Sunday, January 21
Carbondale, IL
3 PM
Southern Illinois University
12-9, (4-4)
64
vs
53
Northern Iowa
10-10, (2-6)
1
2
F
Northern Iowa
21
32
53
Southern Illinois
25
39
64
Photo by: Madison Case
Men's Basketball completes season sweep of Northern Iowa with 64-53 win
01/21/2018 | 6:31:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois held Northern Iowa to 34 percent shooting and made some timely 3-pointers of its own to pull away for a 64-53 win on Sunday afternoon at SIU Arena. SIU swept the season series with UNI for the first time since 2003.
Sean Lloyd led a balanced scoring attack for the Salukis (12-9, 4-4) with 15 points, while Marcus Bartley added 12 points on four 3-pointers, and Armon Fletcher (12) and Kavion Pippen (11) also reached double figures.
The game played out much the same as the first matchup did in Cedar Falls on Dec. 28. Bartley, who made four treys in the first meeting, once again softened up the Panthers' defense from long range. He made two treys early in each half today, helping Southern pull out to a 25-21 halftime advantage and then extend its lead to 37-29 with 14:16 to go.
The Salukis took their largest lead, 53-36, after a 12-1 run that featured two jumpers by Pippen and a pair of 3-pointers by Tyler Smithpeters, who added eight points off the bench. SIU's defense forced nine-straight missed shots by UNI during one stretch, with six of those attempts coming from long range.
"That team that you saw on the floor today reminded me of the old teams when I used to come into this building," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson, who coached nine seasons at league rival Missouri State.
Picked to finish second in the preseason poll, the Panthers (10-10, 2-6) have lost eight of their last 10 and remained winless on the road. Against an SIU defense determined to protect the paint, their starting guards combined to go 1-for-15 from 3-point range. Preseason All-Conference center Bennett Koch had another shaky outing. He came off the bench and was held to four points on 1-of-5 shooting with three turnovers.
"We knew they were going to have 2-3 guys down there (defending Koch) — it's the same way they defended us in the last game," said UNI head coach Ben Jacobson. "We made some good plays, got it skipped to the corner, and we missed some open threes. That happened to us early-on and those can change the momentum a little bit."
UNI made a late run to cut it to single digits, 54-46, on a layup by Isaiah Brown with 3:21 remaining, but SIU countered with six-straight points — the last four coming off steals by Armon Fletcher.
Jacobson said his team "did not have an edge to them" after falling behind, perhaps because their 16-point comeback versus Drake earlier in the week was still fresh in their minds.
"We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores on this team, and it felt like they thought, 'well, we just did this the other day so we'll do it again,'" he said. "That's not the way this works."
Bartley has had his two best games of the season against the Panthers and is 8-for-11 combined from behind the arc against UNI. He entered the game having connected on just three of his last 15.
"Marcus Bartley came off the floor (during the last game) at Loyola and told coach (Brad) Autry, 'I know I'm playing bad — I'm sorry — I'm having a hard time changing it," Hinson said. "When kids are that honest with you, your heart goes out to them."
Smithpeters continues to provide a spark off the bench for Southern. The team is 11-5 when he makes multiple 3-points shots in a game, as he did today. He also had two assists.
"We run a lot of our stuff through Tyler because he makes the right reads," Hinson said. "That's what you're supposed to do when you're a fifth-year senior. We have great confidence in Tyler right now."
Southern had active hands on defense, with 10 steals and 13 turnovers forced.
"After the way we played at Loyola, the embarrassment, the effort, the energy we played with up there, we challenged these guys the last 48 hours," Hinson said. "Not in a super-aggressive way, more in a business-like and mature kind of way, and our guys really responded."
Hinson said he's starting to get a feel for how to motivate his squad, sensing that they don't respond well to emotion.
"I promise you, if this team went to a Pentecostal tent revival, not one of them would raise their hand during praise and worship," he joked. "They just don't have that type of spirit. If they just compete like they did today, they don't have to be rah-rah for me."
Sean Lloyd led a balanced scoring attack for the Salukis (12-9, 4-4) with 15 points, while Marcus Bartley added 12 points on four 3-pointers, and Armon Fletcher (12) and Kavion Pippen (11) also reached double figures.
The game played out much the same as the first matchup did in Cedar Falls on Dec. 28. Bartley, who made four treys in the first meeting, once again softened up the Panthers' defense from long range. He made two treys early in each half today, helping Southern pull out to a 25-21 halftime advantage and then extend its lead to 37-29 with 14:16 to go.
The Salukis took their largest lead, 53-36, after a 12-1 run that featured two jumpers by Pippen and a pair of 3-pointers by Tyler Smithpeters, who added eight points off the bench. SIU's defense forced nine-straight missed shots by UNI during one stretch, with six of those attempts coming from long range.
"That team that you saw on the floor today reminded me of the old teams when I used to come into this building," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson, who coached nine seasons at league rival Missouri State.
Picked to finish second in the preseason poll, the Panthers (10-10, 2-6) have lost eight of their last 10 and remained winless on the road. Against an SIU defense determined to protect the paint, their starting guards combined to go 1-for-15 from 3-point range. Preseason All-Conference center Bennett Koch had another shaky outing. He came off the bench and was held to four points on 1-of-5 shooting with three turnovers.
"We knew they were going to have 2-3 guys down there (defending Koch) — it's the same way they defended us in the last game," said UNI head coach Ben Jacobson. "We made some good plays, got it skipped to the corner, and we missed some open threes. That happened to us early-on and those can change the momentum a little bit."
UNI made a late run to cut it to single digits, 54-46, on a layup by Isaiah Brown with 3:21 remaining, but SIU countered with six-straight points — the last four coming off steals by Armon Fletcher.
Jacobson said his team "did not have an edge to them" after falling behind, perhaps because their 16-point comeback versus Drake earlier in the week was still fresh in their minds.
"We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores on this team, and it felt like they thought, 'well, we just did this the other day so we'll do it again,'" he said. "That's not the way this works."
Bartley has had his two best games of the season against the Panthers and is 8-for-11 combined from behind the arc against UNI. He entered the game having connected on just three of his last 15.
"Marcus Bartley came off the floor (during the last game) at Loyola and told coach (Brad) Autry, 'I know I'm playing bad — I'm sorry — I'm having a hard time changing it," Hinson said. "When kids are that honest with you, your heart goes out to them."
Smithpeters continues to provide a spark off the bench for Southern. The team is 11-5 when he makes multiple 3-points shots in a game, as he did today. He also had two assists.
"We run a lot of our stuff through Tyler because he makes the right reads," Hinson said. "That's what you're supposed to do when you're a fifth-year senior. We have great confidence in Tyler right now."
Southern had active hands on defense, with 10 steals and 13 turnovers forced.
"After the way we played at Loyola, the embarrassment, the effort, the energy we played with up there, we challenged these guys the last 48 hours," Hinson said. "Not in a super-aggressive way, more in a business-like and mature kind of way, and our guys really responded."
Hinson said he's starting to get a feel for how to motivate his squad, sensing that they don't respond well to emotion.
"I promise you, if this team went to a Pentecostal tent revival, not one of them would raise their hand during praise and worship," he joked. "They just don't have that type of spirit. If they just compete like they did today, they don't have to be rah-rah for me."
Team Stats
UNI
SIU
FG%
.345
.500
3FG%
.267
.471
FT%
.778
.444
RB
30
35
TO
13
11
STL
8
10
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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