The Southeast Missouri State men's basketball team might not have done well enough this year to satisfy some fans, but the Redhawks continued their steady improvement in coach Dickey Nutt's third season.

Southeast (15-16) recorded its most victories since the 2004-05 squad also won 15 games, and the Redhawks' tie for fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference was their highest finish since the 1999-2000 NCAA tournament team earned a share of the regular-season title.

The Redhawks also posted OVC tournament wins in consecutive years for just the second time. The other time occurred during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons when Southeast reached the finals both campaigns.

Sure, the Redhawks probably had the talent to do better, and hopes were high when they pushed their overall record to 14-11 a few weeks back. The Redhawks were in second place in the OVC at the time.

But that doesn't detract from the job Nutt and his assistants have done to get Southeast's program back on solid footing in just three years.

However, the next step is to challenge for OVC regular-season and tournament championships, and that probably is the most difficult to reach.

Southeast should have a strong roster next season despite losing key seniors Leon Powell and Marcus Brister. The Redhawks will have numerous players back, and several figure to have more prominent roles, namely promising sophomore-to-be forward Nino Johnson.

I'm already looking forward to seeing if the 2012-13 Redhawks will be good enough to take that next step.

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Murray State's storybook basketball season keeps gaining momentum. The top-seeded Racers rallied to beat second-seeded Tennessee State 54-52 in the championship game of the OVC tournament Saturday.

As much as I like what the Racers (30-1) have done and the attention they have gained nationally, I was rooting for the Tigers to pull off the upset Saturday.

That's because, with MSU already an NCAA tournament lock, a TSU win would have given the OVC two NCAA tournament teams for just the second time. That first occurred when Austin Peay nabbed the league's automatic bid and former league member Middle Tennessee State garnered an at-large berth in 1987.

TSU had an impressive season despite losing in the finals. The Tigers (20-12) reached the 20-win mark for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign.

Conversely, Austin Peay fell well short of expectations.

The Governors were the league's preseason favorites but tied for sixth place, lost in the first round of the OVC tournament and finished with a 12-20 record, their worst since 1992-93.

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How much stronger will OVC men's basketball be when Belmont joins the league next season?

Plenty.

The Bruins, located in Nashville, Tenn., won their fifth Atlantic Sun Conference tournament title in seven years Saturday and begin preparation for another trip to the NCAA tournament.

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The OVC will have at least one new men's basketball coach next season after Eastern Illinois decided to not renew Mike Miller's contract last week.

Miller went 75-130 and had just one winning season in seven years. The Panthers went 12-17 and failed to make the OVC tournament this season -- the fifth time that happened under Miller.

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SIU Carbondale also is in the market for a coach after former Southeast assistant Chris Lowery was fired last week.

Lowery, who spent 2000-01 at Southeast, led SIU to NCAA tournament berths during his first three seasons, including the Sweet 16 in 2006-07. That team went 29-7 to set the program record for wins.

But the Salukis have fallen on hard times, posting losing records in three of the last four seasons. SIU went 8-23 and established the program record for losses this season. Lowery's eight-year record was 145-116.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.