~ Southeast opens OVC play tonight against Tennessee State.

Two of Southeast Missouri State's top three scorers have combined to make just two starts.

That is just fine with them.

Brandon Foust and Jaycen Herring are content doing their damage off the bench for the Redhawks (4-4), who begin Ohio Valley Conference play tonight at 7:30 against Tennessee State (2-4) at the Show Me Center.

Foust, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, is tied with sophomore point guard Roderick Pearson for the team scoring lead at 12.3 points per game. He has made two starts.

"I pretty much told coach I wanted to keep coming off the bench," said Foust, a preseason all-OVC selection who led Southeast in scoring last year with a 12.1 average. "I can be a scorer and keep the momentum going.

"I've been playing pretty good and I don't want to mess it up. It's [starting] not really important."

Herring, a 6-5 junior college transfer wing player, is third on the Redhawks with a 10.4 scoring average despite making no starts.

"It's really no big deal to me," said Herring of whether he starts or comes off the bench. "As long as I can help my team out.

"I don't know if it's more a comfortable thing or not [coming off the bench]. I just try to get a sense of how the game is going."

Foust and Herring have been especially potent in the past few games. Foust has 53 points in the last three games, while Herring has 53 points in the past four contests.

"They are both doing a very good job for us," Southeast coach Scott Edgar said. "They come in the game and really give us a spark."

Edgar said he has approached both Foust and Herring about potentially moving into the starting lineup, especially since Foust started 28 of Southeast's 31 games last season.

But Edgar said they both told him they feel good coming off the bench right now, which is fine with the coach.

"People look at the stats and wonder why isn't Jaycen starting," Edgar said. "With conversations I've had with him, he feels better coming off the bench.

"Brandon historically has been a starter. Now he's playing his best basketball and he said he's comfortable coming off the bench."

In Edgar's system, which relies on using plenty of players, starting doesn't mean seeing the most action anyway.

Herring is averaging 24.3 minutes per game, second on the squad to Pearson's 27 minutes. Foust's 22.9 minutes rank third.

Foust and Herring aren't wasting their chances, either. Foust is shooting 52.9 percent from the field and Herring 50 percent. Both also have been solid from the free-throw line, Foust at 78.6 percent and Herring at 77.8 percent.

"They're shooting the ball well and they're hitting their free throws," Edgar said.

Foust and Herring will look to keep producing tonight as the Redhawks try to get conference play started on the right foot.

Edgar expects a major challenge from Tennessee State, which was picked right behind Southeast in the OVC preseason poll -- the Redhawks fifth and the Tigers sixth.

"Tennessee State always has a very talented basketball team," Edgar said. "I think they're as physically gifted as any team in the conference."

The Tigers are led by 6-3 junior guard Bruce Price, who is second in the OVC with a 19.7 scoring average and also ranks second in assists with six per game. He scored a career-high 34 points during Monday's 84-72 loss at 15th-ranked Indiana.

Price missed most of the past two seasons with a pair of ACL injuries to the same knee. He was the OVC freshman of the year during the 2004-05 season and was averaging over 19 points per game at the time of his original injury early during the 2005-06 season.

Edgar said what Price has endured makes for a nice story.

"Wins and losses are important, but we have to remember that this is still about kids getting an education and playing basketball," Edgar said. "You have to credit him for having the stamina and the mental toughness to stick with it after two major surgeries."

Freshman guard Gerald Robinson averages 14 points for the Tigers, who feature a front line that goes 6-9, 6-8 and 6-8.

Former Mississippi State transfer Jerrell Houston, a 6-8 junior, averages 11.7 points.

The Tigers are shooting an OVC-best 40.8 percent from 3-point range.

"That's a huge concern of mine, as is their size," Edgar said.