Wednesday, December 5
Carbondale, Ill.
7 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
6-3
61
vs
56
Saint Louis
6-2
1
2
F
Saint Louis
23
33
56
Southern Illinois
27
34
61
Saluki Basketball earns 61-56 win over Saint Louis
12/05/2018 | 9:44:00 | Men's Basketball
Photo Gallery
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois men's basketball team earned a hard-fought 61-56 win over Saint Louis on Wednesday night at SIU Arena. The Salukis have won six of the last seven games and four in a row after the win over the Billikens (6-2).
SIU (6-3) built a 10-point lead with 5:36 to go, and Thik Bol blocked five shots in the last five minutes to end any chance of a Billiken comeback. In the midst of that, several SLU players noticeably altered shots or hesitated when they noticed Bol lurking around the play.
"It's been a long time since I've been in a game where a guy, literally in eight possessions, changed the game all by himself," SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. "I've never seen anything like that. What Thik Bol did tonight was about as impressive as anything I've seen on the defensive end."Â
SIU has taken three of the last four games against Saint Louis in a tightly contested series that has seen four of the last five games decided by five points or fewer. SLU, the preseason Atlantic-10 Conference favorites, were coming off a 12-point win over perennial mid-major powerhouse Butler.
"This is a good win (for SIU) because we're a pretty good basketball team. I told our team this doesn't change that; we got beat by a pretty good basketball team," SLU coach Travis Ford said.
SIU led nearly wire-to-wire--Saint Louis had the lead for only 12 seconds in the game. The Salukis, who have five players averaging double-figures, again featured a balanced attack. Sean Lloyd Jr. and Armon Fletcher each had 13 points, and Kavion Pippen had 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Marcus Bartley, who transferred to SIU from Saint Louis, had 9 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Lloyd set a career high with nine rebounds.Â
Saint Louis came into the game with the nation's 20th-best defensive efficiency, and SIU struggled to score against the Billikens, going 4-for-18 from the 3-point line (22 percent). But the Salukis were even better defensively, holding the Billikens to season lows of 56 points and 33 percent shooting. Near the one-third mark of the season, SIU has held each of its three top-rated opponents (Kentucky, Buffalo, and Saint Louis) to their season low in points.
"As bad as we played tonight offensively, we were that good defensively," Hinson said. "I told you guys at the press conference, and I wasn't peacocking: Everybody was talking about their defense; I said our defense was as good as theirs. I was proud of our guys. I thought we buckled down and guarded."
Southern Illinois travels to Southeast Missouri for a regional rivalry game on Saturday, December 8. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.
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CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois men's basketball team earned a hard-fought 61-56 win over Saint Louis on Wednesday night at SIU Arena. The Salukis have won six of the last seven games and four in a row after the win over the Billikens (6-2).
SIU (6-3) built a 10-point lead with 5:36 to go, and Thik Bol blocked five shots in the last five minutes to end any chance of a Billiken comeback. In the midst of that, several SLU players noticeably altered shots or hesitated when they noticed Bol lurking around the play.
"It's been a long time since I've been in a game where a guy, literally in eight possessions, changed the game all by himself," SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. "I've never seen anything like that. What Thik Bol did tonight was about as impressive as anything I've seen on the defensive end."Â
SIU has taken three of the last four games against Saint Louis in a tightly contested series that has seen four of the last five games decided by five points or fewer. SLU, the preseason Atlantic-10 Conference favorites, were coming off a 12-point win over perennial mid-major powerhouse Butler.
"This is a good win (for SIU) because we're a pretty good basketball team. I told our team this doesn't change that; we got beat by a pretty good basketball team," SLU coach Travis Ford said.
SIU led nearly wire-to-wire--Saint Louis had the lead for only 12 seconds in the game. The Salukis, who have five players averaging double-figures, again featured a balanced attack. Sean Lloyd Jr. and Armon Fletcher each had 13 points, and Kavion Pippen had 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Marcus Bartley, who transferred to SIU from Saint Louis, had 9 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Lloyd set a career high with nine rebounds.Â
Saint Louis came into the game with the nation's 20th-best defensive efficiency, and SIU struggled to score against the Billikens, going 4-for-18 from the 3-point line (22 percent). But the Salukis were even better defensively, holding the Billikens to season lows of 56 points and 33 percent shooting. Near the one-third mark of the season, SIU has held each of its three top-rated opponents (Kentucky, Buffalo, and Saint Louis) to their season low in points.
"As bad as we played tonight offensively, we were that good defensively," Hinson said. "I told you guys at the press conference, and I wasn't peacocking: Everybody was talking about their defense; I said our defense was as good as theirs. I was proud of our guys. I thought we buckled down and guarded."
Southern Illinois travels to Southeast Missouri for a regional rivalry game on Saturday, December 8. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.
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Team Stats
SLU
SIU
FG%
.333
.451
3FG%
.231
.222
FT%
.444
.524
RB
45
39
TO
16
16
STL
9
9
Game Leaders
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
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