Nutt era begins with a loss

ST. LOUIS -- The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team displayed the fight and hustle that first-year coach Dickey Nutt has preached during the preseason.

But offensive shortcomings and a lack of inside strength conspired to make sure the Redhawks would not usher in the Nutt era with a victory celebration Saturday night.

Southeast, which never led or was tied, made things interesting at various points before host Saint Louis University pulled away for a 59-41 season-opening win.

"We competed real hard. The attitude was there," junior college transfer forward Eric McCrary said. "We made a run late, but we just didn't execute things down the stretch."

Junior college transfer point guard Anthony Allison said the contest was a good wakeup call for the Redhawks, who returned just four players from last year's squad that went 3-27 and ended the season riding a 19-game losing streak.

Southeast Missouri State's Anthony Allison goes up for a shot between Saint Louis defenders Willie Reed, left, and Jon Smith during the first half Saturday in St. Louis. (Fred Lynch)

"It was an eye-opener for us," said Allison, among 11 newcomers on Southeast's roster. "It lets us know what we need to work on. It was a very good experience."

Southeast shot just 27.5 percent from the field, in large part because defensive-minded SLU hounded the Redhawks virtually all night.

"They got us out of our sets," Allison said. "We just have to work on that."

Said freshman guard Derek Thompson: "We really just need to work on getting more physical."

SLU, despite not being overly big by major Division I standards, was way too strong inside for Southeast.

Southeast Missouri State's Israel Kirk shoots over Saint Louis defenders Femi John, left, and Kwamain Mitchell during the second half.

The Billikens, who feature all sophomores and freshmen, had a 44-31 rebounding edge and a 26-8 advantage on points in the paint.

"You can't shoot 27 percent on the road and expect to win. But you can credit them for that," Nutt said. "We're a better offensive team than we showed. They took us out of what we wanted to do.

"And we had a hard time holding them out of the paint and keeping them off the glass. They're big and they're long."

Willie Reed, a high-flying 6-foot-9, 220-pound sophomore forward, and hard-nosed 6-6, 230-pound sophomore foward Brian Conklin did the most damage inside.

Reed scored 15 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had three of SLU's six blocks. He threw down several thunderous dunks while making 6 of 8 shots, all from in close.

Southeast Missouri State coach Dickey Nutt shouts to his players during the second half.

"Willie Reed was outstanding," Nutt said. "We got to the paint when we wanted to but their shot blocking changes the game."

Conklin had 15 points and eight rebounds. He hit 5 of 7 shots, also from in close.

"They were big and physical," McCrary said. "But we're going to get better in the post."

Allison and Thompson both scored 10 points for Southeast, while junior college transfer wing KaJuan Watson added nine points. Watson was 3 of 3 from the field and 3 of 3 from the line.

Thompson led the Redhawks in rebounding with seven.

"That freshman [Thompson] is a good player," SLU coach Rick Majerus said. "Their program was in disarray. He's [Nutt] a good coach. He'll do a good job."

SLU scored the game's first six points and was in fairly solid control most of the way, but the Bills had to fight off several Southeast charges.

The Bills expanded a 30-20 halftime lead to 36-20 early in the final period before Southeast made it 41-36 midway through the half.

Southeast had chances to draw even closer as SLU missed several free throws -- the Bills were just 11 of 23 from the stripe in the game -- but the Redhawks could not take advantage.

Reed threw down an alley-oop dunk and completed a three-point play to finish off an 8-0 run that put SLU up 49-36 with just over five minutes left. The Bills coasted home from there.

"It was a good test for us, to see where we stand," Thompson said.

While not pleased with Southeast's execution, Nutt was in no way down on the Redhawks' effort.

"I was proud of the guys. They played hard," Nutt said. "I'm not disappointed at all. I told the guys there is a lot of basketball left to be played."

Southeast has its first regular-season home game Wednesday when Arkansas State -- Nutt's former team -- visits.

Nutt spent 13 seasons in charge at ASU, then was out of coaching last year before being hired at Southeast in March.