Saturday, February 15
Carbondale, IL
6 PM
Southern Illinois University
12-15,7-9MVC
68
vs
73
Belmont
18-9,10-6MVC
1
2
F
Belmont
25
48
73
Southern Ill.
38
30
68
Photo by: Abby Harris
Recap | Belmont Uses Second Half Rally to Secure Win Saturday, 73-68
02/15/2025 | 9:10:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. – It was a tale of two halves for Southern Illinois basketball Saturday night as the Salukis fell to Belmont, 73-68, inside Banterra Center.
"I already know the question will be what is the difference between the first half and the second half and I would love to be able to answer that for you, but I can't — other than we had no emotion to us in the second half — guys didn't respond to timeouts or being coached," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game.
"We had good emotion; we had good energy in the first half, and we didn't in the second half. It was almost just a complete mirror image of the game at their place. They were up 12 at half, we came out and tied the game up very quickly," Nagy added. "We talked about that at halftime, and we just didn't respond. We didn't respond and it seemed like we were stuck in mud."
Postgame Presser Conference
After scoring a career-high in Nashville against the Bruins in early January, senior guard Ali Dibba picked up right where he left off as he helped the Salukis to a 38-25 halftime lead with 17 first-half points. SIU was able to build their lead without a main piece of the rotation as Kennard Davis Jr. played just 10 minutes due to foul trouble
Trailing 5-2 early in the game, the Salukis (12-15, 7-9 MVC) scored 11 straight points to take the lead for the first time. Southern was strong defensively in the opening half, holding the Bruins to just 30 percent (9-for-30) from the field and 4-for-12 from behind the arc.
That would change in the second half though as Belmont (18-9, 10-6 MVC) came out of the locker room blistering hot. The Bruins would score the first 10 points of the second half to pull to within three points at 38-35. While the Bruins were red hot, Southern struggled from the floor and were held scoreless for 3:52 until Jarrett Hensley knocked down a free throw.
Belmont continued its barrage from behind the arc to open the period as the Bruins would push their run to 22-4 and take a five-point lead. It was Tyler Lundblade who answered the call for the Bruins in the second as the guard knocked down 5-of-7 from behind the arc to score 16 points during the rally. Carter Whitt also carried a load for Belmont with 15 of his 17 points coming in the final 20 minutes.
Drew Steffe scored five-straight for the Salukis just before the final media timeout to pull SIU to within five points at 59-54 but Belmont would push its lead back out to 10 points before the final 60 seconds.
In a flip of a switch, Belmont went from shooting 30 percent in the first to 58.6 percent (17-29) in the second. Entering the game as one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the nation, Belmont finished at their average with 11 makes in the game with seven coming in the second half.
Southern turned the ball over 11 times which the Bruins turned into 13 points while SIU forced just six Bruin turnovers in the game.
SIU finished the game shooting 50 percent (27-54) from the floor, 30 percent (6-20) from deep and 53.3 percent (8-15) from the charity stripe.
The Salukis were led by Dibba who had 24 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. Davis scored 13 with four rebounds while Steffe joined the two in double-figures with 10 points, five boards, and four assists.
Lundblade had 19 to lead Belmont while Whitt added 17.
UP NEXT
The Salukis travel to Murray State on Wednesday. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT with the Racers.
FUTURE SCHEDULE NOTE
SIU's game against Valparaiso on Saturday, February 22 has been set for a 6 p.m. CT tip. The game is also Southern's annual Blackout Cancer game. To learn more visit SalukisBlackOutCancer.com.
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.
"I already know the question will be what is the difference between the first half and the second half and I would love to be able to answer that for you, but I can't — other than we had no emotion to us in the second half — guys didn't respond to timeouts or being coached," head coach Scott Nagy said after the game.
"We had good emotion; we had good energy in the first half, and we didn't in the second half. It was almost just a complete mirror image of the game at their place. They were up 12 at half, we came out and tied the game up very quickly," Nagy added. "We talked about that at halftime, and we just didn't respond. We didn't respond and it seemed like we were stuck in mud."
Postgame Presser Conference
After scoring a career-high in Nashville against the Bruins in early January, senior guard Ali Dibba picked up right where he left off as he helped the Salukis to a 38-25 halftime lead with 17 first-half points. SIU was able to build their lead without a main piece of the rotation as Kennard Davis Jr. played just 10 minutes due to foul trouble
Trailing 5-2 early in the game, the Salukis (12-15, 7-9 MVC) scored 11 straight points to take the lead for the first time. Southern was strong defensively in the opening half, holding the Bruins to just 30 percent (9-for-30) from the field and 4-for-12 from behind the arc.
That would change in the second half though as Belmont (18-9, 10-6 MVC) came out of the locker room blistering hot. The Bruins would score the first 10 points of the second half to pull to within three points at 38-35. While the Bruins were red hot, Southern struggled from the floor and were held scoreless for 3:52 until Jarrett Hensley knocked down a free throw.
Belmont continued its barrage from behind the arc to open the period as the Bruins would push their run to 22-4 and take a five-point lead. It was Tyler Lundblade who answered the call for the Bruins in the second as the guard knocked down 5-of-7 from behind the arc to score 16 points during the rally. Carter Whitt also carried a load for Belmont with 15 of his 17 points coming in the final 20 minutes.
Drew Steffe scored five-straight for the Salukis just before the final media timeout to pull SIU to within five points at 59-54 but Belmont would push its lead back out to 10 points before the final 60 seconds.
In a flip of a switch, Belmont went from shooting 30 percent in the first to 58.6 percent (17-29) in the second. Entering the game as one of the top 3-point shooting teams in the nation, Belmont finished at their average with 11 makes in the game with seven coming in the second half.
Southern turned the ball over 11 times which the Bruins turned into 13 points while SIU forced just six Bruin turnovers in the game.
SIU finished the game shooting 50 percent (27-54) from the floor, 30 percent (6-20) from deep and 53.3 percent (8-15) from the charity stripe.
The Salukis were led by Dibba who had 24 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. Davis scored 13 with four rebounds while Steffe joined the two in double-figures with 10 points, five boards, and four assists.
Lundblade had 19 to lead Belmont while Whitt added 17.
UP NEXT
The Salukis travel to Murray State on Wednesday. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT with the Racers.
FUTURE SCHEDULE NOTE
SIU's game against Valparaiso on Saturday, February 22 has been set for a 6 p.m. CT tip. The game is also Southern's annual Blackout Cancer game. To learn more visit SalukisBlackOutCancer.com.
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
BEL
SIU
FG%
.441
.500
3FG%
.423
.300
FT%
.556
.533
RB
29
39
TO
6
11
STL
5
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
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