Thursday, December 17
Carbondale, Ill.
1 p.m.
Southern Illinois University
4-0,0-0MVC
85
vs
64
North Dakota
1-6,0-0Summit League
1
2
F
North Dakota
20
44
64
Southern Ill.
37
48
85
Salukis start back-to-back vs. UND with wire-to-wire win
12/17/2020 | 3:48:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The SIU men's basketball team led wire-to-wire in an 85-64 win over North Dakota on Thursday afternoon at Banterra Center. SIU closed the first half on a 20-4 run that lasted longer than nine minutes to take a 17-point lead into halftime. The teams will play again Friday at 3 p.m., mimicking the new back-to-back format for conference games in both leagues (Missouri Valley Conference and Summit League).
"I'm proud of our guys," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "I thought the way we came out in the first half set the tone for the game. We came out focused on the defensive end. North Dakota runs great stuff offensively; they have a lot of talented guys. They put five guys out there who can all make threes, and that puts your defense at a disadvantage a lot of the time. Our defensive intensity and focus helped us get that separation. In the second half, it was really back-and-forth. North Dakota did a great job with adjustments, and we need to clean some things up by 3 o'clock tomorrow."
After North Dakota (1-6) hit a 3-pointer to bring SIU's lead within 17-16 at the 9:09 mark of the first half, Southern's defense was dominant the rest of the period. SIU (4-0) held UND to 2-for-13 from the field with five turnovers in the final nine minutes of the half.
---
Everything There Is To See » Highlights | Mullins Postgame Presser | Jones Postgame Presser | Photo Gallery | Mullins Postgame with Reis
---
Lance Jones and Ben Harvey led SIU with 18 points apiece. The duo shot 12-of-20 from the field and 5-of-7 from the 3-point line. Jones stuffed the stat sheet, adding 7 assists, 5 steals and 4 rebounds.
"Lance had some great practices leading up to this game," Mullins said. "It was the best he has practiced probably all year. He had a different type of bounce, a different type of energy to him, and that translates. The way he played today is the way he has practiced over the last 48 hours. Lance is still growing and becoming better; we need to keep him on the rise right now."
North Dakota used an 11-1 run early in the second half to get the game as close as seven, 44-37, but the Salukis immediately responded with an 11-2 run of its own to push the lead back to 16, SIU led by double figures for all but 90 seconds of the final 26 minutes of the game.
SIU, which came into the game ranked in the top-10 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage, was even better from deep today. The Salukis shot 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the 3-poine line in the game. Trent Brown (3-5), Jones (3-5), Harvey (2-2), Dalton Banks (1-1) and Steven Verplancken (1-3) all contributed to the 3-point barrage.
"I'm really proud of the guys for how we shared the ball," Mullins said. "We had 19 assists, and I don't remember many contested threes. We're continuing to make the extra pass and to pass up a good shot for a great shot. We have a bunch of unselfish guys in the locker room. I think that's one of our team strengths."
Ten players scored for SIU and everyone played. Kyler Filewich set a career high with 9 points, and fellow freshman Dalton Banks also had nine. SIU had balance across the stat sheet: six players with 8+ points and six players with 4+ rebounds. The Salukis didn't have any single player with more than five rebounds but still won the boards by nine. Nine players contributed to 19 SIU assists.
"We haven't talked about being 3-0 or 4-0. We talk about winning, and I think we have a locker room full of winners," Mullins said. "Even if we lose a game, we're still going to be confident; we're still going to be positive; we're still going to believe in each other. It's more about how we play. We want to continue to play the right way, and to hold ourselves to our own standard on how we execute. We want to make sure that we're doing things that we think will translate to success in February and March."
UP NEXT: SIU tries to sweep the back-to-back games from North Dakota with a 3 p.m. tipoff on Friday. The game will be streamed nationally on ESPN3.
Notes: SIU won its seventh-straight non-conference home game. SIU is 15-3 at Banterra Center under head coach Bryan Mullins and 20-4 at home in the program's last 24 home games ... SIU is 4-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 team started the year 5-0 ... SIU is 10-0 under head coach Bryan Mullins when it scores 70+ points (4-0 this season) ... SIU has won 27-straight games when scoring 75+ points ... SIU is shooting 50% from the 3-point line against Division I opponents this season, which leads the nation (KenPom).
MORE FROM MULLINS
On the team's energy... "I was very pleased with our energy. It's a 1 p.m. game in the middle of the week after we had a game canceled and had three practices in a row. As a coach, you're always worried with how your team is going to come out. I thought in that first half, we were focused and locked in."
On SIU's bench being into the game... "We've talked about it since July/August with this group. I've always felt that the teams the bring the most energy and have the best leadership and communication are going to have a lot of success this year because you can create your own environment. You can create your own energy. Our bench has been unbelievable. They're always cheering and clapping. I'm really pleased with our bench, in terms of what they bring to the game outside of the basketball part -- the atmosphere and culture part of it."
On Kyler Filewich... "He's getting better every single day. I said before the season that I think Kyler's best basketball is way ahead of him. The more game reps he gets, the more confident he will get as a player. He knows he belongs here. Not only does he belong, he can excel. As the season goes along, he's going to get more and more successful, and he will be a big piece for us."
"I'm proud of our guys," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "I thought the way we came out in the first half set the tone for the game. We came out focused on the defensive end. North Dakota runs great stuff offensively; they have a lot of talented guys. They put five guys out there who can all make threes, and that puts your defense at a disadvantage a lot of the time. Our defensive intensity and focus helped us get that separation. In the second half, it was really back-and-forth. North Dakota did a great job with adjustments, and we need to clean some things up by 3 o'clock tomorrow."
After North Dakota (1-6) hit a 3-pointer to bring SIU's lead within 17-16 at the 9:09 mark of the first half, Southern's defense was dominant the rest of the period. SIU (4-0) held UND to 2-for-13 from the field with five turnovers in the final nine minutes of the half.
---
Everything There Is To See » Highlights | Mullins Postgame Presser | Jones Postgame Presser | Photo Gallery | Mullins Postgame with Reis
---
Lance Jones and Ben Harvey led SIU with 18 points apiece. The duo shot 12-of-20 from the field and 5-of-7 from the 3-point line. Jones stuffed the stat sheet, adding 7 assists, 5 steals and 4 rebounds.
"Lance had some great practices leading up to this game," Mullins said. "It was the best he has practiced probably all year. He had a different type of bounce, a different type of energy to him, and that translates. The way he played today is the way he has practiced over the last 48 hours. Lance is still growing and becoming better; we need to keep him on the rise right now."
North Dakota used an 11-1 run early in the second half to get the game as close as seven, 44-37, but the Salukis immediately responded with an 11-2 run of its own to push the lead back to 16, SIU led by double figures for all but 90 seconds of the final 26 minutes of the game.
SIU, which came into the game ranked in the top-10 nationally in 3-point field goal percentage, was even better from deep today. The Salukis shot 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the 3-poine line in the game. Trent Brown (3-5), Jones (3-5), Harvey (2-2), Dalton Banks (1-1) and Steven Verplancken (1-3) all contributed to the 3-point barrage.
"I'm really proud of the guys for how we shared the ball," Mullins said. "We had 19 assists, and I don't remember many contested threes. We're continuing to make the extra pass and to pass up a good shot for a great shot. We have a bunch of unselfish guys in the locker room. I think that's one of our team strengths."
Ten players scored for SIU and everyone played. Kyler Filewich set a career high with 9 points, and fellow freshman Dalton Banks also had nine. SIU had balance across the stat sheet: six players with 8+ points and six players with 4+ rebounds. The Salukis didn't have any single player with more than five rebounds but still won the boards by nine. Nine players contributed to 19 SIU assists.
"We haven't talked about being 3-0 or 4-0. We talk about winning, and I think we have a locker room full of winners," Mullins said. "Even if we lose a game, we're still going to be confident; we're still going to be positive; we're still going to believe in each other. It's more about how we play. We want to continue to play the right way, and to hold ourselves to our own standard on how we execute. We want to make sure that we're doing things that we think will translate to success in February and March."
UP NEXT: SIU tries to sweep the back-to-back games from North Dakota with a 3 p.m. tipoff on Friday. The game will be streamed nationally on ESPN3.
Notes: SIU won its seventh-straight non-conference home game. SIU is 15-3 at Banterra Center under head coach Bryan Mullins and 20-4 at home in the program's last 24 home games ... SIU is 4-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 team started the year 5-0 ... SIU is 10-0 under head coach Bryan Mullins when it scores 70+ points (4-0 this season) ... SIU has won 27-straight games when scoring 75+ points ... SIU is shooting 50% from the 3-point line against Division I opponents this season, which leads the nation (KenPom).
MORE FROM MULLINS
On the team's energy... "I was very pleased with our energy. It's a 1 p.m. game in the middle of the week after we had a game canceled and had three practices in a row. As a coach, you're always worried with how your team is going to come out. I thought in that first half, we were focused and locked in."
On SIU's bench being into the game... "We've talked about it since July/August with this group. I've always felt that the teams the bring the most energy and have the best leadership and communication are going to have a lot of success this year because you can create your own environment. You can create your own energy. Our bench has been unbelievable. They're always cheering and clapping. I'm really pleased with our bench, in terms of what they bring to the game outside of the basketball part -- the atmosphere and culture part of it."
On Kyler Filewich... "He's getting better every single day. I said before the season that I think Kyler's best basketball is way ahead of him. The more game reps he gets, the more confident he will get as a player. He knows he belongs here. Not only does he belong, he can excel. As the season goes along, he's going to get more and more successful, and he will be a big piece for us."
Team Stats
UND
SIU
FG%
.418
.564
3FG%
.355
.625
FT%
.778
.684
RB
25
34
TO
17
11
STL
6
11
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball10.12.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame #1 North Dakota State - DJ Williams
Sunday, October 12
10.12.25 | Saluki Radio Postgame #1 North Dakota State - Nick Hill
Sunday, October 12
Saluki Football Radio Broadcast - #1 NDSU
Sunday, October 12
10.10.25 | Davion Sykes with Rodney Watson
Friday, October 10