Box Score
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Saluki junior Jeff Early hit a free throw with two seconds remaining to give Southern Illinois a 53-52 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon at SIU Arena.
Colt Ryan was the top scorer for Evansville (11-12, 6-7 MVC), finishing with 13 points while
Kenneth Harris tallied 10. Early was the leading scorer in the contest, leading SIU (8-16, 5-8 MVC) with 14 points. Dantiel Daniels had 11 while Mamadou Seck chipped in 10.
It was all Salukis in the early going. SIU connected on their first three shots while forcing the Aces into a pair of early turnovers. Colt Ryan got UE on the board with a layup almost three minutes in to make it a 6-2 game.
Southern Illinois kept up its frantic early pace, jumping out to a 10-2 lead while hitting five of their first six shots while UE turned the ball over four times. With the Aces trailing 13-4, senior
Denver Holmes helped UE get back into, scoring seven in a row for UE to cut into the deficit.
Jeff Early helped SIU respond, opening up its first double-digit lead of the game at the 13-minute mark, scoring ten points to set the Salukis up with a 24-14 advantage. Evansville missed seven-consecutive shots before a shot by Ryan ended the drought.
With just over three minutes left in the half, an Early free throw gave SIU its largest lead of the half at 31-18.
Ned Cox cut into the deficit with a trey a minute later before the Salukis went into the half with a 34-23 advantage. After hitting 41 shots in Wednesday’s win at Bradley, the Aces connected on just nine field goals in the first half while shooting 39.1%. Turnovers also wreaked havoc on UE in the first half as the Aces committed nine turnovers after recording just ten last time out against the Braves.
The deficit for UE remained around ten points in the opening minutes of the second half. A layup by Holmes got UE within a few as eight points while SIU led by as many as 13 in the first five minutes of the half. Colt Ryan was held in check by SIU in the first half, notching just three points, but his three-pointer and runner, along with a Lewis Jones bucket, helped Evansville get back within seven points, 43-36, at the 9-minute mark of the period.
Ryan kept the momentum going as he knocked down his second three-pointer of the half with eight minutes left in the contest to get UE back within four, 47-43 before a Sawvell free throw made it a one-possession game just seconds later. Just past the 5-minute mark, a potential dagger fell for the Salukis as T.J. Lindsay hit a three near the end of the shot clock giving SIU the 52-46 advantage.
Evansville continued to fight back. With just 2:43 left, Ryan hit a pair of free throws bringing UE within a pair (52-50) for the first time since the opening minutes of the game. On the next possession for SIU, Ryan Sawvell caught a turnover in the lane and dished it out to Kenneth Harris, who was fouled on a layup attempt. He made both free throws to knot the game at 52.
The score remained that way until the final seconds. Inside the last minute, a missed Jeff Early shot was rebounded by Harris, giving the Aces the ball with 36 seconds left. A pass by Troy Taylor was intercepted by Early, who was fouled on a layup attempt and made 1-of-2 free throws putting the ball back in UE’s hands with two seconds remaining. A late attempt was missed, giving SIU the win.
Neither team took care of the ball particularly well as UE had 16 turnovers while SIU had 18. SIU finished with a slight 43.2%-40.9% shooting advantage and a 31-26 lead on the boards.
Creighton will mark the next opponent for Evansville as the 12
th-ranked Bluejays come to the Ford Center for a 7:05 p.m. matchup on Tuesday evening. Fans who buy a full price ticket to Tuesday’s game will have the opportunity to buy a ticket to any of the other remaining home games for half price. You can also save $5 per ticket by using the latest QR code. There will also be a concessions special as soda and popcorn will be just $1 apiece for the Creighton game.
