Strong Second Half Not Enough as Sycamores Knock Off Salukis in Carbondale

By Press release submission

Dec 13, 2022

Southern Illinois men's basketball clawed back from a 14-point deficit to take a second half lead but were unable to hold off Indiana State in a 74-71 loss to the Sycamores Wednesday night at Banterra Center.

"We didn't get off to the start we needed to – I thought our guys came back and played hard in the second half, but it's hard to beat a really good team when you only play well for 15 to 20 minutes," head coach Bryan Mullins said postgame. "We have to do a better job offensively and defensively for 40 minutes if we want to beat some of these high-level teams that we've faced over the last two games."

Southern Illinois (5-4, 1-1 MVC) found itself in an early hole, trailing Indiana State 11-2 five minutes into the game. The Salukis turned the ball over four times early, leading to seven points off turnovers for the Trees.

"We had a couple decent looks that didn't fall and then for the second game in-a-row some bad turnovers," Mullins said. "Playing at home, we have to come out with a better start and set the tone with our energy."

The red-hot Sycamores (9-1, 2-0 MVC) took advantage of a size mismatches throughout, scoring 46 points in the paint led by Cameron Henry who scored 14 of his 15 points near the basket.

Southern trailed by double digits for much of the first half in a back-and-forth battle. As ISU looked to take the last shot of the first half, the Salukis got a defensive stop and Lance Jones pulled SIU within 11 with a banked in 3-pointer at the buzzer.

SIU put together a strong second half, outscoring Indiana State 43-35 in the final 20 minutes, including a 17-4 run in which the Salukis briefly took a two-point lead following a Jawaun Newton driving layup with 8:54 left to play, bringing the Banterra Center faithful to their feet.

Following the Newton basket to give SIU the lead, Indiana State scored the next five points, and they never surrendered the lead again, outscoring SIU 18-13 in the final eight minutes. ISU's Robbie Avila scored eight for the Sycamores during the stretch with Courvoisier McCauley adding five points of his team high 16 to close out the game.

A key contributor during the comeback for the Salukis was redshirt freshman Foster Wonders who scored eight of his career-high 11 points in the second half. Wonders finished 4-for-6 from the field and 3-for-5 from behind the arc.

"He (Foster Wonders) has come in and played well in all his opportunities," Mullins noted of Wonders' play in the second half. "I think he's getting more comfortable. He's a hard worker and I think he's going to continue to excel and do well."

Three Salukis scored in double-digits led by Marcus Domask with 16 points. Xavier Johnson scored 13 while Wonders added 11 for Southern Illinois.

Indiana State finished the game shooting 46 percent (29-of-63) while SIU was 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the field. The Sycamores outscored SIU at the free throw line 11 to 3.