Willoughby will miss more time with illness

~ The senior guard is expected to miss at least three more games.

Southeast Missouri State coach Scott Edgar said Tuesday that senior guard Terrick Willoughby still is not close to returning to practice and likely will miss at least three more games.

Willoughby, one of only two seniors for the Redhawks -- and the lone senior who sees significant action -- has missed the past two games with mononucleosis.

Edgar said Willoughby will definitely not play during Southeast's two home games this week, Thursday night against Tennessee State and Saturday night against Tennessee Tech.

Edgar also doesn't think Willoughby will be ready when the Redhawks visit Morehead State next Wednesday night.

"I'd say a week to 10 more days before he can get back into action, and that's not game action," Edgar said. "We're hoping he can maybe begin practicing around the Morehead game."

Willoughby, who started 14 of the 16 games he played in before the illness, is averaging 7.3 points per game. He is shooting 40.3 percent from 3-point range (25 of 62) to rank ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference.

"Terrick was playing very well before he got sick," Edgar said. "We can use his leadership out there."

Southeast's other starter who missed the Redhawks last game -- Saturday's 68-67 loss at Austin Peay -- will return Thursday.

Junior center Mike Rembert did not play at Austin Peay, instead serving a one-game OVC suspension for being ejected from the previous league contest at Murray State.

Junior Dionte Perry started in place of Rembert against Austin Peay and had six points, five rebounds and three blocked shots.

While Rembert -- who had started Southeast's first 17 games -- will play Thursday, Edgar said Perry still might start.

"He did a good job and I may still start him," Edgar said. "The longer I think about it, the more disappointed I am [in Rembert], to emotionally go over the edge like that."

Road warriors

Edgar said the Redhawks (6-12, 4-5 OVC) are to be commended for weathering the storm of having played only six of their first 18 games at home.

Southeast has had 10 true road contests, along with two neutral-site games.

"I don't think there are many teams around the country you can send on the road like that and continue to have a positive mindset," Edgar said. "I'm very proud of them for that."

The Redhawks will now have the opportunity to get more familiar with the Show Me Center. Six of their next eight games -- including four of the next five -- are at home.

Southeast, which had a three-game winning streak snapped by Austin Peay, played five of its first nine OVC games on the road. The Redhawks have won two of their last three conference road games.

"I told our players they've done what they needed to do on the road," Edgar said. "Now, we haven't taken care of home yet, but our success in the conference will be determined by how we play during this stretch."

In conference play, Southeast is 2-2 at home and 2-3 on the road. The Redhawks are in eighth place in the 11-team OVC.

Although the Redhawks have two home games this week, they are against what are generally regarded as two of the most talented squads in the OVC.

Tennessee State (8-9, 4-3) and Tennessee Tech (8-9, 4-4) were picked second and third, respectively, in the league's preseason poll. They are the teams directly ahead of the Redhawks in the standings.

"The opponents this week are really good," Edgar said.

Southeast lost to both Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech on the road earlier in the season.

Clarifying things

Edgar said he thinks fans might have misunderstood, following Saturday's loss at Austin Peay, some of his comments to the media about wanting to draw a 5-second call in the final seconds.

After Southeast's Paul Paradoski hit a 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds left to pull Southeast within 68-67, Austin Peay had to inbound the ball.

The Govs got the ball in to Landon Shipley, who was trapped by several Redhawks in the corner near his own basket.

Edgar talked later about trying to get a 5-second call or a steal.

It was unclear at the time whether Edgar was speaking about a closely guarded 5-second call, or a 5-second call for not inbounding the ball quickly enough.

In men's college basketball, there is no closely guarded 5-second rule in the backcourt, only the frontcourt.

"I think a lot of people were under the impression I was trying to get a [closely guarded] 5-second call," Edgar said. "Obviously, you don't get a 5-second call in the backcourt."

The Redhawks had forced Austin Peay into a couple of 5-second violations on inbound plays earlier in the game and Edgar hoped they could do it again.

Southeast also could not come up with a turnover and inexplicably failed to foul Shipley, who simply held the ball for several seconds.

Austin Peay finally called a timeout with 1.2 seconds left and threw a long inbound pass that was deflected as time expired.