Friday, November 22
Gainesville, FL
6 PM CST
Southern Illinois University
2-3,0-0MVC
68
at
93
Florida
6-0,0-0SEC
1
2
F
Southern Ill.
25
43
68
Florida
46
47
93
Recap | Salukis Drop Road Game at No. 21 Florida Friday
11/22/2024 | 9:47:00 | Men's Basketball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Southern Illinois basketball fell on the road to No. 21 Florida, 93-68, Friday night at Exactech Arena. The Gators scored the first seven points of the game and led throughout.
"Being down 21 in the first half, it's pretty tough to come back against a team like that," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "We just didn't have any fight in the first half. There were several loose balls, several opportunities for us to make plays and we didn't make them."
The Salukis were led by Ali Dibba's 17 points while Jarrett Hensley scored 14 and Kennard Davis Jr. added 11. Southern would play without one of its starters in guard Elijah Elliott after going down early in the second half and not returning.
One of the bright spots for the Salukis was their work on the glass as SIU outrebounded Florida, 49-46, including grabbing 20 rebounds on the offensive end which led to 16 points. Freshman Rolyns Aligbe led the Salukis with 10 rebounds with six coming on the offensive glass. Elliott had eight boards in just 19 minutes while Antwaun Massey pulled down seven rebounds to go with his seven points.
Overcoming an early eight-point deficit, Southern pulled to within one at 14-13 with 11:22 remaining to play in the opening half. SIU held Florida 0-for-8 from the field and scoreless for nearly five minutes while mounting the rally.
The Gators would answer with a 22-2 run over the next five minutes to take control of the game. UF forced six Saluki turnovers and connected on five 3-pointers during the stretch to take command of the game.
Massey snapped the 16-0 scoring run with a layup before the Salukis ended the half with six-straight in the final 50 seconds capped off with a fast break layup from Ali Dibba to go into the locker room trailing the Gators 46-25.
Southern would go back and forth with Florida in the second half battling 47-43 in the second half of play. SIU would outrebound the Gators 30-21 in the second half, including five offensive rebounds. Dibba scored 11 of his team-high 17 in the final 20 minutes while Hensley added 10.
"In the second half in terms of how hard we played is what has to happen for our basketball team, and we just don't know who we are and how we're supposed to win just yet."
Southern ended the game shooting just 34.7 percent (25-72) from the field, 5-for-15 from behind the arc, and 13-of-18 from the charity stripe.
Entering the game, Florida had shot just 28.9 percent from deep but that did not matter as the Gators knocked down a season-high 16 3-pointers on 39 attempts with seven different players hitting a triple.
Guard Alijah Martin led all scorers with 32 while Thomas Haugh added 19 for the Gators.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will remain in the state of Florida as the team heads to Ft. Myers for the Gulf Coast Showcase starting next week. SIU tips off the MTE with La Tech at 2 p.m. CT on Monday on FloCollege.
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.
"Being down 21 in the first half, it's pretty tough to come back against a team like that," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "We just didn't have any fight in the first half. There were several loose balls, several opportunities for us to make plays and we didn't make them."
The Salukis were led by Ali Dibba's 17 points while Jarrett Hensley scored 14 and Kennard Davis Jr. added 11. Southern would play without one of its starters in guard Elijah Elliott after going down early in the second half and not returning.
One of the bright spots for the Salukis was their work on the glass as SIU outrebounded Florida, 49-46, including grabbing 20 rebounds on the offensive end which led to 16 points. Freshman Rolyns Aligbe led the Salukis with 10 rebounds with six coming on the offensive glass. Elliott had eight boards in just 19 minutes while Antwaun Massey pulled down seven rebounds to go with his seven points.
Overcoming an early eight-point deficit, Southern pulled to within one at 14-13 with 11:22 remaining to play in the opening half. SIU held Florida 0-for-8 from the field and scoreless for nearly five minutes while mounting the rally.
The Gators would answer with a 22-2 run over the next five minutes to take control of the game. UF forced six Saluki turnovers and connected on five 3-pointers during the stretch to take command of the game.
Massey snapped the 16-0 scoring run with a layup before the Salukis ended the half with six-straight in the final 50 seconds capped off with a fast break layup from Ali Dibba to go into the locker room trailing the Gators 46-25.
Southern would go back and forth with Florida in the second half battling 47-43 in the second half of play. SIU would outrebound the Gators 30-21 in the second half, including five offensive rebounds. Dibba scored 11 of his team-high 17 in the final 20 minutes while Hensley added 10.
"In the second half in terms of how hard we played is what has to happen for our basketball team, and we just don't know who we are and how we're supposed to win just yet."
Southern ended the game shooting just 34.7 percent (25-72) from the field, 5-for-15 from behind the arc, and 13-of-18 from the charity stripe.
Entering the game, Florida had shot just 28.9 percent from deep but that did not matter as the Gators knocked down a season-high 16 3-pointers on 39 attempts with seven different players hitting a triple.
Guard Alijah Martin led all scorers with 32 while Thomas Haugh added 19 for the Gators.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will remain in the state of Florida as the team heads to Ft. Myers for the Gulf Coast Showcase starting next week. SIU tips off the MTE with La Tech at 2 p.m. CT on Monday on FloCollege.
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
UF
FG%
.347
.467
3FG%
.333
.410
FT%
.722
.500
RB
49
46
TO
12
6
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
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