Friday, November 8
Kissimmee, Fla.
6:30 p.m. CT
Southern Illinois University
2-0,0-0MVC
72
vs
60
UTSA
-02,00 CUSA
1
2
F
UTSA
25
35
60
Southern Ill.
39
33
72
Dominant first half pushes SIU past UTSA, 72-60
11/08/2019 | 9:00:00 | Men's Basketball
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Southern Illinois men's basketball team raced out to a 20-point first-half lead en route to a 72-60 win over UTSA on Friday night at Silver Spurs Arena. The Salukis held the high-scoring Roadrunners to 30.4% shooting from the field.
"I'm proud of our guys," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "The way we came out -- the focus, the attention to detail, the concentration and energy we had, especially for those first 5-10 minutes -- really set the tone for the rest of the game. They stuck to the game plan. We knew it would be back-and-forth. UTSA is extremely explosive, and they're going to make their runs. But the last 4-5 minutes of the game, we got big stops and guys made plays."
In his first game against a Division I opponent, true freshman Marcus Domask scored 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and he added four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
While the freshman was the team's top scorer, SIU's trio of seniors all had big games. Aaron Cook had 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Eric McGill tied a career high with 7 assists and didn't commit a turnover; and Barret Benson scored a career-high 17 points and pulled down 6 rebounds. When Benson fouled out with a minute to go, he got a standing ovation from the SIU fans, who made up almost all of the 556 in attendance.
UTSA (0-2) features the nation's highest scoring backcourt, with Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace teaming up up for more than 45 points per game last year. Jackson got loose on SIU, scoring a game-high 32 points, but SIU held down everyone else. In the first half, when SIU pulled ahead by as many as 20 points, Jackson was 7-for-13, but the rest of UTSA's team went 1-for-17 (5.8%). In the second half, SIU held Jackson to 1-for-9 from the field.
SIU (2-0) used a 15-0 run to grab its big lead in the first half. During one stretch, SIU held UTSA scoreless for more than 7-and-a-half minutes. But the Roadrunners returned the favor in the second half, holding the Salukis scoreless for more than 6 minutes while going on a 15-0 run of its own to get back in the game. UTSA got as close as 3 points on two occasions, but SIU never lost the lead. And the final defensive stand belonged to the Salukis. After UTSA's Luca Barasic hit a 3-pointer with 5:36 left to get the Roadrunners within 52-49, SIU held UTSA without a field goal until less than a minute on the clock. At that point, SIU had built the lead back to double-digits.
"(UTSA) is one of the highest-scoring teams in the country. They have two guards that average more than 20 points per game," Mullins said. "Jackson got his points, but we did a good job on Wallace. That's going to be our staple. The guys are trusting that and buying into it."
UP NEXT: SIU faces Delaware on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. The game is a matchups of 2-0 teams after the Blue Hens beat Oakland prior to SIU's win Friday night.
NOTES: SIU never trailed and has not trailed yet this season ... SIU held its first two opponents of a season under 31% shooting for the first time since 1965-66 (54 years) ... Eric McGill tied his career high with 7 assists ... Barret Benson set his career high in points for a second-straight game. After scoring 15 in the season opener, he had 17 points tonight ... With four steals tonight, Aaron Cook now has 124 career steals, which tied Rick Shipley (1988-91) for 13th on SIU's all-time steals list ... After the game, the tournament organizers presented Mullins with the game ball in honor of his first Division I win as a head coach.
"I'm proud of our guys," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "The way we came out -- the focus, the attention to detail, the concentration and energy we had, especially for those first 5-10 minutes -- really set the tone for the rest of the game. They stuck to the game plan. We knew it would be back-and-forth. UTSA is extremely explosive, and they're going to make their runs. But the last 4-5 minutes of the game, we got big stops and guys made plays."
In his first game against a Division I opponent, true freshman Marcus Domask scored 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and he added four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
While the freshman was the team's top scorer, SIU's trio of seniors all had big games. Aaron Cook had 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Eric McGill tied a career high with 7 assists and didn't commit a turnover; and Barret Benson scored a career-high 17 points and pulled down 6 rebounds. When Benson fouled out with a minute to go, he got a standing ovation from the SIU fans, who made up almost all of the 556 in attendance.
UTSA (0-2) features the nation's highest scoring backcourt, with Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace teaming up up for more than 45 points per game last year. Jackson got loose on SIU, scoring a game-high 32 points, but SIU held down everyone else. In the first half, when SIU pulled ahead by as many as 20 points, Jackson was 7-for-13, but the rest of UTSA's team went 1-for-17 (5.8%). In the second half, SIU held Jackson to 1-for-9 from the field.
SIU (2-0) used a 15-0 run to grab its big lead in the first half. During one stretch, SIU held UTSA scoreless for more than 7-and-a-half minutes. But the Roadrunners returned the favor in the second half, holding the Salukis scoreless for more than 6 minutes while going on a 15-0 run of its own to get back in the game. UTSA got as close as 3 points on two occasions, but SIU never lost the lead. And the final defensive stand belonged to the Salukis. After UTSA's Luca Barasic hit a 3-pointer with 5:36 left to get the Roadrunners within 52-49, SIU held UTSA without a field goal until less than a minute on the clock. At that point, SIU had built the lead back to double-digits.
"(UTSA) is one of the highest-scoring teams in the country. They have two guards that average more than 20 points per game," Mullins said. "Jackson got his points, but we did a good job on Wallace. That's going to be our staple. The guys are trusting that and buying into it."
UP NEXT: SIU faces Delaware on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. The game is a matchups of 2-0 teams after the Blue Hens beat Oakland prior to SIU's win Friday night.
NOTES: SIU never trailed and has not trailed yet this season ... SIU held its first two opponents of a season under 31% shooting for the first time since 1965-66 (54 years) ... Eric McGill tied his career high with 7 assists ... Barret Benson set his career high in points for a second-straight game. After scoring 15 in the season opener, he had 17 points tonight ... With four steals tonight, Aaron Cook now has 124 career steals, which tied Rick Shipley (1988-91) for 13th on SIU's all-time steals list ... After the game, the tournament organizers presented Mullins with the game ball in honor of his first Division I win as a head coach.
Team Stats
UTSA
SIU
FG%
.304
.471
3FG%
.321
.318
FT%
.810
.739
RB
38
33
TO
14
13
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
9
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
C
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