Must beat Northern Iowa Sunday to finish 4th and secure bye in opening round of MVC Tournament
By Jim Beers
CARBONDALE – The Salukis traveled to Peoria, Illinois Wednesday February 28 to attempt to get a step closer to securing a first round bye in next week’s Missouri Valley Tournament.
The top six teams in the conference are battling to finish in the top-4 positions and the Salukis needed a win against Bradley to “help” earn that 4th Place finish. The loss to the Braves pretty much earned Bradley the 3rd Place seed and left SIU, Northern Iowa, and Belmont to fight-it-out for the 4th Place seed.
When SIU hosted Bradley on January 17 at Carbondale, the Dawgs gave up a 23-point first half lead to the Braves in the second half to lose by one point, 70-69. SIU therefore knew that Bradley was a dangerous a team and that they would have to play their best basketball to win, especially at Bradley and on “Senior Night”.
Well, that was the farthest thing from what actually happened, as the Salukis played one of their worst games of the season and lost a tough game against a very determined, focused, and confident Bradley team!
There was a penalty on the opening tip-off that gave the ball to SIU to start the game. Great start, right! Just 15-seconds later AJ Ferguson drained a 3-pointer to give SIU a 3-0 lead at the 19:45 mark. Fantastic start, right? It appeared as if possibly the Salukis had good karma this time around.
Well, as it turns out, that very brief 3-0 SIU lead would be the final time that the Salukis would have a lead the rest of the game.
Bradley then went on a 13-0 run to lead, 13-3 at the 14:49 mark. SIU answered with an 8-0 run to cut the Braves’ lead to just two points, 13-11 with 12:52 to play in the first half. Bradley returned the favor with a 6-2 run to extend its lead to six points, 13-19 at the 9:50 mark.
The rest of the first half was a gradual increase in separation between the Salukis and the Braves as Bradley led by as many as 12 points with just: 40 remaining. SIU’s Kennard Davis, Jr. made a layup with: 15 to play to get the Dawgs within 10 points, 37-27, at halftime.
Most Saluki fans were pretty much devastated with a 10-point deficit at the half. If they only knew what was to come, that score was not too awfully bad!
The Salukis were plagued with turnovers in the first half and were outrebounded by the Braves. Bradley also had second-chance baskets and points from turnovers which stymied the Dawgs throughout the half.
In that first half, the Salukis shot 45.83% (11-of-24) and made just 4-of-12 three pointers (33.33%). SIU went to the free throw line only three times making 1-of-3 (33.33%).
By the numbers, the Salukis recorded better stats in the second half in most categories, but failed to improve in other areas. The damage caused in the first half was far too great to overcome with continued turnovers, deficit rebounding and points given from costly turnovers.
In the opening 10 minutes of the second half, Bradley only outscored SIU 24-20, to lead by 14 points, 61-47 at the 9:47 mark. During that time span AJ Ferguson scored eight points including a massive slam dunk; Xavier Johnson scored seven points including a 3-pointer, a 2-pointer and a pair of free throws; Jarrett Hensley hit a 2-pointer and added a huge dunk; and Clarence Rupert made two free throws.
In the final stretch, both teams continued to score frequently with Bradley outscoring SIU, 25-20 to end the game.
The Bradley offense rally picked up in a 3 minute and 30 second period from 9:47 until 6:27 as it used a 15-2 run to extended its lead to 27 points, 76-49. During that stretch, Troy D’Amico hit two free throws to kick off the run, but the Braves then scored 15 unanswered points.
In the next three minutes, SIU used an 8-5 run to get within 24 points, 81-57 with 3:21 left to play in the game. In that run, SIU’s AJ Ferguson hit a layup, Scottie Ebube sank a free throw and made a layup, and Jarrett Hensley hit a free throw and slammed another dunk to complete the 8-point run.
Down the stretch (final 3:04), the Salukis outscored the Braves, 10-5 to end the contest. In that final 3:04 Jarrett Hensley drained a 3-pointer, hit a 2-pointer and made a free throw for seen points. Scottie Ebube sank a free throw, and Kennard Davis, Jr, hit a buzzer-beater for the last two points of the game.
In spite of SIU’s improved performance in the second half, Bradley manage to keep a safe lead, 86-67 (19 points) at the final buzzer for the impressive win!
In the loss the Dawgs were led by AJ Ferguson who scored 16 points grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out two assists. Jarrett Hensley was close behind with 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 block. Troy D’Amico scored 10 points and 3 assists.
Other contributors included Xavier Johnson (9 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists); Trent Brown (6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block); Scottie Ebube (5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block); Kennard Davis, Jr. (4 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist); and Clarence Rupert (2 points, and 2 assists).
The Salukis shot 24-of-53 from the field (45.3%); 6-of-22 from 3-point land (27.3%); and 13-of-19 from the free throw line (68.4%).
The Salukis were outrebounded by the Braves 39-28. Bradley blocked 7 shots and SIU blocked just 3. Bradley recorded 10 steals while the Dawgs had only 2. SIU dished out 14 assists and Bradley had only 11.
SIU had 8 second chance points vs Bradley with 28. SIU had 24 bench points vs Bradley with 33. SIU had 36 points in the paint vs Bradley with 26. SIU had 5 fast break points vs Bradley with 7. SIU had 6 points off of turnovers vs Bradley with 22.
The Braves shot 49.2% from the field (30-of-61); 38.9% from behind the arc (7-of-18); and 79.2% from the free throw line (19-of-24).
Head Coach Bryan Mullins said, “We didn’t play winning basketball. The level of execution wasn’t there, and that’s my fault. Too many turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds. They got 40 points on those two things.”
“We weren’t able to get consistent stops in the second half. You can’t come back from 10 points at half if you don’t hold a team under 50 percent.”
With the win. Bradley secured 3rd Place in the league. Sunday’s game at the Banterra Center at SIU against Northern Iowa is a showdown with both teams tied (11-8) for the final bye in next week’s MVC Tournament. Belmont could still end in a tie with either SIU or Northern Iowa after Sunday’s game, however the NET rankings favor SIU or Northern Iowa.
The tie-breaking game tips-off Sunday March 2 at 1:00 p.m. with ALL seats costing only $10 each. SIU is hoping for a great turnout for this game to decide who will get the covered 4th Place seed.
SIU’s AJ Ferguson (14) slam dunks the ball for two much-needed points at the 16:56 mark in the second half against Bradley Wednesday February 28. The Salukis lost, 86-67, in a game in which the Dawgs gave up too many offensive rebounds (16), turned the ball over too many times (14) , and allowed way too many second chance points (18). In the loss, the Dawgs were led the by AJ Ferguson who scored 16 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and dished out 2 assists. Photo Credit to SIU Athletics.