Saturday, February 1
Carbondale, IL
1 PM
Southern Illinois University
10-13,5-7MVC
65
vs
75
Drake
20-2,10-2MVC
1
2
F
Drake
28
47
75
Southern Ill.
27
38
65
Photo by: Madison Giltner
Recap | Salukis Unable to Slow Drake in Second Half; Fall to Bulldogs 75-65
02/01/2025 | 4:34:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois basketball fell to Drake, 75-65, Saturday afternoon at Banterra Center.
Southern jumped out to a 7-2 lead three minutes into action before Drake began to chip away. Drake would get nine-straight points on a trio of 3-pointers to take a 14-9 lead before the Salukis ended the Bulldog run at the free-throw line.
Turnovers played a major part of the Bulldogs' first-half success as they scored 12 points off six SIU miscues. Southern was only able to convert DU's five turnovers into three points.
Southern Illinois held the Bulldogs to just nine field goals in the first half with Bennett Stirtz hitting four of the nine for DU. The guard would close the half with nine points to lead the team and to give the Bulldogs a 28-27 lead heading into the locker room.
It was a tale of two halves though as Drake (20-2, 10-2 MVC) would shoot lights out in the second half, ending the final 20 minutes shooting 70 percent (14-20) from the floor. The Bulldogs would use ball screens to get Stirtz a favorable matchup and he made the Salukis pay by scoring 21 of his game-high 30 points in the second – going 7-for-8 from the floor in the period.
"We had a simple gameplan and really in the second half, we just didn't execute it," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "When you shoot 60 percent from the floor, and you lose by ten -- that just tells you that you are not doing what you need to do. I don't know if we made them make a jumper in the second half. That's frustrating."
The Salukis (10-13, 5-7 MVC) came out of the locker room on a 7-2 scoring run to take a 34-30 lead three minutes in. Neither team would extend their lead to more than five points until the midway point of the period.
With nine minutes left to play and a 53-52 lead, Drake would reel off what would be a decisive 10-0 scoring run to take the energy out of the building. Stirtz nailed a triple and would hit a free throw to push the lead to five before Tavion Banks capped off the run with back-to-back backdoor layups to extend the lead to 63-52. During the stretch, SIU turned the ball over four times.
Kennard Davis Jr. scored a team-high 22 points and Ali Dibba put in 20 points – the seventh time the senior has scored 20 or more this season. Jarrett Hensley battled foul trouble for much of the game and was held to just two points in nine minutes of action.
Damien Mayo Jr. scored nine points and had four rebounds while freshman big man Rolyns Aligbe had a team-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points in 23 minutes of action.
When it wasn't Stirtz for Drake, it was Banks. The junior scored 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting to go with five boards and four assists. Daniel Abreu also scored in double-figures for DU with 12 points.
Southern turned the ball over 16 times in the game which Drake was able to turn into 20 points. It marked the second straight game that SIU has turned the ball over 14 or more times.
Southern ended the game shooting 51 percent (23-45) from the field while Drake finished 54 percent (25-46). The Bulldogs knocked down six of their 15 attempts from behind the arc while SIU finished 4-for-12 from deep.
UP NEXT
Southern Illinois travels to Evansville next Wednesday to face the Aces. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT from the Ford 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.
Southern jumped out to a 7-2 lead three minutes into action before Drake began to chip away. Drake would get nine-straight points on a trio of 3-pointers to take a 14-9 lead before the Salukis ended the Bulldog run at the free-throw line.
Turnovers played a major part of the Bulldogs' first-half success as they scored 12 points off six SIU miscues. Southern was only able to convert DU's five turnovers into three points.
Southern Illinois held the Bulldogs to just nine field goals in the first half with Bennett Stirtz hitting four of the nine for DU. The guard would close the half with nine points to lead the team and to give the Bulldogs a 28-27 lead heading into the locker room.
It was a tale of two halves though as Drake (20-2, 10-2 MVC) would shoot lights out in the second half, ending the final 20 minutes shooting 70 percent (14-20) from the floor. The Bulldogs would use ball screens to get Stirtz a favorable matchup and he made the Salukis pay by scoring 21 of his game-high 30 points in the second – going 7-for-8 from the floor in the period.
"We had a simple gameplan and really in the second half, we just didn't execute it," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game. "When you shoot 60 percent from the floor, and you lose by ten -- that just tells you that you are not doing what you need to do. I don't know if we made them make a jumper in the second half. That's frustrating."
The Salukis (10-13, 5-7 MVC) came out of the locker room on a 7-2 scoring run to take a 34-30 lead three minutes in. Neither team would extend their lead to more than five points until the midway point of the period.
With nine minutes left to play and a 53-52 lead, Drake would reel off what would be a decisive 10-0 scoring run to take the energy out of the building. Stirtz nailed a triple and would hit a free throw to push the lead to five before Tavion Banks capped off the run with back-to-back backdoor layups to extend the lead to 63-52. During the stretch, SIU turned the ball over four times.
Kennard Davis Jr. scored a team-high 22 points and Ali Dibba put in 20 points – the seventh time the senior has scored 20 or more this season. Jarrett Hensley battled foul trouble for much of the game and was held to just two points in nine minutes of action.
Damien Mayo Jr. scored nine points and had four rebounds while freshman big man Rolyns Aligbe had a team-high 10 rebounds to go with seven points in 23 minutes of action.
When it wasn't Stirtz for Drake, it was Banks. The junior scored 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting to go with five boards and four assists. Daniel Abreu also scored in double-figures for DU with 12 points.
Southern turned the ball over 16 times in the game which Drake was able to turn into 20 points. It marked the second straight game that SIU has turned the ball over 14 or more times.
Southern ended the game shooting 51 percent (23-45) from the field while Drake finished 54 percent (25-46). The Bulldogs knocked down six of their 15 attempts from behind the arc while SIU finished 4-for-12 from deep.
UP NEXT
Southern Illinois travels to Evansville next Wednesday to face the Aces. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT from the Ford 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
DRA
SIU
FG%
.543
.511
3FG%
.400
.333
FT%
.679
.789
RB
23
25
TO
12
16
STL
11
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
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