Saluki Men Hold Tennessee State in Check in 57-44 Victory
It was a defensive battle Thursday night at Banterra Center as the Southern Illinois men's basketball program led wire-to-wire to pick up its third win of the season in a 57-44 victory over Tennessee State.
"I really challenged the guys before the game to lock in and focus on the defensive end and not let our offense dictate our defense," head coach Bryan Mullins said after the game. "They (Tennessee State) have so many explosive and shifty guards that can get downhill, I think this was one of our best shell defensive games this year. The guys really took the challenge on defense and never let up."
The Salukis (3-1) didn't shoot the lights out, but were able to stymie the Tigers offense, holding TSU to just 28.1 percent shooting (15-53) from the field while turning 17 Tiger turnovers into 21 points.
Forward Marcus Domask secured his third career double-double – the first double-double for the Salukis since the 2020-21 season -- with 18 points and 10 rebounds while also adding four assists and a steal.
The Salukis held Tennessee State (3-1) to just 17 second half points which tied for eighth fewest in program history – holding the Tigers without a field goal for over 10 minutes. TSU entered the game scoring 84 points per game with two players scoring over 20 points and four total in double digits. Southern limited the TSU offense as Jr. Clay was held to 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting and Dedric Boyd scored 10 points on 10 shots.
With SIU leading 25-12, Tennessee State reeled off a 12-0 run to pull within one point at the five-minute mark before big man Cade Hornecker ended the Southern Illinois scoring drought with his first career points in a Saluki uniform. The bucket from the 7-footer ignited SIU for a 7-0 run to regain control and take a 36-27 lead into the locker room.
"Cade has had a great two weeks of practice and he does a great job communicating," Mullins noted. "They run a ton of ball screens and he was able to help us organize our defense that way. He's gotten better and better and with JD (Muila) and Scottie (Ebube) out we feel like Cade can step in and help us there."
Lance Jones finished the night with nine points and five rebounds while Jawaun Newton and Dalton Banks also added nine points each.
The Salukis outrebounded Tennessee State 41-35 and capitalized at the charity stripe finishing 20-for-23 at the line while TSU was 10-for-20 at the line.
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