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Southeast Missouri Basketball: Preview of First Four Matchup with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

By Harry Schroeder

Southeast Missouri Head Coach Brad Korn celebrates with Southeast Missouri’s Chris Harris (5) following their victory over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in the OVC men's championship at Ford Center on Saturday, March 4, 2023.Ns Semo Ttu 030423 1245
Southeast Missouri Head Coach Brad Korn celebrates with Southeast Missouri’s Chris Harris (5) following their victory over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in the OVC men's championship at Ford Center on Saturday, March 4, 2023.Ns Semo Ttu 030423 1245 /
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Southeast Missouri basketball has qualified for its first NCAA Tournament since 2000 and the Redhawks face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

TV schedule, Tuesday, March 14, 5:40 pm on truTV
 UD Arena, Dayton, Ohio

Fellow mid-majors with Matt Painter and Missouri Valley Conference roots meet in Dayton. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi coach Steve Lutz spent years at Creighton when it was a Valley school and at Purdue with Matt Painter. Southeast Missouri coach Brad Korn played for Painter at Southern Illinois. Now, these rejuvenated programs meet in the ‘First Four’ round of the NCAA Tournament.

The winner of this ‘play-in’ game faces Alabama on Friday.

Lutz’s Islanders (23-10) are the Southland Conference regular season and tournament champions and are playing in their second straight ‘First Four’ game. The Islanders dropped last year’s tournament contest to Texas Southern.

Korn’s Redhawks (19-16) earned their bid with a Ohio Valley Conference Tournament win.

SEMO’s veteran guard tandem of Phillip Russell and Chris Harris led the Redhawks to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000. Russell, an all-OVC performer was the OVC’s second-leading scorer and distributor of dimes. Harris, the OVC Tournament MVP has been with Korn for his entire three-season career in Cape Girardeau.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s basketball renaissance began two seasons ago when Lutz arrived. The Islanders have qualified for back-to-back March Madness appearances behind the play of all-Southland Conference forward Isaac Mushila and first-teamer Terrion Murdix. Lutz’s senior leaders were part of Lutz’s first, ten-player recruiting class.

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Mushila tied for the conference lead in rebounding while he, Murdix and Trevain Tennyson all ranked among the league’s top 15 in scoring. A&M-Corpus Christi led the Southland in scoring, rebounding and free throws. Murdix is the league’s top defensive player.

This is a game that feels fairly even on paper so don’t be surprised if it doesn’t come down to the final minutes. Odds makers call the Islanders a four-point favorite.