Friday, November 23
Las Vegas, Nev.
11:30 p.m. CT
Southern Illinois University
3-3
79
vs
69
Tulsa
4-2
1
2
F
Southern Illinois
32
47
79
Tulsa
35
34
69
Salukis gut out 79-69 bounce-back win over Tulsa
11/24/2018 | 3:40:00 | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Southern Illinois men's basketball team earned a hard-fought 79-69 win over Tulsa late Friday night at Orleans Arena. After a 22-point loss to UMass on Thanksgiving Day, SIU responded with a 47-point second half to earn the win and split two games at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Holiday Invitational.Â
"There were two things we talked about," SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. "The first was, we're going to find out who we are. In all honesty, we felt like our backs were against the wall to find out what kind of character we really have. Our goal is to win a conference championship; and in our non-conference, how we respond to this adversity is going to propel us. The other thing was we challenged the bench to create as much energy as possible. I thought we were 2-for-2 on the things we asked them to do."
The Salukis (3-3) were remarkably balanced offensively. Three players scored in double-figures and three more finished the game with 9 points. No individual took more than nine shots and seven of the nine players with a shot attempt shot at least 50 percent from the floor.Â
Tulsa (4-2) led for most of the first half and had a 35-32 lead at the break. Southern's offense sizzled in the second half, shooting 15-for-23 from the floor (65 percent) and 6-for-9 from the 3-point line (67 percent). Just as imporant, the defense held the Golden Hurricane to 39 percent shooting in the second half and 36 percent from the 3-point line.Â
Tulsa came into the game averaging 80 points per game, and star guard Sterling Taplin was averaging 13 points, 7 assists and just 1 turnover per game. SIU limited Tulsa to 69 points and held Taplin to eight points (on 2-for-10 shooting), two assists and four turnovers.Â
"At halftime, we didn't say one word about our offense," Hinson said. "We continually told our guys, 'It has to be about your defense.'"
All 10 of SIU's players made big plays in the game. Thik Bol played his best game of the year, scoring nine points and grabbing five rebounds in 22 minutes. He added three blocks and altered several more shots. Armon Fletcher stuffed the stat sheet with nine points (on 3-for-4 shooting), five rebounds, four assists and two steals. He put the exclamation point on the win with a 360-degree dunk in the final minute of the win.Â
Eric McGill was SIU's leading scorer for the second game in a row with 14 points. In two games in Las Vegas, McGill had 32 points, and he did it using only 14 shots in only 44 minutes. Aaron Cook was named to the All-Tournament team after the game and scored 13 points along with two steals. Marcus Bartley hit three 3-pointers and dished six assists in the win. Sean Lloyd Jr., with 11 points, was the third Saluki in double-figures.Â
The last game of the tournament started at 9:35 local time and ended after 11:30, which is after 1:30 a.m. Central Time.Â
Up next, SIU travels to Colorado State in the MVC-Mountain West Challenge. Tip on November 27 is set for 8 p.m. CT.Â
Â
EXCLAMATION POINT by Fletch. @TrynnaFunction | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/B2Oz2ve90j
— Saluki Basketball (@SIU_Basketball) November 24, 2018
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Team Stats
SIU
TLS
FG%
.568
.431
3FG%
.611
.350
FT%
.692
.783
RB
26
28
TO
13
16
STL
8
1
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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