Recap | Salukis Show Grit in Road Overtime Loss to Drake, 92-88

Wednesday, February 7

Des Moines, IA

7 PM

Southern Illinois University

15-9,7-6MVC

Drake

19-5,10-3MVC

Team	1	2	OT 1	F
Southern Ill.	37	45	6	88
Drake	38	44	10	92

Photo by: Tim McCaughan

Recap | Salukis Show Grit in Road Overtime Loss to Drake, 92-88

02/07/2024 | 10:10:00 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Postgame Presser Photo Gallery

By: Tim McCaughan, SIUSalukis.com

DES MOINES, Iowa – Forty minutes was not enough as Southern Illinois came up just short of snapping Drake's 17-game home win streak with a 92-88 loss on the road Wednesday night.

"I thought the guys had the right mindset, the right attitude and the right belief," head coach Bryan Mullins said after the game. "It was a back-and-forth game – we showed a lot of toughness, put ourselves in a position to win and just fell a little bit short."

The Salukis (15-9, 7-6 MVC) outscored Drake 13-9 in the final four minutes of regulation, with six points coming from Xavier Johnson in the final two minutes. Key during the stretch were defensive stops on back-to-back possessions on reigning MVC Player of the Year Tucker DeVries.

Following back-to-back stops of the Bulldogs, Johnson had a chance to win it in regulation. The graduate guard absorbed contact, but he was unable to connect on a 15-foot jumper with under four seconds on the clock.

"I thought the guys battled and tried to play physical defense without fouling and I thought they did a good job of that," Mullins noted of the last four minutes of regulation.

Drake (19-5, 10-3 MVC) scored the first four points in overtime and went up six points after Kevin Overton's layup with 2:17 left. Johnson reeled off four quick points and SIU had possession of the ball down 90-88 with 11.1 seconds left.

SIU did not get a shot off in the final seconds after a loose ball with 1.8 seconds left was called a jump ball, followed by an inbound violation by the Salukis.

Johnson led the Salukis with 35 points -- the sixth time he has scored 30 or more points in a game this season. The guard also dished out six assists and had five rebounds. Trent Brown scored 14 while Troy D'Amico added 13 fore the Salukis.

SIU battled back from an eight-point deficit in the first half and went toe-to-toe with Drake as the teams exchanged the lead 11 times in the contest.

"There were a lot of different runs – the game was kind of choppy," Mullins said. "A lot of things didn't go our way, but they kept fighting and kept believing that they could find a way to win. We have to continue to have that kind of attitude and togetherness as we move forward."

Battling foul trouble for much of the second half, Southern had seven players with three or more fouls and five players with four fouls in a tightly officiated game.

Drake was able to convert 32 of their 40 attempts at the free throw line, including 18-of-21 in the second half of play. SIU shot 20-for-22 from the stripe in the game.

The Salukis went into the locker room trailing Drake 38-37 after a balanced scoring first half. After D'Amico scored the first five points for the Salukis, Drake went on a 17-7 run to take an eight-point lead at the midway point.

SIU answered with an 11-4 run of their own capped off by a triple from Trent Brown to regain the lead at 25-24 with 5:36 left in the first. The two teams would trade blows for the final five minutes before a transition dunk from Carlos Rosario put DU on top with four seconds left in the half.

SIU was led by Johnson with 10 first-half points while big man Scottie Ebube scored nine off the bench for the Salukis.

Clarence Rupert recorded his fifth double-digit rebound game of the season, tying his season high with 11 boards to go with six points.

The Bulldogs scored 54 points in the paint compared to 36 for SIU. DeVries led Drake with 27 points on 7-for-17 shooting. The junior scored 13 points at the free throw line. Darnell Brodie put in 18 points to go with eight rebounds for the Bulldogs.

UP NEXT
The Salukis return to Banterra Center on Saturday as Illinois State comes to town for a 6 p.m. tipoff. The game will serve as SIU's Blackout Cancer game with the team wearing custom black jerseys. Tickets start at just $10 and can be purchased 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/SIUBasketball. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.