Saturday, January 11
Carbondale, IL
6 PM
Southern Illinois University
6-11,1-5MVC
88
vs
78
Missouri State
7-10,0-6MVC
1
2
OT 1
F
Missouri St.
27
45
6
78
Southern Ill.
35
37
16
88
Recap | Hensley’s Career High Leads Salukis Past Missouri State in Overtime, 88-78
01/11/2025 | 9:54:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – It took an additional five minutes, but it was worth the wait as Southern Illinois basketball picked up an 88-78 overtime victory over Missouri State Saturday night at Banterra Center. The win snapped a five-game losing skid and gave the Salukis their first win in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Postgame Press Conference
"The only good thing about losing is it reminds you how good winning is," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "Sometimes if you win a lot, you can forget how good winning is so when you go through a stretch like we've gone through, to win is a good feeling."
"I'm proud of our guys for not losing the lead but not caving when it went into overtime. Our guys were obviously very disappointed. They were able to get over it and play well and make free throws when we needed to."
Two Salukis set new career highs in the win led by Jarrett Hensley who scored a game-high 30 points while freshman Drew Steffe notched 16 points, including three of SIU's seven 3-pointers.
SIU looked to close the game with a five-point lead and 47 seconds left in regulation, but the Bears (7-10, 0-6 MVC) had other plans. Missouri State scored off an offensive rebound to cut the SIU lead to three with just 34 seconds before forcing a turnover on a tipped pass while trapping fullcourt.
The Bears were able to kick the ball out and to the corner where Chase Martin connected on three of his nine points to tie the game at 72 apiece. Southern had a chance to go ahead late but Ali Dibba was called for a charge with 0.9 left on the clock to force overtime.
Tied at 76 with 1:52 left in the extra period it was Hensley who would put the Salukis ahead for the final time as he drained one of his three 3-pointers. The Bears would look to answer with a three of their own on the next possession, but the SIU defense held strong as Kennard Davis Jr. corralled the rebound. Davis would find Steffe in the corner and the Frisco, Texas native knocked down the triple to ice the game with 50 seconds left.
Saluki big men Rolyns Aligbe and Hensley spearheaded a 17-4 Saluki run over five minutes midway through the first half to push the SIU lead to double figures. Southern scored eight of the 17 points off turnovers during the run as Hensley and Aligbe scored six points each. Freshman guard Drew Steffe capped off the run with a corner three on the break to extend the lead to 25-13 and force a Missouri State timeout with 8:26 left in the half.
With a 7-0 run over three minutes, Missouri State cut the SIU lead to two points. Hensley answered the Bears with seven quick points of his own to push the Saluki lead to 34-25 just before the halftime break. Hensley finished the half with a team-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
Dibba joined both Hensley and Steffe in double-digits with 13 points to go with four assists and three rebounds. Indianapolis native Sheridan Sharp scored 10 points while going for five rebounds and a trio of assists off the bench. Davis led the Salukis with 10 rebounds – his third 10+ rebound performance of the year – to go with seven points.
Southern dominated near the rim against the Bears, outscoring MSU 46-24 in the paint. Another area the Salukis took advantage of Missouri State was protecting the basketball. SIU was able to force 19 turnovers in the game which they converted into 21 points while Missouri State scored just 12 on 11 SIU miscues.
SIU finished the game shooting 48 percent (31-65) from the field while going 7-for-19 from behind the arc. Southern also shot 70 percent (19-27) from the charity stripe in the win.
Vincent Brady II led Missouri State with 24 points. Zaxton King added 23 points and five rebounds for the Bears.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will travel to Missouri State for a Wednesday meeting with the Bears. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT from Springfield.
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.
Postgame Press Conference
"The only good thing about losing is it reminds you how good winning is," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "Sometimes if you win a lot, you can forget how good winning is so when you go through a stretch like we've gone through, to win is a good feeling."
"I'm proud of our guys for not losing the lead but not caving when it went into overtime. Our guys were obviously very disappointed. They were able to get over it and play well and make free throws when we needed to."
Two Salukis set new career highs in the win led by Jarrett Hensley who scored a game-high 30 points while freshman Drew Steffe notched 16 points, including three of SIU's seven 3-pointers.
SIU looked to close the game with a five-point lead and 47 seconds left in regulation, but the Bears (7-10, 0-6 MVC) had other plans. Missouri State scored off an offensive rebound to cut the SIU lead to three with just 34 seconds before forcing a turnover on a tipped pass while trapping fullcourt.
The Bears were able to kick the ball out and to the corner where Chase Martin connected on three of his nine points to tie the game at 72 apiece. Southern had a chance to go ahead late but Ali Dibba was called for a charge with 0.9 left on the clock to force overtime.
Tied at 76 with 1:52 left in the extra period it was Hensley who would put the Salukis ahead for the final time as he drained one of his three 3-pointers. The Bears would look to answer with a three of their own on the next possession, but the SIU defense held strong as Kennard Davis Jr. corralled the rebound. Davis would find Steffe in the corner and the Frisco, Texas native knocked down the triple to ice the game with 50 seconds left.
Saluki big men Rolyns Aligbe and Hensley spearheaded a 17-4 Saluki run over five minutes midway through the first half to push the SIU lead to double figures. Southern scored eight of the 17 points off turnovers during the run as Hensley and Aligbe scored six points each. Freshman guard Drew Steffe capped off the run with a corner three on the break to extend the lead to 25-13 and force a Missouri State timeout with 8:26 left in the half.
With a 7-0 run over three minutes, Missouri State cut the SIU lead to two points. Hensley answered the Bears with seven quick points of his own to push the Saluki lead to 34-25 just before the halftime break. Hensley finished the half with a team-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
Dibba joined both Hensley and Steffe in double-digits with 13 points to go with four assists and three rebounds. Indianapolis native Sheridan Sharp scored 10 points while going for five rebounds and a trio of assists off the bench. Davis led the Salukis with 10 rebounds – his third 10+ rebound performance of the year – to go with seven points.
Southern dominated near the rim against the Bears, outscoring MSU 46-24 in the paint. Another area the Salukis took advantage of Missouri State was protecting the basketball. SIU was able to force 19 turnovers in the game which they converted into 21 points while Missouri State scored just 12 on 11 SIU miscues.
SIU finished the game shooting 48 percent (31-65) from the field while going 7-for-19 from behind the arc. Southern also shot 70 percent (19-27) from the charity stripe in the win.
Vincent Brady II led Missouri State with 24 points. Zaxton King added 23 points and five rebounds for the Bears.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will travel to Missouri State for a Wednesday meeting with the Bears. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT from Springfield.
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
MOST
SIU
FG%
.424
.477
3FG%
.379
.368
FT%
.680
.704
RB
37
38
TO
19
11
STL
5
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
30
FGM
11
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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