Wednesday, January 12
Springfield, Mo.
7 PM
Southern Illinois University
9-6,2-1MVC
76
at
81
Missouri State
12-6,3-2MVC
1
2
F
Southern Ill.
34
42
76
Missouri St.
36
45
81
Men's Basketball falls at Missouri State, 81-76
01/12/2022 | 9:38:00 | Men's Basketball
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Southern Illinois made a season-high 14 shots from 3-point range, but it wasn't enough to overcome a 33-point outing by Isaiah Mosley, who led Missouri State to an 81-76 win on Wednesday night.
The Salukis (9-6, 2-1) were led by Marcus Domask with 20 points, while Steven Verplancken Jr. added 16 points and made 4-of-5 from deep. Ben Coupet Jr. (16) and Lance Jones (10) also recorded double figures for SIU.
In an evenly matched game, neither team could stretch the lead to double digits, as Southern led by as many as eight points in the first half, while the Bears (12-6, 3-2) went up by as much as nine in the second.
Missouri State had a sizable 40-10 advantage in points in the paint, while SIU dominated the perimeter by making 14-of-29 shots from long range.
"Coach preached to us that when the ball gets to the corners, we give the one more pass and trust each other, then our percentage is super high," Verplancken said. "Everybody on this team can shoot, pass and dribble. When you have 15 guys who can do that, you can be a high-level team."
Domask scored all but four of his points in the second half and sparked a late run that cut the deficit to three twice during the final 30 seconds. He also dished out four assists to lead a Southern Illinois offense that had its highest scoring output in a conference game since dropping 79 at Drake on Feb. 1, 2020.
"The ball moved — we had 12 assists, eight turnovers," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "I thought we even had some looks that we missed, so our assist numbers could have been higher."
Mosely did the bulk of his scoring damage in the second half with 25 points, including 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
"We let him get open a couple times in transition and gave him some easy ones," Mullins said. "We gave Mosely a lot of free throws, especially in the second half. We just have to be more disciplined guarding him."
After struggling to defend All-Conference forward Gage Prim a year ago, Southern fared better tonight, using five different defenders to limit him to 12 points.
"Our bigs battled," Mullins said. "It's hard to double him because he's a really good passer. That's one of the best things he does."
The Salukis got a nice lift off the bench from center Kyler Filewich, who scored two early baskets and finished with six points, two rebounds and a block in 10 minutes of action.
"Kyler's been having great practices and I think he's ready to take a big step forward into conference play," Mullins said.
Southern allowed more than 70 points for the first time this season, snapping a streak of 15-straight games holding an opponent under that threshold. The Bears sealed the outcome by making 12-of-12 from the free throw line in the final two minutes of the game.
"We know going into the Valley it's a war every night," Verplancken said.
SIU has played all three of its conference games to date on the road and is the only team yet to play a league home game. That will change when the Salukis host Northern Iowa on Saturday night to start a three-game homestand.
"The guys love playing in the Banterra Center," Mullins said. "With the students back, the community back, hopefully we can have a great environment. We think it's the best home court advantage in the league."
"It's going to feel amazing," Verplancken added. "Banterra — the energy there is special. We've missed playing in front of the home fans."
The Salukis (9-6, 2-1) were led by Marcus Domask with 20 points, while Steven Verplancken Jr. added 16 points and made 4-of-5 from deep. Ben Coupet Jr. (16) and Lance Jones (10) also recorded double figures for SIU.
In an evenly matched game, neither team could stretch the lead to double digits, as Southern led by as many as eight points in the first half, while the Bears (12-6, 3-2) went up by as much as nine in the second.
Missouri State had a sizable 40-10 advantage in points in the paint, while SIU dominated the perimeter by making 14-of-29 shots from long range.
"Coach preached to us that when the ball gets to the corners, we give the one more pass and trust each other, then our percentage is super high," Verplancken said. "Everybody on this team can shoot, pass and dribble. When you have 15 guys who can do that, you can be a high-level team."
Domask scored all but four of his points in the second half and sparked a late run that cut the deficit to three twice during the final 30 seconds. He also dished out four assists to lead a Southern Illinois offense that had its highest scoring output in a conference game since dropping 79 at Drake on Feb. 1, 2020.
"The ball moved — we had 12 assists, eight turnovers," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "I thought we even had some looks that we missed, so our assist numbers could have been higher."
Mosely did the bulk of his scoring damage in the second half with 25 points, including 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
"We let him get open a couple times in transition and gave him some easy ones," Mullins said. "We gave Mosely a lot of free throws, especially in the second half. We just have to be more disciplined guarding him."
After struggling to defend All-Conference forward Gage Prim a year ago, Southern fared better tonight, using five different defenders to limit him to 12 points.
"Our bigs battled," Mullins said. "It's hard to double him because he's a really good passer. That's one of the best things he does."
The Salukis got a nice lift off the bench from center Kyler Filewich, who scored two early baskets and finished with six points, two rebounds and a block in 10 minutes of action.
"Kyler's been having great practices and I think he's ready to take a big step forward into conference play," Mullins said.
Southern allowed more than 70 points for the first time this season, snapping a streak of 15-straight games holding an opponent under that threshold. The Bears sealed the outcome by making 12-of-12 from the free throw line in the final two minutes of the game.
"We know going into the Valley it's a war every night," Verplancken said.
SIU has played all three of its conference games to date on the road and is the only team yet to play a league home game. That will change when the Salukis host Northern Iowa on Saturday night to start a three-game homestand.
"The guys love playing in the Banterra Center," Mullins said. "With the students back, the community back, hopefully we can have a great environment. We think it's the best home court advantage in the league."
"It's going to feel amazing," Verplancken added. "Banterra — the energy there is special. We've missed playing in front of the home fans."
Team Stats
SIU
MSU
FG%
.407
.528
3FG%
.483
.353
FT%
.783
.864
RB
25
36
TO
8
11
STL
4
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
9
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballG
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