Wednesday, December 7
Louisville, KY
6:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
5-4
51
at
74
Louisville
8-1
1
2
F
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
26
25
51
LOUISVILLE
37
37
74
Photo by: Madison Case
Men's Basketball falls at Louisville, 74-51
12/07/2016 | 8:44:00 | Men's Basketball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — No. 11-ranked Louisville scored the game's first 13 points and rarely looked back during a workmanlike 74-51 victory over Southern Illinois on Wednesday night at the KFC Yum Center.
With superior size across the front line, the Cardinals (8-1) used their trademark full-court press to fluster SIU's offense — forcing 17 turnovers and limiting the visitors to 35 percent shooting from the field. On offense, they pounded the ball inside for easy buckets. Mangok Mathiang, a 6-foot-10 forward, entered the contest averaging just six points, but he scored the game's first seven and finished with a team-high 15.
Besides Mathiang, 6-foot-9 forward Jaylen Johnson was a force inside, scoring nine points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking six shots. Throw in 6-foot-7 forward Deng Adel, who had 12 points and a dozen rebounds, and the mismatch was clear.
"We have size in the low post, and when they're not doubling, its going to be easy shots," said Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who described the team's first 14 minutes of the game, in which Louisville built a 23-6 lead, as "brilliant."
"You've got to give credit to Coach Pitino — they went down at us," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson, whose tallest starter is 6-foot-8. "We knew they were going to. Obviously, our game plan was to (defend) it a little different. We wanted to dig on the ball."
The Salukis (5-4) were playing their first nationally ranked non-conference opponent since facing Xavier on Christmas Day in 2011. They were rattled early, missing their first seven shots before Sean O'Brien finally made a baseline jumper with 14:50 to go.
SIU entered the game with a balanced scoring attack of five players averaging double figures, but tonight, only O'Brien (15 points) and point guard Mike Rodriguez (15 points) could get anything going offensively. In fact, the senior duo scored 26 of the team's first 33 points. The other three starters were 7-for-27 from the field.
"When your two starting guards go 4-for-20 and 2-for-14 from the three, and your starting center gets one rebound, we're not going beat anybody," Hinson said. "We've got to find a lineup that wants to come out here and is not scared, that wants to compete."
There were some brief flurries in the game, in which Southern held its own. After falling behind, 23-6, the Salukis put together a 10-2 run when Rodriguez made a deep 3-pointer, followed by a layup in transition, and then a dish to Rudy Stradnieks for an easy layup. Leo Vincent made a 3-ball to cap the run and cut it to 25-16.
That was the last time the deficit reached single digits, although SIU did cut an 18-point Cardinal lead to 11 at halftime.
Louisville didn't do anything fancy in the second half, gradually building a 25-point cushion. As has been their weakness this year, the Cardinals struggled from 3-point range, converting just 4-of-17. They just had too much length for Southern to run its normal sets, and sometimes Louisville's best offense was a missed shot. The Cardinals held a 43-31 advantage in rebounding and gathered 13 second-chance points.
"I don't think we're great at anything," Pitino said. "We're good at a lot of things."
Louisville played without 7-foot center Anas Mahmoud, who suffered a concussion in the team's win over Purdue last week. No problem — the Cardinals inserted another 7-footer in Matz Stockman, as their towering front-court parts all seemed interchangeable. The biggest cheer of the game came in the second half when 6-foot-10 center Ray Spalding picked Rodriguez pocket and dribbled the length of the floor for a dunk.
With 11 rebounds, O'Brien recorded his second double-double of the season for SIU and the eighth of his career.
"I was really encouraged with Sean," Hinson said. "You've got a guy that for the first time went against athleticism and length and comes off the floor with a double-double."
The game marked the third and final Power Five conference opponent on SIU's schedule. The Salukis lost to Arkansas, Minnesota and Louisville by an average margin of 20 points.
With superior size across the front line, the Cardinals (8-1) used their trademark full-court press to fluster SIU's offense — forcing 17 turnovers and limiting the visitors to 35 percent shooting from the field. On offense, they pounded the ball inside for easy buckets. Mangok Mathiang, a 6-foot-10 forward, entered the contest averaging just six points, but he scored the game's first seven and finished with a team-high 15.
Besides Mathiang, 6-foot-9 forward Jaylen Johnson was a force inside, scoring nine points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking six shots. Throw in 6-foot-7 forward Deng Adel, who had 12 points and a dozen rebounds, and the mismatch was clear.
"We have size in the low post, and when they're not doubling, its going to be easy shots," said Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, who described the team's first 14 minutes of the game, in which Louisville built a 23-6 lead, as "brilliant."
"You've got to give credit to Coach Pitino — they went down at us," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson, whose tallest starter is 6-foot-8. "We knew they were going to. Obviously, our game plan was to (defend) it a little different. We wanted to dig on the ball."
The Salukis (5-4) were playing their first nationally ranked non-conference opponent since facing Xavier on Christmas Day in 2011. They were rattled early, missing their first seven shots before Sean O'Brien finally made a baseline jumper with 14:50 to go.
SIU entered the game with a balanced scoring attack of five players averaging double figures, but tonight, only O'Brien (15 points) and point guard Mike Rodriguez (15 points) could get anything going offensively. In fact, the senior duo scored 26 of the team's first 33 points. The other three starters were 7-for-27 from the field.
"When your two starting guards go 4-for-20 and 2-for-14 from the three, and your starting center gets one rebound, we're not going beat anybody," Hinson said. "We've got to find a lineup that wants to come out here and is not scared, that wants to compete."
There were some brief flurries in the game, in which Southern held its own. After falling behind, 23-6, the Salukis put together a 10-2 run when Rodriguez made a deep 3-pointer, followed by a layup in transition, and then a dish to Rudy Stradnieks for an easy layup. Leo Vincent made a 3-ball to cap the run and cut it to 25-16.
That was the last time the deficit reached single digits, although SIU did cut an 18-point Cardinal lead to 11 at halftime.
Louisville didn't do anything fancy in the second half, gradually building a 25-point cushion. As has been their weakness this year, the Cardinals struggled from 3-point range, converting just 4-of-17. They just had too much length for Southern to run its normal sets, and sometimes Louisville's best offense was a missed shot. The Cardinals held a 43-31 advantage in rebounding and gathered 13 second-chance points.
"I don't think we're great at anything," Pitino said. "We're good at a lot of things."
Louisville played without 7-foot center Anas Mahmoud, who suffered a concussion in the team's win over Purdue last week. No problem — the Cardinals inserted another 7-footer in Matz Stockman, as their towering front-court parts all seemed interchangeable. The biggest cheer of the game came in the second half when 6-foot-10 center Ray Spalding picked Rodriguez pocket and dribbled the length of the floor for a dunk.
With 11 rebounds, O'Brien recorded his second double-double of the season for SIU and the eighth of his career.
"I was really encouraged with Sean," Hinson said. "You've got a guy that for the first time went against athleticism and length and comes off the floor with a double-double."
The game marked the third and final Power Five conference opponent on SIU's schedule. The Salukis lost to Arkansas, Minnesota and Louisville by an average margin of 20 points.
Team Stats
SIU
LOU
FG%
.352
.458
3FG%
.208
.235
FT%
.727
.615
RB
31
43
TO
17
12
STL
7
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
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