Saturday, January 14
Carbondale, IL
7 PM
Southern Illinois University
14-5,6-2MVC
69
vs
57
Illinois State
8-11,3-5MVC
1
2
F
Illinois St.
35
22
57
Southern Ill.
32
37
69
Strong Second Half Leads Salukis Past Redbirds
01/14/2023 | 10:28:00 | Men's Basketball
SIU improved to 14-5 on the year and 6-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois men's basketball improved to 8-1 inside Banterra Center after downing in-state rival Illinois State, 69-57, Saturday evening. Senior guard Lance Jones led the way for the Salukis with a game-high 21 points as SIU improved to 14-5 on the year and 6-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
"I thought our ball pressure throughout the game was able to wear them down a little bit and we were able to generate offense from the turnovers and we took care of the ball," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "If we keep doing that, that is winning basketball."
An Evanston, Illinois native, Jones was too tough to handle for the Redbirds as he scored 20-plus points for the second time this season. The 6-foot-1 guard dropped in seven of SIU's 11 points to help the Salukis to an early lead.
Illinois State (8-11, 3-5 MVC) would get things going eventually, rallying back to tie the game, and using a 9-0 run to take their largest lead of the game midway through the first half at seven points.
Redshirt freshman center Scottie Ebube gave SIU the lift it needed late in the half to pull within three points after corralling an offensive rebound and putting it in along with the foul call.
The Salukis would bring the energy in the second half, using a 19-5 run to take the lead and never look back. Like many games this year, SIU put together a complete final 20 minutes all starting on the defensive end. The Salukis would outscore Illinois State 37-22 in the final frame en route to the victory.
"I think our depth is important," Mullins said when asked about his team's strong second half. "We don't rely on five or six guys. We'll play 10 guys, and we have different guys on different nights stepping up. Over the course of 40 minutes, we try not to change the way we play. We try to play hard every single possession and that starts to wear on teams."
Southern can credit its offensive spark to forcing 15 Redbird turnovers while finishing with just five on the night. SIU scored 19 points off of ILS miscues while assisting on 13 of their 26 made field goals.
After going 1-for-10 from behind the arc in the first, SIU was able to convert six of their 15 shots from deep in the second half to pull away from the Redbirds. Jones led SIU with four triples while Dalton Banks, Troy D'Amico and Jawuan Newton also scored from deep.
Marcus Domask put together another solid outing for the Dawgs, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a steal in the win. Five other Salukis scored six or more in the win with Xavier Johnson going for six points and a trio of steals to lead SIU defensively.
As a team, SIU shot 48.1 percent (26-54) from the field while holding Illinois State to 47.5 (19-40) overall and 38.9 percent (7-18) in the second half.
Illinois State won the battle on the boards 30-22, but Southern won the battle in the paint, nearly doubling ILS in paint scores at 38-20.
Forward Liam McChesney led the Redbirds with 13 points to go with five rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will look for the season sweep of Evansville Tuesday night with tipoff set for 7 p.m. from Banterra Center. To purchase your tickets for the game, click HERE.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
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.
"I thought our ball pressure throughout the game was able to wear them down a little bit and we were able to generate offense from the turnovers and we took care of the ball," head coach Bryan Mullins said. "If we keep doing that, that is winning basketball."
An Evanston, Illinois native, Jones was too tough to handle for the Redbirds as he scored 20-plus points for the second time this season. The 6-foot-1 guard dropped in seven of SIU's 11 points to help the Salukis to an early lead.
Illinois State (8-11, 3-5 MVC) would get things going eventually, rallying back to tie the game, and using a 9-0 run to take their largest lead of the game midway through the first half at seven points.
Redshirt freshman center Scottie Ebube gave SIU the lift it needed late in the half to pull within three points after corralling an offensive rebound and putting it in along with the foul call.
The Salukis would bring the energy in the second half, using a 19-5 run to take the lead and never look back. Like many games this year, SIU put together a complete final 20 minutes all starting on the defensive end. The Salukis would outscore Illinois State 37-22 in the final frame en route to the victory.
"I think our depth is important," Mullins said when asked about his team's strong second half. "We don't rely on five or six guys. We'll play 10 guys, and we have different guys on different nights stepping up. Over the course of 40 minutes, we try not to change the way we play. We try to play hard every single possession and that starts to wear on teams."
Southern can credit its offensive spark to forcing 15 Redbird turnovers while finishing with just five on the night. SIU scored 19 points off of ILS miscues while assisting on 13 of their 26 made field goals.
After going 1-for-10 from behind the arc in the first, SIU was able to convert six of their 15 shots from deep in the second half to pull away from the Redbirds. Jones led SIU with four triples while Dalton Banks, Troy D'Amico and Jawuan Newton also scored from deep.
Marcus Domask put together another solid outing for the Dawgs, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a steal in the win. Five other Salukis scored six or more in the win with Xavier Johnson going for six points and a trio of steals to lead SIU defensively.
As a team, SIU shot 48.1 percent (26-54) from the field while holding Illinois State to 47.5 (19-40) overall and 38.9 percent (7-18) in the second half.
Illinois State won the battle on the boards 30-22, but Southern won the battle in the paint, nearly doubling ILS in paint scores at 38-20.
Forward Liam McChesney led the Redbirds with 13 points to go with five rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will look for the season sweep of Evansville Tuesday night with tipoff set for 7 p.m. from Banterra Center. To purchase your tickets for the game, click HERE.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
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
ILS
SIU
FG%
.475
.481
3FG%
.412
.280
FT%
.667
.714
RB
30
22
TO
15
5
STL
2
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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