Saturday, January 18
Carbondale, IL
6 PM
Southern Illinois University
8-11,3-5MVC
73
vs
49
Northern Iowa
11-8,5-3MVC
1
2
F
UNI
15
34
49
Southern Ill.
33
40
73
Photo by: Saluki Athletic Communications
Recap | Salukis Lock Down Northern Iowa to Earn Third-Straight Victory, 73-49
01/18/2025 | 9:43:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – It was all Southern Illinois wire-to-wire as the Salukis dominated Northern Iowa 73-49 Saturday night inside Banterra Center to win its third consecutive game. Southern led by as many as 30 points in the game but it was the hard-nose defense that helped the Salukis improve to 8-11 overall and 3-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
St. Louis native Kennard Davis Jr. put on a show for Saluki Nation as he recorded his third double-double of the season with a 24 point and 10 rebound performance. The sophomore led SIU with 10 at intermission before adding 14 on 6-of-7 shooting in the second half of play.
"I'm happy for our kids. Just a little over two weeks ago from January 1, we were such a mess," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "I thank the kids for believing in our staff – we made some changes – and the kids stayed with us and trusted us, and I think we're starting to see some of the fruits of that and it's just the start."
Southern Illinois put on a defensive clinic throughout, but especially in the first half of play where SIU held UNI to just 15 points – a tie for sixth in program history for the fewest points in a first half.
During the opening 20 minutes, Southern held UNI without a field goal for nearly seven minutes while UNI connected on just one field goal in 17 attempts at one point.
UNI (11-8, 5-3 MVC) struggled to get any open looks from the floor as Southern locked in to hold the Panthers to just 4-of-28 from the floor in the first – UNI's first-half shooting percentage of 14.3 percent ranks as the third-best defensive effort in a half in program history. SIU held Wright State to 13 percent in a half in 2010 and New Mexico State to 14 percent last season at the Cancun Challenge.
"I was excited for the game because I knew we were playing better defensively," Nagy said. "Hawk (Steve Hawkins) is doing a great job with our defense. We're trying to keep people off balance, but it happens in practice. You see us fighting, you win an overtime game and all of a sudden, the light switch flipped on for our kids believe now."
With the Salukis leading 35-15, UNI scored six straight to cut the lead to 14 points, but that was when Davis began to heat up. The guard came down the floor and buried a turnaround jumper before knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to 18.
With 12 minutes left to play Southern would put together a 12-0 run with Damien Mayo Jr. putting in the last seven points during the stretch.
Ali Dibba joined Davis and Mayo (10) in double-digits with 14 points in the win – the 17th time this season that Dibba has scored 10 or more in a game.
SIU won the battle on the glass 36-27 over UNI with seven Salukis grabbing three or more rebounds. After Davis' 10 rebounds, it was Jarrett Hensley who had five to go with seven points. Dibba added four boards while also picking up a trio of assists.
Southern forced nine turnovers and scored 14 points off the UNI miscues. The Salukis were able to get out and run on several steals to outscore UNI 12-2 on the fast break.
No UNI player scored in double-digits in the game with Tytan Anderson being one of three Panthers to score nine.
UP NEXT
The Salukis play host to Murray State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at 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.
St. Louis native Kennard Davis Jr. put on a show for Saluki Nation as he recorded his third double-double of the season with a 24 point and 10 rebound performance. The sophomore led SIU with 10 at intermission before adding 14 on 6-of-7 shooting in the second half of play.
"I'm happy for our kids. Just a little over two weeks ago from January 1, we were such a mess," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "I thank the kids for believing in our staff – we made some changes – and the kids stayed with us and trusted us, and I think we're starting to see some of the fruits of that and it's just the start."
Southern Illinois put on a defensive clinic throughout, but especially in the first half of play where SIU held UNI to just 15 points – a tie for sixth in program history for the fewest points in a first half.
During the opening 20 minutes, Southern held UNI without a field goal for nearly seven minutes while UNI connected on just one field goal in 17 attempts at one point.
UNI (11-8, 5-3 MVC) struggled to get any open looks from the floor as Southern locked in to hold the Panthers to just 4-of-28 from the floor in the first – UNI's first-half shooting percentage of 14.3 percent ranks as the third-best defensive effort in a half in program history. SIU held Wright State to 13 percent in a half in 2010 and New Mexico State to 14 percent last season at the Cancun Challenge.
"I was excited for the game because I knew we were playing better defensively," Nagy said. "Hawk (Steve Hawkins) is doing a great job with our defense. We're trying to keep people off balance, but it happens in practice. You see us fighting, you win an overtime game and all of a sudden, the light switch flipped on for our kids believe now."
With the Salukis leading 35-15, UNI scored six straight to cut the lead to 14 points, but that was when Davis began to heat up. The guard came down the floor and buried a turnaround jumper before knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to 18.
With 12 minutes left to play Southern would put together a 12-0 run with Damien Mayo Jr. putting in the last seven points during the stretch.
Ali Dibba joined Davis and Mayo (10) in double-digits with 14 points in the win – the 17th time this season that Dibba has scored 10 or more in a game.
SIU won the battle on the glass 36-27 over UNI with seven Salukis grabbing three or more rebounds. After Davis' 10 rebounds, it was Jarrett Hensley who had five to go with seven points. Dibba added four boards while also picking up a trio of assists.
Southern forced nine turnovers and scored 14 points off the UNI miscues. The Salukis were able to get out and run on several steals to outscore UNI 12-2 on the fast break.
No UNI player scored in double-digits in the game with Tytan Anderson being one of three Panthers to score nine.
UP NEXT
The Salukis play host to Murray State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at 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
UNI
SIU
FG%
.321
.540
3FG%
.190
.526
FT%
.579
.750
RB
27
36
TO
9
12
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
10
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
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