Sunday, November 10
Kissimmee, Fla.
12 p.m. CT
Southern Illinois University
2-2,0-0MVC
52
vs
61
Oakland
3-1,0-0Horizon
1
2
F
Southern Ill.
19
33
52
Oakland
31
30
61
Photo by: T.H. Weber
Oakland fends off Salukis at Sunshine Slam
11/10/2019 | 2:33:00 | Men's Basketball
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Oakland built a 12-point halftime lead and held off a shorthanded SIU men's basketball team on Sunday afternoon at Silver Spurs Arena on the final day of the Sunshine Slam. The Golden Grizzlies won the game, 61.52.
SIU (2-2), which has played all four games this year without projected starter Ronnie Suggs Jr., had another starter -- Eric McGill -- go down late in yesterday's loss to Delaware. McGill tried to play today against Oakland, but logged only 12 minutes and did not play in the second half. Also without bench pieces Sekou Dembele and Will Keller due to injury, SIU only played seven men in the second half.
SIU struggled offensively in the first half, shooting 31% from the field and just 3-for-16 from the 3-point line (19%). Oakland (3-1) shot as well as anyone has against SIU early in the season (48%) and took a 31-19 lead into halftime.
"We came out and played the right way," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "The guys had good energy to start the game. Offensively, we executed. We got wide-open 3's and scored when we got to the paint. Obviously, we missed a bunch of 3's, but the game plan was to attack their guys; we knew they were going to clog the paint up; and once you get to the paint, kick it out, step in and shoot with confidence. I wish some of those early ones would have fallen. That would have changed the game. But I'm proud of the guys who finished the game and played extremely hard in the second half. Obviously, lack of depth hurt us a little bit, but we have to continue to grow and get better as a team."
A day after mounting a 13-point comeback to take the lead against Delaware, SIU again had a second-half surge. The Salukis, after trailing by as many as 14, got within 42-37 on a Trent Brown 3-pointer to force an Oakland timeout, but the Grizzlies came out of the break on a 4-0 run to push the lead back to nine. Four minutes later, Brown hit another 3-pointer to force another Oakland timeout, but the Grizzlies came out of that break and went on an 11-3 run to push the lead back to 14 and put the game away.
If SIU would have completed the comeback, it would have been due to outstanding second-half performances from seniors Barret Benson and Aaron Cook Jr. Both played all 20 minutes, and the pair combined for 21 of the team's 33 second-half points. Cook scored or assisted on nine of SIU's 13 second-half field goals; and thanks largely to Cook's five second-half steals, SIU forced nine Oakland turnovers in the second half and scored 16 points off turnovers after the intermission.
"I'm proud of them," Mullins said of Benson and Cook. "They're our leaders, and we're going to ride with them."
SIU came out of the Sunshine Slam 1-2. After Friday night's win over UTSA, the Salukis fell to Delaware and Oakland on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
"I hoped to learn how we would handle adversity," Mullins said. "Yesterday, we didn't play well in the first half but came back in the second half and gave ourselves a chance to win. I thought that was a positive. We have to learn how to close that game out. Today, fighting through the injuries, I thought our guys never stopped competing. We have to get better, basketball-wise. We have to get better, X's and O's-wise. But in terms or competitiveness, I thought the guys fought every game."
UP NEXT: SIU has nearly a week off before welcoming San Francisco on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Banterra Center.
NOTES: Aaron Cook Jr. had seven steals, becoming the fourth player in SIU history with 7+ steals in a game (Marcus Timmons, Darren Brooks [3 times], and Bryan Mullins) ... Cook's seven steals were the most by a Saluki in a game since Bryan Mullins had eight steals at Creighton in 2006 ... Cook was named to the Sunshine Slam All-Tournament Team. He averaged 17.0 points, 4.3 steals, 3.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game in the tournament while shooting 61% from the field.
SIU (2-2), which has played all four games this year without projected starter Ronnie Suggs Jr., had another starter -- Eric McGill -- go down late in yesterday's loss to Delaware. McGill tried to play today against Oakland, but logged only 12 minutes and did not play in the second half. Also without bench pieces Sekou Dembele and Will Keller due to injury, SIU only played seven men in the second half.
SIU struggled offensively in the first half, shooting 31% from the field and just 3-for-16 from the 3-point line (19%). Oakland (3-1) shot as well as anyone has against SIU early in the season (48%) and took a 31-19 lead into halftime.
"We came out and played the right way," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "The guys had good energy to start the game. Offensively, we executed. We got wide-open 3's and scored when we got to the paint. Obviously, we missed a bunch of 3's, but the game plan was to attack their guys; we knew they were going to clog the paint up; and once you get to the paint, kick it out, step in and shoot with confidence. I wish some of those early ones would have fallen. That would have changed the game. But I'm proud of the guys who finished the game and played extremely hard in the second half. Obviously, lack of depth hurt us a little bit, but we have to continue to grow and get better as a team."
A day after mounting a 13-point comeback to take the lead against Delaware, SIU again had a second-half surge. The Salukis, after trailing by as many as 14, got within 42-37 on a Trent Brown 3-pointer to force an Oakland timeout, but the Grizzlies came out of the break on a 4-0 run to push the lead back to nine. Four minutes later, Brown hit another 3-pointer to force another Oakland timeout, but the Grizzlies came out of that break and went on an 11-3 run to push the lead back to 14 and put the game away.
If SIU would have completed the comeback, it would have been due to outstanding second-half performances from seniors Barret Benson and Aaron Cook Jr. Both played all 20 minutes, and the pair combined for 21 of the team's 33 second-half points. Cook scored or assisted on nine of SIU's 13 second-half field goals; and thanks largely to Cook's five second-half steals, SIU forced nine Oakland turnovers in the second half and scored 16 points off turnovers after the intermission.
"I'm proud of them," Mullins said of Benson and Cook. "They're our leaders, and we're going to ride with them."
SIU came out of the Sunshine Slam 1-2. After Friday night's win over UTSA, the Salukis fell to Delaware and Oakland on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
"I hoped to learn how we would handle adversity," Mullins said. "Yesterday, we didn't play well in the first half but came back in the second half and gave ourselves a chance to win. I thought that was a positive. We have to learn how to close that game out. Today, fighting through the injuries, I thought our guys never stopped competing. We have to get better, basketball-wise. We have to get better, X's and O's-wise. But in terms or competitiveness, I thought the guys fought every game."
UP NEXT: SIU has nearly a week off before welcoming San Francisco on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Banterra Center.
NOTES: Aaron Cook Jr. had seven steals, becoming the fourth player in SIU history with 7+ steals in a game (Marcus Timmons, Darren Brooks [3 times], and Bryan Mullins) ... Cook's seven steals were the most by a Saluki in a game since Bryan Mullins had eight steals at Creighton in 2006 ... Cook was named to the Sunshine Slam All-Tournament Team. He averaged 17.0 points, 4.3 steals, 3.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game in the tournament while shooting 61% from the field.
Team Stats
SIU
Oak
FG%
.396
.462
3FG%
.233
.231
FT%
.500
.769
RB
20
44
TO
8
14
STL
10
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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