Saturday, February 24
Evansville, IN
1:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
19-12, 11-7MVC
44
at
75
Evansville
17-14, 7-11MVC
1
2
F
Southern Illinois
17
27
44
Evansville
36
39
75
Photo by: Tom Weber
Evansville tops Men’s Basketball, 75-44, in regular-season finale
02/24/2018 | 6:51:00 | Men's Basketball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Evansville snapped a four-game losing skid with a 75-44 rout of Southern Illinois on Saturday at the Ford Center in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Purple Aces (17-14, 7-11) never trailed and shot 56 percent from the field, including 10-of-19 from 3-point distance. Ryan Taylor led all scorers with 25 points
Meanwhile, the Salukis (19-12, 11-7) were non-competitive in their second-straight game, falling behind by 19 at halftime and by as many as 34 down the stretch. The silver lining for Southern, though, was it still locked up a second-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, as both Illinois State and Drake also lost today.
SIU will play in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday at 6 p.m. versus the winner of Thursday night's 7-10 game. Valparaiso will be the 10 seed and either Evansville or Missouri State will be awarded the 7-slot, based upon whoever finishes higher in the NCAA's official RPI rankings on Sunday morning.
Before the Salukis can deal with their next opponent, they must first figure out what has happened to a team that only a week ago had won eight of nine games. Since then, they suffered a 19-point home loss to conference champion Loyola, followed by today's 31-point setback.
"The Loyola game is kind of self-explanatory — you're paralyzed a little bit with the magnitude of the game," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "I didn't see today coming. I'm not surprised we could get beat, but not in that fashion."
Southern again struggled on the defensive end, allowing the Aces to score easily inside or out. Evansville had a 34-12 advantage in Points in the Paint, and when they weren't scoring down low, they kicked the ball out to wide-open jump shooters.
"I think it was clear the entire game they were working harder than us, period," Hinson said.
On offense, SIU made just 31 percent from the field and compounded the errant shooting with 20 turnovers. Armon Fletcher was the only starter in double figures with 11 points and Tyler Smithpeters added 10 points off the bench.
"Our guard play the last two games has really been bad," Hinson noted. "We can't win unless our guards play better."
Searching for answers in his post-game press conference, Hinson said, "I may have worn them out. We have no energy right now. I think what we'll do is try to get our legs back."
Then he added, "I do think big games kind of paralyzed us a little bit, made us nervous, played with a little bit of fear."
Finally, he concluded, "the assistants are going to visit with the players and find out. This is when assistant coaches make their money. Find out what's going on with us? What's our psyche? I can ask our guys all day long, (but) they're not going to tell me."
On the positive side, Southern has six days to rest and regroup before the conference tournament begins in St. Louis. The Salukis can also stake claim to the program's highest finish since winning the MVC title in 2007.
"Even though we faltered the last two games, I will not let that be taken away from these guys," Hinson said. "We were picked fifth, we finished second."
The Purple Aces (17-14, 7-11) never trailed and shot 56 percent from the field, including 10-of-19 from 3-point distance. Ryan Taylor led all scorers with 25 points
Meanwhile, the Salukis (19-12, 11-7) were non-competitive in their second-straight game, falling behind by 19 at halftime and by as many as 34 down the stretch. The silver lining for Southern, though, was it still locked up a second-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference standings, as both Illinois State and Drake also lost today.
SIU will play in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday at 6 p.m. versus the winner of Thursday night's 7-10 game. Valparaiso will be the 10 seed and either Evansville or Missouri State will be awarded the 7-slot, based upon whoever finishes higher in the NCAA's official RPI rankings on Sunday morning.
Before the Salukis can deal with their next opponent, they must first figure out what has happened to a team that only a week ago had won eight of nine games. Since then, they suffered a 19-point home loss to conference champion Loyola, followed by today's 31-point setback.
"The Loyola game is kind of self-explanatory — you're paralyzed a little bit with the magnitude of the game," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "I didn't see today coming. I'm not surprised we could get beat, but not in that fashion."
Southern again struggled on the defensive end, allowing the Aces to score easily inside or out. Evansville had a 34-12 advantage in Points in the Paint, and when they weren't scoring down low, they kicked the ball out to wide-open jump shooters.
"I think it was clear the entire game they were working harder than us, period," Hinson said.
On offense, SIU made just 31 percent from the field and compounded the errant shooting with 20 turnovers. Armon Fletcher was the only starter in double figures with 11 points and Tyler Smithpeters added 10 points off the bench.
"Our guard play the last two games has really been bad," Hinson noted. "We can't win unless our guards play better."
Searching for answers in his post-game press conference, Hinson said, "I may have worn them out. We have no energy right now. I think what we'll do is try to get our legs back."
Then he added, "I do think big games kind of paralyzed us a little bit, made us nervous, played with a little bit of fear."
Finally, he concluded, "the assistants are going to visit with the players and find out. This is when assistant coaches make their money. Find out what's going on with us? What's our psyche? I can ask our guys all day long, (but) they're not going to tell me."
On the positive side, Southern has six days to rest and regroup before the conference tournament begins in St. Louis. The Salukis can also stake claim to the program's highest finish since winning the MVC title in 2007.
"Even though we faltered the last two games, I will not let that be taken away from these guys," Hinson said. "We were picked fifth, we finished second."
Team Stats
SIU
UE
FG%
.310
.564
3FG%
.313
.526
FT%
.684
.750
RB
24
35
TO
20
15
STL
7
10
Game Leaders
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
4
FGM
0
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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