Longtime Southeast Missouri State fans will see a familiar face when the Redhawks take the court Saturday night for their final exhibition game.

Anthony "Butch" Hall, who was a member of coach Ron Shumate's Southeast teams that reached the NCAA Division II quarterfinals in 1985 and the championship game in 1986, enters his first season as the Fontbonne men's basketball coach.

He has been the associate athletic director at the Division II school since 2011.

"The one thing that we've always tried to talk about here is former players -- whether they be from my time that I was here or from way back when*... you're a big part of our program, and we want to show our loyalty and our appreciation toward them," Southeast coach Dickey Nutt said. "Anytime we have a guy that's connected to Southeast Missouri we want to try to help them all we can. He came to us, and we talked a couple of years ago about trying to put this game together and I thought it'd be a neat idea to not only support our Missouri schools, but more importantly here's a SEMO grad that played right here at Southeast Missouri."

Tip-off between the Redhawks and Griffins is set for 6 p.m. from the Show Me Center in Southeast's final tuneup before it begins the regular season with games against Loyola Marymount and San Diego on Nov. 14 and 15, respectively, in Los Angeles.

The Redhawks are coming off a 97-69 win over NAIA Missouri Baptist on Monday night.

"I feel like we made a step last game, but hey, we still have a hundred steps to go," Nutt said. "Hopefully we can show some improvement from start to finish, take care of the basketball better."

Southeast had 16 turnovers against the Spartans, and Nutt noted that many weren't forced by their defense.

The Redhawks defense, which Nutt has considered an area of improvement since last season, had eight steals and forced 26 MBU turnovers.

Southeast has some length, and Nutt has made it clear that there's the depth to take players out of the game if they're not getting after it on both ends of the court.

"I think that's sometimes a good combination for a good defensive team, and hopefully we'll be able to display that," Nutt said.

The Redhawks used a full-court press for most of the game Monday, and it's something they'll continue to implement. They held the Spartans to 42.9 percent from the field, but Nutt sees a lot of room for improvement.

"You can deny a pass and you can be very aggressive, and you can still be in your stance and not give up that easy play," Nutt said. "We're trying to gamble too much and leave guys wide open and they hit shots on us. The competition's going to get a lot better than what we saw. But just staying down in your stance, sticking with techniques, and really believing and trusting in your defense -- that's something that we've got to learn."

Southeast will once again be without returning all-conference guard/forward Jarekious Bradley with a deep thigh bruise. Nutt said senior transfer forward Aaron Adeoye, who had fractures in his cheek after being elbowed diving for a loose ball during practice Sunday, is considered day- to-day but "doubtful" for Saturday. Senior guard Darrian Gray is also out with a severe ankle sprain.

"We need those guys back in there, I know that," Nutt said.

Several players picked up the slack for the injured players. Senior Josh Langford finished with 17 points, while senior Nino Johnson had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Antonius Cleveland had 13 points and junior transfer guard Isiah Jones had 12.

Former Sikeston standout and freshman guard JT Jones led the newcomers with 14 points and six rebounds 11 minutes of action Monday night. Freshman guard Marcus Wallace finished with seven points and five assists. Freshman forward TJ Thomas and guard/forward Ladarius Coleman chipped in four and five points, respectively, in their collegiate debuts.

"I thought we had four freshmen out on the floor the other night that were pretty good, and it was a good start for them," Nutt said.

Saxony Lutheran graduate Jack Lake and Perryville graduate Collin Schirmer will make their debuts with Fontbonnne.