Saturday, March 2
Carbondale, Ill.
1 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
17-14, 10-8MVC
72
vs
63
Illinois St.
16-15, 9-9MVC
1
2
F
Illinois State
29
34
63
Southern Illinois
31
41
72
Photo by: Will Becque
Salukis close regular season with 72-63 win on Senior Day
03/02/2019 | 6:25:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois men's basketball team closed the game on a 13-2 run to beat Illinois State 72-63 on Senior Day at SIU Arena on Saturday afternoon. Seniors Kavion Pippen, Armon Fletcher and Sean Lloyd Jr. combined for 63 points in the final home games of their SIU careers.
Illinois State (16-15, 9-9 MVC) opened up the second half on a 17-6 run to take a nine-point lead over SIU (17-14, 10-8 MVC) with 14 minutes to go. SIU responded with a 12-3 run to tie the game. From there, the game had four ties and nine lead changes until Southern's decisive run at the end of the game.
"This was a heck of a ballgame," SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. "There were two teams exhausted at the end, and two head coaches exhausted."
The senior trio of Pippen, Fletcher and Lloyd willed the Salukis to the win. Pippen had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Fletcher nearly did, as well, with 26 points and 9 rebounds, and Lloyd had 20 points. With Illinois State leading by two with just under four minutes to play, Lloyd hit a 3-pointer to give SIU the lead; then Fletcher hit back-to-back 3's that extended SIU's lead to 7 and ignited the crowd of 4,599.
Lloyd was even more valuable on the defensive end, limiting Illinois State star Malik Yarbrough to 4-of-14 shooting, zero assists, and six turnovers. The defensive performance comes two games after holding MVC Player of the Year candidate Marques Townes to 4-of-15 shooting, zero assists, and five turnovers.
"If he's not defensive player of the year, I'll be upset," Hinson said of Lloyd. "I think he takes everyone's best player and makes them have a hard night. In order to score points against Sean Lloyd, you have to shoot a lot of shots. Ask the guys he's been guarding."
The Salukis outrebounded the Redbirds by 11, and SIU committed only 12 turnovers in the win. Hinson noted after SIU allowed 22 points in transition in the 59-58 loss at Redbird Arena early this year, his Salukis limited Illinois State to 11 points in transition today.
"The difference was our rebounding; we didn't give up transition points; and today, we didn't turn the ball over," he said.
Fletcher continued his impressive scoring run that has seen him score 22.8 points per game on 53 percent shooting over the last six games. He has added 8.2 rebounds per game in that stretch.
After a January lull saw the Salukis lose five of six games at one point, culminating in a 25-point loss at Loyola, Southern Illinois now enters next weekend's Arch Madness conference tournament as one of the hottest teams in the league. The Salukis have won seven of their last 10 and three in a row.
"This time of the year, you have to play together. You have to play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm," Hinson said. "I am confident that our guys are doing those things right now. We are excited going into St. Louis."
The official MVC Tournament bracket is expected to be unveiled Sunday morning. SIU will almost certainly be the tournament's No. 3 seed by virtue of NET tiebreaker with Missouri State and play Friday night in St. Louis. For tournament and ticket information, visit ArchMadness.com.
NOTES: SIU head coach Barry Hinson improved to 17-1 on Senior Day, spanning his head coaching tenure at Oral Roberts, Missouri State, and Southern Illinois ... SIU ended the regular season on a three-game winning streak for the first time since 2006-07 ... Armon Fletcher will end his career with 684 career points at SIU Arena, good for 12th all-time. He passed Jermaine Dearman (1999-03) during the game on the all-time list ... Sean Lloyd Jr. is four points shy of 1,000 career points.
Illinois State (16-15, 9-9 MVC) opened up the second half on a 17-6 run to take a nine-point lead over SIU (17-14, 10-8 MVC) with 14 minutes to go. SIU responded with a 12-3 run to tie the game. From there, the game had four ties and nine lead changes until Southern's decisive run at the end of the game.
"This was a heck of a ballgame," SIU head coach Barry Hinson said. "There were two teams exhausted at the end, and two head coaches exhausted."
The senior trio of Pippen, Fletcher and Lloyd willed the Salukis to the win. Pippen had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Fletcher nearly did, as well, with 26 points and 9 rebounds, and Lloyd had 20 points. With Illinois State leading by two with just under four minutes to play, Lloyd hit a 3-pointer to give SIU the lead; then Fletcher hit back-to-back 3's that extended SIU's lead to 7 and ignited the crowd of 4,599.
Lloyd was even more valuable on the defensive end, limiting Illinois State star Malik Yarbrough to 4-of-14 shooting, zero assists, and six turnovers. The defensive performance comes two games after holding MVC Player of the Year candidate Marques Townes to 4-of-15 shooting, zero assists, and five turnovers.
"If he's not defensive player of the year, I'll be upset," Hinson said of Lloyd. "I think he takes everyone's best player and makes them have a hard night. In order to score points against Sean Lloyd, you have to shoot a lot of shots. Ask the guys he's been guarding."
The Salukis outrebounded the Redbirds by 11, and SIU committed only 12 turnovers in the win. Hinson noted after SIU allowed 22 points in transition in the 59-58 loss at Redbird Arena early this year, his Salukis limited Illinois State to 11 points in transition today.
"The difference was our rebounding; we didn't give up transition points; and today, we didn't turn the ball over," he said.
Fletcher continued his impressive scoring run that has seen him score 22.8 points per game on 53 percent shooting over the last six games. He has added 8.2 rebounds per game in that stretch.
After a January lull saw the Salukis lose five of six games at one point, culminating in a 25-point loss at Loyola, Southern Illinois now enters next weekend's Arch Madness conference tournament as one of the hottest teams in the league. The Salukis have won seven of their last 10 and three in a row.
"This time of the year, you have to play together. You have to play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm," Hinson said. "I am confident that our guys are doing those things right now. We are excited going into St. Louis."
The official MVC Tournament bracket is expected to be unveiled Sunday morning. SIU will almost certainly be the tournament's No. 3 seed by virtue of NET tiebreaker with Missouri State and play Friday night in St. Louis. For tournament and ticket information, visit ArchMadness.com.
NOTES: SIU head coach Barry Hinson improved to 17-1 on Senior Day, spanning his head coaching tenure at Oral Roberts, Missouri State, and Southern Illinois ... SIU ended the regular season on a three-game winning streak for the first time since 2006-07 ... Armon Fletcher will end his career with 684 career points at SIU Arena, good for 12th all-time. He passed Jermaine Dearman (1999-03) during the game on the all-time list ... Sean Lloyd Jr. is four points shy of 1,000 career points.
Team Stats
ILS
SIU
FG%
.391
.483
3FG%
.273
.313
FT%
.778
.579
RB
31
42
TO
9
12
STL
8
1
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
26
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
8
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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