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Southeast Missouri State gearing up for Saturday doubleheader tilt at Little Rock
Friday, January 26, 2024
Southeast Missouri State's Dylan Branson turns up the floor during a Thursday, Jan. 11 game against the Lindenwood Lions at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Lindenwood defeated Southeast Missouri State, 74-68.
Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com
Coming off a doubleheader loss on Thursday night, Southeast Missouri State men’s and women’s basketball teams look to make the most of their tight turnaround before taking on two more road duels with the Little Rock Trojans on Saturday.
With another tough tilt in Little Rock, Arkansas, the women’s game is set for a 1 p.m. tip while the men are set to follow at 3 p.m.
Both sides faced tough losses on Thursday night, with the women squandering a second-half lead while the men never held a candle to the offensive intensity of the UT-Martin Skyhawks.
The SEMO women (6-12, 3-4 OVC) will take the floor against a Little Rock (6-12, 5-2 OVC) team with an identical overall record but a largely superior conference record.
In fact, the Trojans have won four consecutive games heading into their home matchup with the Redhawks, largely thanks to the scoring talents of Faith Lee.
Lee’s 18-point scoring average over the last four games has commanded Little Rock from 1-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference to 5-2 and a tie for second in the conference standings.
The sophomore forward should be a focal point in the game plan for both sides. If the Redhawks want to grab a road win, it’ll start with keeping Lee off her game.
Scoring just 44 points against the Skyhawks, SEMO lost the rebounding battle by 14 boards. It’ll look to shorten that gap as the Redhawks look to get back to .500 in league play.
The Redhawk men (7-13, 2-5 OVC) have another opportunity for a statement win on the road, but it won’t come easy as Little Rock (10-10, 4-3 OVC) enter as large favorites on Saturday.
Little Rock has four players scoring in double digits on the season, led by the 17.3 points of KK Robinson and another 17.1 from Jamir Chaplin right behind him.
The Trojans’ fluent offense is undoubtedly the reason they’ve had success in a deep Ohio Valley Conference this season.
The Trojans have scored 79.7 points per game this season, ranking as the 50th-fastest team in the country according to KenPom.
With the Redhawks’ 92.1 points per 100 possessions, ranking near the bottom in all of men’s college basketball, it’s become hard to keep pace with teams when they begin to fly.
ESPN’s BPI gives the Trojans an 88.8 percent chance to win going into Saturday, largely in part because of the firepower that Little Rock has touted this season.
The Redhawks, trending in the wrong direction in a conference chock full of contenders, need a statement victory on Saturday if they have any aspirations of defending their crown as conference champions.