Saturday, December 21
Carbondale, Ill.
3 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
6-7,0-0MVC
64
vs
45
Southeast Missouri
3-9,0-0OVC
1
2
F
Southeast Mo. St.
20
25
45
Southern Ill.
32
32
64
SIU crushes SEMO, 64-45
12/21/2019 | 5:34:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The SIU men's basketball team went on a 26-0 run in the first half of a 64-45 blowout win over Southeast Missouri on Saturday afternoon at Banterra Center. The Salukis held SEMO without a point for more than 11 minutes during the run.Â
"It was important for us to get a couple wins before conference play," SIU head coach Bryan Mullins said. "We continue to get better. We're a much better team now than we were in November. Hopefully, when AC (Aaron Cook Jr.) gets healthy, he will add another piece to our roster. Our bench is getting better. Our guys are starting to be more connected on both sides of the ball. The ball is moving better offensively. Defensively, guys are in the right spots more often than not. We're forcing teams to take tough 2's, instead open 3's or layups. That's what we did a good job of tonight. We didn't give up many easy baskets tonight."
SEMO (3-9), which was playing its eighth-straight road game, actually jumped out to a quick lead in the game. The Redhawks jumped up 12-2, and Mullins called a timeout less than 90 seconds into the game. But that's when SIU (6-7) started its 26-0 onslaught. Eric McGill got it started with the first five points and added a 3-pointer later in the run. Defensively, SIU held SEMO without a point for more than 11 minutes and held the Redhawks to 0-for-13 with three turnovers in that stretch. After SEMOÂ scored 12 points in the game's opening five minutes, it took 23 minutes for the Redhawks to score their next 12 points.Â
"If you take out that first four minutes, the next 36 minutes -- the way we played offensively and guarded defensively -- was probably our most complete performance," Mullins said.
The Salukis got a balanced offensive attack, with four players scoring in double figures. McGill -- who played at SEMO as a freshman in 2015-16 -- added five assists and four rebounds to his 10 points. SIU's other three players in double-figures were all freshmen: Marcus Domask (14), Lance Jones (12) and Karrington Davis (12).Â
SIU wrapped non-conference action with back-to-back home wins over Hampton and SEMOÂ to sit at 6-7 heading into Missouri Valley Conference play. After Saturday's win, Mullins continued to stress the team's emphasis on day-by-day improvement throughout the season.Â
"My goal has always been for us to be playing our best basketball in February and going into the last month of the season," Mullins said. "We need to be connected and really understand what we're doing offensively and defensively. Obviously, we've had injuries -- we haven't had a full roster yet. When AC comes back, it will be exciting, but it will take our team some more practices and more games. The more we're together, the better we're going to be."
NOTES: SIU held SEMOÂ to 33.3% shooting, the sixth nonconference opponent SIU held under 40% shooting (SIU is 5-1 in such games) ... SIU improved to 6-0 when it records 15+ assists and 0-7 when it records 14 or fewer ... Karrington Davis has scored 30 points in the last three games on 10-of-14 shooting (71.4%) ... The Southern Illinoisan sports editor Les Winkeler, who worked at The Southern Illinoisan for more than 30 years, worked his final event as sports editor and is retiring ... SIU allowed just 45 points, the fewest SIU has allowed since Jan. 6, 2016 (W, 65-44 at Bradley).Â
UP NEXT: SIU opens Missouri Valley Conference play with a game at Indiana State on December 30.Â
"I just told the guys, 'The fun stuff starts now,'" Mullins said. "The Valley is a grind. It's never easy to win on the road. Indiana State, along with Northern Iowa, are probably the two hottest teams in the Valley right now. We're going to have to be ready to go."
Â
"It was important for us to get a couple wins before conference play," SIU head coach Bryan Mullins said. "We continue to get better. We're a much better team now than we were in November. Hopefully, when AC (Aaron Cook Jr.) gets healthy, he will add another piece to our roster. Our bench is getting better. Our guys are starting to be more connected on both sides of the ball. The ball is moving better offensively. Defensively, guys are in the right spots more often than not. We're forcing teams to take tough 2's, instead open 3's or layups. That's what we did a good job of tonight. We didn't give up many easy baskets tonight."
SEMO (3-9), which was playing its eighth-straight road game, actually jumped out to a quick lead in the game. The Redhawks jumped up 12-2, and Mullins called a timeout less than 90 seconds into the game. But that's when SIU (6-7) started its 26-0 onslaught. Eric McGill got it started with the first five points and added a 3-pointer later in the run. Defensively, SIU held SEMO without a point for more than 11 minutes and held the Redhawks to 0-for-13 with three turnovers in that stretch. After SEMOÂ scored 12 points in the game's opening five minutes, it took 23 minutes for the Redhawks to score their next 12 points.Â
"If you take out that first four minutes, the next 36 minutes -- the way we played offensively and guarded defensively -- was probably our most complete performance," Mullins said.
The Salukis got a balanced offensive attack, with four players scoring in double figures. McGill -- who played at SEMO as a freshman in 2015-16 -- added five assists and four rebounds to his 10 points. SIU's other three players in double-figures were all freshmen: Marcus Domask (14), Lance Jones (12) and Karrington Davis (12).Â
SIU wrapped non-conference action with back-to-back home wins over Hampton and SEMOÂ to sit at 6-7 heading into Missouri Valley Conference play. After Saturday's win, Mullins continued to stress the team's emphasis on day-by-day improvement throughout the season.Â
"My goal has always been for us to be playing our best basketball in February and going into the last month of the season," Mullins said. "We need to be connected and really understand what we're doing offensively and defensively. Obviously, we've had injuries -- we haven't had a full roster yet. When AC comes back, it will be exciting, but it will take our team some more practices and more games. The more we're together, the better we're going to be."
NOTES: SIU held SEMOÂ to 33.3% shooting, the sixth nonconference opponent SIU held under 40% shooting (SIU is 5-1 in such games) ... SIU improved to 6-0 when it records 15+ assists and 0-7 when it records 14 or fewer ... Karrington Davis has scored 30 points in the last three games on 10-of-14 shooting (71.4%) ... The Southern Illinoisan sports editor Les Winkeler, who worked at The Southern Illinoisan for more than 30 years, worked his final event as sports editor and is retiring ... SIU allowed just 45 points, the fewest SIU has allowed since Jan. 6, 2016 (W, 65-44 at Bradley).Â
UP NEXT: SIU opens Missouri Valley Conference play with a game at Indiana State on December 30.Â
"I just told the guys, 'The fun stuff starts now,'" Mullins said. "The Valley is a grind. It's never easy to win on the road. Indiana State, along with Northern Iowa, are probably the two hottest teams in the Valley right now. We're going to have to be ready to go."
Â
Team Stats
SEMO
SIU
FG%
.333
.426
3FG%
.333
.348
FT%
.600
.714
RB
32
37
TO
15
10
STL
5
6
Game Leaders
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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