READY OR NOT: INDIANS GET TASTE OF OVC THIS WEEK

So far, Southeast Missouri State University's basketball team has stacked up well against a challenging early part of its schedule.

This week, the Indians will get an early indication of how they stack up in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Southeast, riding a three-game winning streak after a season-opening loss, is gearing up for two OVC home games, Thursday night against Tennessee State and Saturday night against Austin Peay.

"I really wish we had another month (to get ready for conference play), because everything is still new to the players," said Southeast coach Gary Garner during his weekly media conference Monday. "But I'm really anxious out of curiosity.

"Like I said before the season, I've never seen an OVC game in person. I've seen a few of them on TV, but that was more because I love basketball, not because I was trying to find out something about the teams."

Garner figures he'll start to find out this week if the Indians will be a legitimate contender in the OVC race. Southeast was picked to finish sixth out of 10 teams in the preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors.

Tennessee State and Austin Peay were picked to finish second and third, respectively, in the preseason poll.

"We're playing the second and third ranked teams in the league, so after this week, we'll know how we stack up," Garner said. "Both teams are very good. The conference is what it's all about. It leads to the NCAA tournament, and that's what every team shoots for."

Having the first two OVC games at home should be a big boost, said Garner.

"I'm really glad about that," he said. "If we could figure out a way to win both, that would be great. It will be hard, but we think we can do it and if you think you can, you're halfway there.

"I don't think there's a player on our team that doesn't think we can't win them both."

The Indians, after a tough 62-59 season-opening loss at Colorado, have knocked off Central Methodist 94-78, Bradley 79-71 and Oakland City 60-27.

Garner said having already been involved in two tough games that went down to the wire (Colorado and Bradley) could come in handy for the Indians this week.

"I think those games will definitely help us," he said. "We handled both games well down the stretch, even though we lost the Colorado game. In a close game, that should help us."

Tennessee State is 2-1, having routed Asbury 121-54 and Fisk 97-52 and losing at Vanderbilt 94-64.

Austin Peay is 2-2, with a big 67-62 win at Evansville to start the season. The Governors have also routed Christian Brothers 104-68 while losing at Tennessee 74-65 and at Western Carolina 71-57.

* Three Indians are averaging in double figures in scoring so far: center Bud Eley (17.5 ppg), guard Cory Johnson (15.0) and forward Calvert White (10.8).

White leads the team in rebounding (7.5 rpg) and assists with 17.

Forward David Montgomery, who averages just under 10 points per game, is shooting a sizzling 63 percent from the field.

Johnson has hit 18 of 32 three-pointers for 56 percent.

Even though Garner said his team's offense still has a long way to go, he added, "The kids are playing very unselfish, trying to find the open man. The timing isn't real good on offense yet, but that will come. But they're really working together right now."

* Point guard Kahn Cotton, who missed Saturday's Oakland City game with a toe injury, should be ready to go this week, said Garner.

* The Indians are shooting just 62 percent from the free-throw line as a team, which has Garner somewhat concerned.

"It's a little early to say we're not a good free-throw shooting team," he said. "But that (62 percent) is not good. We'd like to be around 70 percent."

* The 27 points the Indians allowed during Saturday's win over Oakland City is the fewest allowed by a Southeast team since 1946, when the Indians beat Washington University 27-12.

* Thursday's win over Bradley marked Garner's 250th victory as a collegiate head coach. He is now 251-164 in his 15th season.

* Ameritech Cellular will be the corporate sponsor for Saturday's game against Austin Peay.

It will also be West Plains night at the Show Me Center, with a group of fans from Garner's hometown of West Plains on hand, including Jim Peters, his high school coach.