LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Interstat) — A surging Southeast Missouri State looks to continue its push in the Ohio Valley Conference standings when it visits struggling Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday. The Redhawks (17-11) have won six of their last seven games, including a 56-53 overtime victory at Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday. They sit in a much stronger position than the Trojans (10-17), who have lost five of their last six. Southeast Missouri won the first meeting this season, 70-65, at home on Jan. 22. A repeat performance would solidify its conference tournament seeding. The Redhawks are led by guard BJ Ward, who has been a consistent scoring threat. He is averaging 16.4 points over his last five games, including a 20-point effort in a loss to SIU Edwardsville on Feb. 12 and 21 points in a win over Morehead State on Feb. 5. His backcourt play will be central to the Redhawks’ attack. Arkansas-Little Rock, coming off a 78-72 loss at Eastern Illinois on Feb. 14, will rely on forward Kachi Nzeh. He is coming off one of his better recent performances, with 13 points and seven rebounds in that contest, and scored 18 points in a close loss to Lindenwood on Feb. 5. The Trojans will need a major contribution from him to counter Southeast Missouri’s momentum. The game tips off at 4:30 p.m. CST at the Jack Stephens Center. For the Trojans, it represents one of their final chances to build momentum before the conference tournament. For the Redhawks, it’s a critical opportunity to avoid a damaging slip against a lower-ranked opponent as the regular season winds down.