting 42.5 from beyond the arc.

Talton, who led the Flames with an 11.6 scoring average last season, has 21 assists against just four turnovers.

"They're lighting it up," Nutt said. "They're really playing well."

Southeast breaks up its road stretch Monday with a 7 p.m. home game against NAIA Hannibal-LaGrange.

The Redhawks then head out for three more games -- at New Orleans on Nov. 29, at Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 1 and at Missouri on Dec. 4.