Salukis beat UNI, 65-50, on “Chester Night” at SIU
By Jim Beers
CARBONDALE – Scott Nagy, SIU’s Head Basketball Coach, achieved his 600th career win Wednesday night January 28 on “Chester Night” at the SIU Banterra Center, when the Salukis dismantled the University of Northern Iowa, 65-50, in front of 3670 fans.
With that quality win, Nagy became only the 13th “currently active” NCAA coach to achieve 600 wins in his career. Overall, Nagy is just the 70th NCAA coach to ever achieve the 600-mark win list. He has coached in Division I NCAA basketball as well as other levels of collegiate basketball in his long and successful career.
It was “Chester Night” at SIU and the CHS Dance Team performed at halftime and numerous other Chester groups and individuals attended the game. Most noteworthy were the Chester High School Varsity Boys Basketball Team and the Chester Grade School Girls Basketball Team. In all, there were approximately 100 Chester fans in attendance.
It was also Autism “Awareness Night” at Southern Illinois University and the crowd got to witness a $5,500.00 check being presented to the Center for Autism and Spectrum Disorders on the Campus of SIU by money raised at Papa John’s Pizza of Carbondale.
The 65-50 win by the Salukis improved their record to 9-12 overall and 3-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference. In the process, fans got to see sophomore Rolyns Aligbe score a career-high 21 points. It was his third game of the season with double-digit scoring. He was 4-for-4 from behind the arc and 1-for-2 at the free throw line. In addition Aligbe made four 2-pointers. He topped-off his performance by grabbing 10 rebounds and a pair of steals.
Quel’Ron House also had a great game with 17 points, 5 assists, and one steal. He was 4-of-4 from three point range. Drew Steffe came out of his scoring slump with nine points on 1-of-3 three pointers and three two-pointers. He also grabbed five rebounds, dished out 3 assists, blocked one shot and had 2 steals.
Davion Sykes thrilled Saluki fans with his three, huge, slam dunks, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 steal. He totaled 8 points for the night. Price Aligbe, Rolyns’ Aligbe’s older brother, added six points, six rebounds, and 1 assist in the win. Rounding out the Saluki offense were Jalen Haynes (2), and Damien Mayo, Jr. (2).
For the night the Salukis shot 47.2 % overall (25-53). They were just 9-of-19 at the free throw line (47.4%), and 6-of-15 from behind the three-point arc (40%). SIU had 3 fast break points and 26 points in the paint. The Saluki bench poured-in 25 points and the Dawgs had 19 points off of turnovers. The lead changed just once and the score was tied 3 times.
The “Chester Night” win broke a 4-game losing streak for Southern and thrilled the crowd of 3,670 fans. Thomas Becker, Interim Assistant Athletic Director of Ticketing said, “We are very pleased with Chester’s response to our offer to host a “Chester Night” at the SIU vs UNI game.”
“There were 53 people involved with the CHS Dance Team, CHS Boys’ Varsity Basketball Team, and Chester Grade School Girls’ Basketball Team groups, and another 46 other tickets were sold to individual Chester fans.”
“Other regular season ticket holders from Chester made the total number of fans from Chester well over 100 people. We hope to be able to host more “Chester Night” events next year, maybe even during the Saluki Football season. Thanks to everyone from Chester who helped make this night such a huge success!”
SIU’s Rolyns Aligbe (0) jumps center to start the SIU vs UNI game Wednesday January 28 on “Chester Night” 2026. Aligbe was the ” Player of the Game” with 21 career high points. He also had 10 rebounds and a pair of steals. Jim Beers Photo
Quel ‘Ron House (2) was the Saluki No. 2 scorer against Northern Iowa Wednesday January 28 with 17 points. He added 2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal in the 65-50 win over the Panthers. Jim Beers Photo
It has become tradition for a post-game photo with Saluki players, Cheerleaders, and Saluki Shaker Dance Team members gathering on the court to celebrate victories. After then 65-50 win over the University of Northern Iowa Panthers the celebration was loud and long! The win broke a 4-game losing streak for SIU and helped Head Coach, Scott Nage, achieve his 600th career victory as a collegiate Head Coach. Jim Beers Photo
Papa John’s Pizza of Carbondale presents a check for $5,500 to the Center of Autism and Spectrum Disorders on the Campus of Carbondale Southern Illinois University. It as both “Chester Night” and “Autism Awareness Night” at the SIU Banterra Center when the Salukis hosted the UNI Panthers. It was a huge, 65-50, win for the Salukis and a huge win for Autism Awareness with the $5,500 donation from Papa John’s Pizza of Carbondale. Jim Beers Photo
SIU Head Coach Scott Nage gets an ice-cold bath from his Saluki players in the locker room immediately after the Dawgs beat the Northern Iowa Panthers, 65-50. The win was great, but the real reason for the bath was the fact that the Saluki win was Coach Nage’s 600th career win. He became only the 13th “current” collegiate coach to reach 600 wins and the 70th NCAA Head Coach in NCAA history to achieve 600 victories! Photo by SIU Athletics