Wednesday, November 30
Evansville, IN
7 PM
Southern Illinois University
5-2,1-0MVC
80
at
53
Evansville
2-7,0-1MVC
1
2
F
Southern Ill.
41
39
80
Evansville
21
32
53
Salukis Roll in Valley Opener at Evansville, 80-53
11/30/2022 | 9:13:00 | Men's Basketball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – It was all Southern Illinois as the Saluki men's basketball team defeated Evansville, 80-53, in its Missouri Valley Conference opener Wednesday night at the Ford Center. Lance Jones led the Salukis with 17 points and 10 Salukis enters the scoring column during the win.
Jones stuffed the stat sheet in just 29 minutes of action for the Salukis (5-2, 1-0 MVC) finishing an assist short of a double-double. Jones closed the contest with a game-high 17 while dishing out nine assists and picking up six steals and rebounds against the Aces. The assist and steal marks for Jones set new career highs for the senior.
After an 11-11 tie in the first half, Southern went on to outscore UE 55-22 over the next 20 minutes of action.
The duo of Xavier Johnson and Trent Brown put up strong games for the Salukis from deep. Johnson had a season-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 4-for-4 from deep while Brown was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field including three shots from deep.
The big man duo of Clarence Rupert and Troy D'Amico also had superb showings for the Dawgs. Rupert connected on all six of his shot attempts for 12 points while D'Amico was 4-for-5 with eight points and three rebounds.
Jawuan Newton scored four points in his return to the Ford Center.
Southern shot 60.7 percent from the field in the game and scored 20 points on the fast break. SIU assisted on 23 of their 34 field goals led by Jones' nine while Marcus Domask added seven assists for the Dawgs.
The Salukis got the offense churning to finish the first half shooting 62.1 percent (18-of-29) from the field, including finishing the half on a 15-7 run. Trailing the Aces 6-2, Jawuan Newton picked up a steal and finished at the other to begin a 12-5 run that put the Southern in control for good.
SIU had seven steals in the first 20 minutes of play, turning those Evansville miscues into 13 points. Lance Jones recorded four of Southern's first-half steals while also shooting 4-of-7 from the field to lead the team with nine points as the Salukis took a 41-21 lead into the locker room.
In total, eight Salukis scored in the first half led by Jones while Brown and Rupert also added eight points each.
The Aces were led by Antoine Smith Jr. who had 12 points.
UP NEXT
The Salukis return to action on Saturday afternoon with a trip to Saint Louis. Tipoff with the Billikens is set for 3 p.m. from Chaifetz Arena.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Basketball, on Instagram at @SIU_Basketball and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
Jones stuffed the stat sheet in just 29 minutes of action for the Salukis (5-2, 1-0 MVC) finishing an assist short of a double-double. Jones closed the contest with a game-high 17 while dishing out nine assists and picking up six steals and rebounds against the Aces. The assist and steal marks for Jones set new career highs for the senior.
After an 11-11 tie in the first half, Southern went on to outscore UE 55-22 over the next 20 minutes of action.
The duo of Xavier Johnson and Trent Brown put up strong games for the Salukis from deep. Johnson had a season-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 4-for-4 from deep while Brown was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field including three shots from deep.
The big man duo of Clarence Rupert and Troy D'Amico also had superb showings for the Dawgs. Rupert connected on all six of his shot attempts for 12 points while D'Amico was 4-for-5 with eight points and three rebounds.
Jawuan Newton scored four points in his return to the Ford Center.
Southern shot 60.7 percent from the field in the game and scored 20 points on the fast break. SIU assisted on 23 of their 34 field goals led by Jones' nine while Marcus Domask added seven assists for the Dawgs.
The Salukis got the offense churning to finish the first half shooting 62.1 percent (18-of-29) from the field, including finishing the half on a 15-7 run. Trailing the Aces 6-2, Jawuan Newton picked up a steal and finished at the other to begin a 12-5 run that put the Southern in control for good.
SIU had seven steals in the first 20 minutes of play, turning those Evansville miscues into 13 points. Lance Jones recorded four of Southern's first-half steals while also shooting 4-of-7 from the field to lead the team with nine points as the Salukis took a 41-21 lead into the locker room.
In total, eight Salukis scored in the first half led by Jones while Brown and Rupert also added eight points each.
The Aces were led by Antoine Smith Jr. who had 12 points.
UP NEXT
The Salukis return to action on Saturday afternoon with a trip to Saint Louis. Tipoff with the Billikens is set for 3 p.m. from Chaifetz Arena.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Basketball, on Instagram at @SIU_Basketball and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.
Team Stats
SIU
Evans
FG%
.607
.404
3FG%
.500
.263
FT%
.000
.750
RB
29
28
TO
15
20
STL
16
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
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