Red Wolves - IU East

NEW ALBANY - The Red Wolves got snowed under by some early scoring flurries at Indiana University Southeast.

The Indiana University East men's basketball team fell 101-71 against NAIA Division II No. 7 IU Southeast on Jan. 6.

It was the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for IU East (8-7).

IU Southeast, the reigning league champion, improved to 12-3 (2-0).

"I'll totally take the blame for this loss," said IU East coach Mark Hester. "I didn't prepare us for IU Southeast. I prepared us to play hard.

"This isn't the loss that hurts. We've put ourselves in a hole with our other six losses this season."

A 16-1 blizzard by IU Southeast midway through the first half put IU East in an early 29-9 hole.

The Red Wolves would get within 12, but never got the lead into single digits.

The Grenadiers hit the Red Wolves with an 11-0 run at the start of the second half to go ahead 57-33 and put the game out of reach.

Turnovers were the main culprit. IU East finished with 28 turnovers to just 15 for IU Southeast.

"This loss means nothing. It's like a Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs. It's a feeling out process," Hester said. "We've got some things we can adjust to."

IU East junior guard Tyler Rigby (Bryant, Ind./Jay County High School) finished with 21 points and is seven points short of the Red Wolves' NAIA career scoring record.

Rigby has 803 points at IU East. The current record is 810.

Senior guard Bijon Jones (Jackson, Tenn./Southeast Missouri State University) joined Rigby in double figures with 14 points.

Brice Mitchell led six IU Southeast players in double figures with 18 points.

IU East hosts Alice Lloyd College in a KIAC contest on Jan. 9 in the Richmond High School Tiernan Center. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.