Wednesday, February 23
Carbondale, Ill.
7 PM
Southern Illinois University
16-13,9-8MVC
90
vs
69
Illinois State
11-19,4-13MVC
1
2
F
Illinois St.
24
45
69
Southern Ill.
49
41
90
Hot-shooting Men's Basketball routs Illinois State on Senior Night
02/23/2022 | 9:50:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois buried 14-of-24 shots from 3-point range and never trailed during a 90-69 blowout of Illinois State on Wednesday night at Banterra Center.
Senior grad transfer Ben Coupet Jr. put on a Senior Night show for the home crowd, scoring a team-high 22 points. The 6-foot-7, high-flying wing made three 3-pointers and brought the crowd to it feet with a rim-rattling, put-back dunk during the second half.
Most importantly for the Salukis (16-13, 9-8), they are peaking at the right time with a four-game winning streak the week before the conference tournament begins in St. Louis.
Southern played a near-perfect first half, closing the half on an 11-0 run and taking a 49-24 lead into intermission. The Salukis made 10-of-13 from long range in the half.
"We've played some high-level basketball over the past couple weeks," said head coach Bryan Mullins. "I told the team we're not there yet, that we still have to improve over this next week before the (conference tournament). They want to be a special team, and I think we're playing our best right now."
SIU will likely be the No. 6 seed at Arch Madness, but after building its reputation as a defensive juggernaut, Southern is now figuring out how to put up big numbers on the offensive end as well. The 90 points was a season high and the most against a conference opponent during the Mullins era.
Lance Jones continued his torrid shooting, knocking down 4-of-5 shots from long range and finishing with 16 points. Steven Verplancken Jr. (4-of-5 from three) and Trent Brown (2-of-3 from three) both came off the bench and buried open looks.
"Trent and Steven are two of our best shooters," Mullins said. "All those guys who made shots are capable of doing it on a consistent basis. It was great to see the guys play with confidence, get out in transition and share the ball."
Directing traffic was SIU's point forward Marcus Domask, who had 16 points and a career-high nine assists with zero turnovers.
"He can make other people better as well as go and get a basket for himself," Mullins said. "You just trust Marcus with the ball. He's a great decision-maker and has great feel for the game."
Coupet Jr. was one of four players honored during pregame Senior Day festivities, along with Anthony D'Avanzo, walk-on Will Keller and Sekou Dembele, whose career ended due to injury. Coupet Jr. has thrived during the past month and is shooting over 50 percent from 3-point range in the last 10 games.
"We thought his shooting ability, his driving ability and his length defensively could really help us, and I think he's playing his best basketball right now," Mullins said.
Southern wraps up its regular season on Saturday at Drake before heading to St. Louis for the league tournament next week.
Senior grad transfer Ben Coupet Jr. put on a Senior Night show for the home crowd, scoring a team-high 22 points. The 6-foot-7, high-flying wing made three 3-pointers and brought the crowd to it feet with a rim-rattling, put-back dunk during the second half.
Most importantly for the Salukis (16-13, 9-8), they are peaking at the right time with a four-game winning streak the week before the conference tournament begins in St. Louis.
Southern played a near-perfect first half, closing the half on an 11-0 run and taking a 49-24 lead into intermission. The Salukis made 10-of-13 from long range in the half.
"We've played some high-level basketball over the past couple weeks," said head coach Bryan Mullins. "I told the team we're not there yet, that we still have to improve over this next week before the (conference tournament). They want to be a special team, and I think we're playing our best right now."
SIU will likely be the No. 6 seed at Arch Madness, but after building its reputation as a defensive juggernaut, Southern is now figuring out how to put up big numbers on the offensive end as well. The 90 points was a season high and the most against a conference opponent during the Mullins era.
Lance Jones continued his torrid shooting, knocking down 4-of-5 shots from long range and finishing with 16 points. Steven Verplancken Jr. (4-of-5 from three) and Trent Brown (2-of-3 from three) both came off the bench and buried open looks.
"Trent and Steven are two of our best shooters," Mullins said. "All those guys who made shots are capable of doing it on a consistent basis. It was great to see the guys play with confidence, get out in transition and share the ball."
Directing traffic was SIU's point forward Marcus Domask, who had 16 points and a career-high nine assists with zero turnovers.
"He can make other people better as well as go and get a basket for himself," Mullins said. "You just trust Marcus with the ball. He's a great decision-maker and has great feel for the game."
Coupet Jr. was one of four players honored during pregame Senior Day festivities, along with Anthony D'Avanzo, walk-on Will Keller and Sekou Dembele, whose career ended due to injury. Coupet Jr. has thrived during the past month and is shooting over 50 percent from 3-point range in the last 10 games.
"We thought his shooting ability, his driving ability and his length defensively could really help us, and I think he's playing his best basketball right now," Mullins said.
Southern wraps up its regular season on Saturday at Drake before heading to St. Louis for the league tournament next week.
Team Stats
ISU
SIU
FG%
.551
.574
3FG%
.500
.583
FT%
.818
.778
RB
24
26
TO
15
9
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
7
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
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