The push for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament is coming down to the wire. The winner will receive the conference’s automatic invite to what Marquette coach Al McGuire called the “big dance,” the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The losers go home.

Southeast has two home games remaining on their schedule, both of which could profoundly impact the Redhawks’ playoff picture.

Should the Redhawks drop two or more spots in the standings, they will match up against one of the three OVC juggernauts: Morehead State, Murray State or Belmont.

The Redhawks currently sit in fourth place in the OVC, one win ahead of Tennessee State. Should they keep their position, they would likely play one of the aforementioned teams.

Southeast has been more comfortable playing at home, holding a 7-4 record as compared to a 5-10 record on the road.

Redhawks coach Brad Korn said the key to winning their last stretch of regular season games is team defense.

“Our defense has to show up,” Korn said. “If other parts of your game are lacking but you can still defend, you're going to give yourself a chance. We've got to be able to defend, and we've got to take care of the basketball.”

In a season that included a five game losing streak, the Redhawk’s resiliency prevailed as they currently find themselves in the top half of the OVC.

“I feel we've made progress, and we're moving in the right direction, and we've got to do a good job of finishing this thing off and putting ourselves really in a good position for the conference tournament,” he said.

After three straight seasons without an OVC tournament appearance and a last-place finish in the 2019-2020 season, Korn led the Redhawks to a conference tournament appearance in his first season as head coach and is in position to lead his team to a second consecutive tournament appearance.

“I like where we're at from the standpoint of where we are in the standings,” Korn said. “I wish we were in a little bit better position to contend at the top. But all in all, we put ourselves in a good position here for the last two weeks of the season.”

Freshman guard Philip Russel said Korn has helped the team in ways that go beyond just basketball.

“He's been phenomenal,” Russel said. “We can go to him for anything. He's been great on and off the court. He's really been like a father to everybody. There's no question we can’t ask, so we can go to him for about anything. We’re real comfortable with Coach Korn.”

Should Southeast hold on to their fourth-place position, they would be seeded fourth in the tournament and would likely play Morehead State, who defeated them in the first round of the tournament year.

Russel said playing with energy is the key to winning in the OVC tournament hosted in Evansville, Ind.

“Some key factors to winning in Evansville is bringing our own energy,” Russell said. “Once we’re playing with energy, we’re a tough team to beat.”

Southeast’s leading scorer, junior guard Eric Reed Jr., said the key factor to finding success in the conference tournament is controlling the game early.

“I think we need to take control of the game early and not let the refs control the game,” Reed said. “That’s probably been one of our biggest things for this year and road games. I feel if we stay together, and we play hard, and we make plays for each other, and we take care of business early, I think we’ll be perfectly fine when we get to Evansville.”

Southeast has only received the coveted bid to the big dance one time in its history, and that was the 1999-2000 season under coach Gary Garner, the all-time winningest basketball coach in SEMO history.

In their last home stand of the season, SEMO will play two crucial games against the UT-Martin Skyhawks and the 21st ranked team in the nation, the Murray State Racers. Southeast will first take on the Skyhawks on Thursday, Feb. 27th at 7:00 p.m. at the Show Me Center, then the Racers on Saturday Feb. 27th at 4:00 p.m. in their final game of the regular season.