Thursday, November 22
Las Vegas, Nev.
12:30 p.m. CT
Southern Illinois University
2-3
62
vs
84
UMass
4-2
1
2
F
Southern Illinois
20
42
62
Massachusetts
47
37
84
Photo by: Will Becque
UMass storms past Salukis, 84-62
11/22/2018 | 4:11:00 | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Massachusetts men's basketball team raced past Southern Illinois 84-62 on Thanksgiving Day in Orleans Arena. UMass hit ten first-half 3-pointers en route to a 27-point lead at halftime and cruised to the win in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Invitational.Â
"We had no energy, no juice to start the game," SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. "That's what it all came down to. Give UMass credit. Boy, they came to play, and we didn't. That's just point-blank."
The bright spots for SIU were guard Eric McGill and center Rudy Stradnieks. Stradnieks had 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting. McGill, in his first game back after missing two games with a re-aggravated foot injury, scored a career-high 18 points in just 18 minutes. He added five rebounds and a steal.
"The one thing about Eric, he always plays hard," Hinson said. "We know that he brings energy and excitement to the game, and certainly he continues to play like that. He'll get a lot more minutes."
After Kavion Pippen opened the game's scoring with a layup, UMass (4-2) responded with a 16-0 run to take control of the game. SIU (2-3) got within 11 points at 26-15, but the Minutemen closed the half on a 21-5 run. SIU came into the game having limited opponents to sub-40 percent shooting for three-straight games, but UMass shot 47 percent from the field and made 15 3-pointers, the third-most ever allowed by SIU.Â
"We let our offense dictate how we played defense," Hinson said. "We weren't playing very well, offensively, at all. We just lost all our energy. We didn't guard a lick, and we can't do that. We can come out here and talk all we want about offense, but the bottom line was they shot 47 percent (from the field). No one, including Kentucky, has shot that well against us this year."
Pippen was SIU's third player in double-figures with 12 points. SIU closes the tournament in the third-place game on Friday night. Southern Illinois faces Tulsa at approximately 11:30 p.m. CT.Â
"If you're a competitor, and you can't come back from a butt-whipping, then you have a problem," Hinson said. "If we can't get those guys ready to play after this debacle, then we have problems. We'll figure it out."
With the championship game beforehand, the start time could change. Fans are encouraged to follow Saluki Basketball on Twitter @SIU_Basketball for schedule updates. The game will be televised nationally on FS1.Â
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Team Stats
SIU
UM
FG%
.418
.470
3FG%
.235
.417
FT%
.600
.778
RB
30
40
TO
18
15
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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