Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
10-17, 3-11MVC
Evansville
18-8, 9-6MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Evansville | 30 | 42 | 72 |
| Southern Illinois | 29 | 35 | 64 |
Hot-shooting Evansville tops Men's Basketball, 72-64
02/14/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Evansville shot 67 percent from the field in the second half and its bench out-scored Southern Illinois, 39-9, during a 72-64 victory at SIU Arena on Saturday.
Reserves Jaylon Moore (13), Duane Gibson (12) and Mislav Brzoja (12) all scored in double figures for the Purple Aces (18-8, 9-6), who swept the season series from SIU for the first time since 1998. The game was tied, 45-45, with 11 minutes remaining, but Brzoja hit a 3-pointer and Evansville never trailed thereafter. Southern came as close as 56-55 on a pair of free throws by Jordan Caroline with 6:19 to go, but Brzoja scored the next five points and SIU made just one field goal in the final seven minutes of the game.
"They absolutely picked us apart in the second half," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "We had some breakdowns and it's absolutely what cost us."
The Salukis (10-17, 3-11) had four players record double figures, led by Caroline's 13-point, 15-rebound performance, but they had only four assists and committed 17 turnovers in the game. For Southern, it was the fewest assists in a conference home game in school history.
"You cannot turn the ball over 17 times and have four assists and beat anybody," Hinson said. "It's just impossible."
SIU accomplished several of its key priorities in the game. The defense held league-leading scorer D.J. Balentine to 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting. The Salukis also got Evansville center Egidijus Mockevicius into foul trouble. Playing for the first time since suffering a concussion 10 days ago, the 6-foot-10 Mockevicius scored 10 points in only 11 minutes before sitting out the final nine minutes with four fouls. Southern had a 30-19 advantage in free throw attempts.
"We wanted to get to the free throw line, we wanted to get the big fella in foul trouble, we wanted to limit Balentine's touches, shots and points," said Hinson. "Their bench and our turnovers and lack of execution defensively in the second half just nailed us."
With Mockevicius on the bench, the Salukis dominated the offensive glass. Caroline had nine of Southern's 14 offensive rebounds. It was the most offensive boards by a Saluki player since Joshua Cross pulled down 10 against Illinois State on Feb. 12, 2000.
"It's never easy over here and never easy against Coach Hinson's teams," said Evansville coach Marty Simmons. "We had to have several different guys make plays at the end."
Although Balentine had a below-average scoring night, he was the team's top facilitator with five assists -- one more than Southern's entire lineup.
"In the last eight minutes we didn't turn it over, and that's hard because (the Salukis) were really aggressive, really active, they were switching, they were applying pressure," Simmons said. "It wasn't easy. It was good execution for the most part and guys stepping up and making plays."
Southern got off to a nice start in the game by scoring the first seven points, as Tyler Smithpeters hit a 3-pointer, Anthony Beane grabbed a steal and scored on a dunk, and Smithpeters made two free throws. The tide quickly turned, however, as the Aces took the lead with a 10-2 run.
"I don't think we had any energy or enthusiasm to start the game," Hinson said. "We got off to a 9-2 start, but that was all false, it was all fool's gold. We just kept trying to get our guys going and going and going, and couldn't get them jump-started."
Smithpeters, Beane and Deion Lavender each had 11 points for SIU, and Sean O'Brien broke out of shooting funk by making all four field goal attempts to finish with nine points. It wasn't enough to keep the Salukis from losing their 13th game in their last 16 tries. Things won't get any easier with nationally ranked Wichita State coming to Carbondale on Tuesday night, followed by road trips to top-half of the conference teams Indiana State and Illinois State.
"All I know is who I am, and I'm going to come in here and fight my butt off," Hinson said.
