Thursday, November 14
Stillwater, OK
7 PM
Southern Illinois University
1-2,0-0MVC
78
at
85
Oklahoma State
3-0,0-0Big 12
1
2
F
Southern Ill.
37
41
78
Oklahoma St.
38
47
85
Recap | Saluki Rally Falls Short at Oklahoma State, 85-78
11/14/2024 | 9:50:00 | Men's Basketball
STILLWATER, Okla. – Southern Illinois basketball fell on the road to Power 5 opponent Oklahoma State, 85-78, Thursday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Elijah Elliott led the Salukis with 21 points, including five 3-pointers while Kennard Davis Jr. added 16 and Ali Dibba dropped in 12.
"I'm happy our kids didn't give in down 18 – I thought that was important for us to grow even though we were discouraged," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "The whole game was turnovers, and we know that has been a problem for us even though we outrebounded them, shot 50 percent – there are a lot of things that we did well against a very good team."
Nagy added: "There are things that I am pleased with and I am not interested in moral victories, but I felt like we grew and that's very important. We didn't play great, but our kids fought and that will show up with victories eventually."
Down 18 points to the Cowboys with 6:56 remaining to play the Salukis (1-2) rallied to close the gap to just four points with 24 seconds left before Oklahoma State was finally able to put the game away at the free throw line. Defense played a pivotal role in the rally as Southern held OSU without a field goal for the final 4:32 of the game with the Cowboys shooting 0-for-5 from the floor during the closing moments of the game.
Southern outrebounded OSU 36-33 on the night, scoring 15 second-chance points but it was the turnover margin that SIU could not overcome in the end. In total SIU committed 18 turnovers which Oklahoma State (3-0) turned into 30 points while the Salukis scored just seven points on seven OSU miscues.
The Salukis jumped out to a 10-2 lead with the Davis and Dibba knocking down 3-pointers to open the game before Oklahoma State got their offense going. Freshman Rolyns Aligbe drilled a 3-pointer with just under 13 minutes left in the first half to make it a 15-9 SIU lead before the Cowboys went on a run to tie the game at the midway point.
Both teams would trade baskets up until the break. After OSU scored with under 10-seconds to play, Elliott would come down and hit his second triple of the half to pull SIU to within one point at 38-37 heading to the locker room.
The second 20 minutes was just as much of a game of runs as the first for both squads. After Elliott scored the first points in the second on a jumper, the Cowboys would real off an 8-0 run – earning its biggest lead of the game at that point – forcing the Salukis to call a timeout. Antwaun Massey ended the scoring run for the Cowboys with a paint score at the 15:08 mark.
Southern would answer the OSU run by scoring 10-straight to tie the game at 49. Elliott hit a pair of triples during the run while Davis and Massey added buckets during the stretch.
Oklahoma State looked to put the game away with under 10 minutes remaining after scoring 27 points to SIU's nine, pushing their lead to a game-high 18 during the stretch.
It was Elliott and Davis who spearheaded the Salukis rally to close the gap to four points late. Davis scored 11 of his 13 second half points during the run while Elliott scored eight.
Davion Sykes provided a spark for the Salukis off the bench with nine points and three assists. To go along with their double-digit points total, Dibba and Davis also added five rebounds apiece. Massey added eight points and two boards.
As a team Southern shot 51 percent from the field (31-61) while shooting 39 percent (11-28) from behind the arc. SIU struggled at the line where the team shot a combined 5-for-11 while Oklahoma State shot 15-for-20 from the charity stripe.
Abou Ousmane and Brandon Newman led the way for the Cowboys with 18 points each.
UP NEXT
The Salukis returns home on Monday as North Dakota State comes to town for a 7 p.m. CT tip from Banterra Center.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by visiting SIUSalukis.com as well as following the team on X at @SIU_Basketball, Instagram at @SIU_Basketball, and Facebook at Facebook.com/SIUBasketball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" mobile app from the App Store or Google Play Store.
"I'm happy our kids didn't give in down 18 – I thought that was important for us to grow even though we were discouraged," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "The whole game was turnovers, and we know that has been a problem for us even though we outrebounded them, shot 50 percent – there are a lot of things that we did well against a very good team."
Nagy added: "There are things that I am pleased with and I am not interested in moral victories, but I felt like we grew and that's very important. We didn't play great, but our kids fought and that will show up with victories eventually."
Down 18 points to the Cowboys with 6:56 remaining to play the Salukis (1-2) rallied to close the gap to just four points with 24 seconds left before Oklahoma State was finally able to put the game away at the free throw line. Defense played a pivotal role in the rally as Southern held OSU without a field goal for the final 4:32 of the game with the Cowboys shooting 0-for-5 from the floor during the closing moments of the game.
Southern outrebounded OSU 36-33 on the night, scoring 15 second-chance points but it was the turnover margin that SIU could not overcome in the end. In total SIU committed 18 turnovers which Oklahoma State (3-0) turned into 30 points while the Salukis scored just seven points on seven OSU miscues.
The Salukis jumped out to a 10-2 lead with the Davis and Dibba knocking down 3-pointers to open the game before Oklahoma State got their offense going. Freshman Rolyns Aligbe drilled a 3-pointer with just under 13 minutes left in the first half to make it a 15-9 SIU lead before the Cowboys went on a run to tie the game at the midway point.
Both teams would trade baskets up until the break. After OSU scored with under 10-seconds to play, Elliott would come down and hit his second triple of the half to pull SIU to within one point at 38-37 heading to the locker room.
The second 20 minutes was just as much of a game of runs as the first for both squads. After Elliott scored the first points in the second on a jumper, the Cowboys would real off an 8-0 run – earning its biggest lead of the game at that point – forcing the Salukis to call a timeout. Antwaun Massey ended the scoring run for the Cowboys with a paint score at the 15:08 mark.
Southern would answer the OSU run by scoring 10-straight to tie the game at 49. Elliott hit a pair of triples during the run while Davis and Massey added buckets during the stretch.
Oklahoma State looked to put the game away with under 10 minutes remaining after scoring 27 points to SIU's nine, pushing their lead to a game-high 18 during the stretch.
It was Elliott and Davis who spearheaded the Salukis rally to close the gap to four points late. Davis scored 11 of his 13 second half points during the run while Elliott scored eight.
Davion Sykes provided a spark for the Salukis off the bench with nine points and three assists. To go along with their double-digit points total, Dibba and Davis also added five rebounds apiece. Massey added eight points and two boards.
As a team Southern shot 51 percent from the field (31-61) while shooting 39 percent (11-28) from behind the arc. SIU struggled at the line where the team shot a combined 5-for-11 while Oklahoma State shot 15-for-20 from the charity stripe.
Abou Ousmane and Brandon Newman led the way for the Cowboys with 18 points each.
UP NEXT
The Salukis returns home on Monday as North Dakota State comes to town for a 7 p.m. CT tip from Banterra Center.
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by visiting SIUSalukis.com as well as following the team on X at @SIU_Basketball, Instagram at @SIU_Basketball, and Facebook at Facebook.com/SIUBasketball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" mobile app from the App Store or Google Play Store.
Team Stats
SIU
OSU
FG%
.508
.477
3FG%
.393
.400
FT%
.455
.750
RB
36
33
TO
18
7
STL
4
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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