Round Two for SIU and Missouri State

Salukis Travel to Meet the Bears

(St. Louis, MO) – Wednesday’s game between Southern Illinois and Missouri State will be the teams’ ninety-ninth meeting and it is ‘round two’ of a unique back-to-back set of games for the two. It could be the last time they meet as conference foes.

After playing Saturday’s, overtime thriller in Carbondale, the scene shifts to Springfield, Missouri for round two. Game time is 6:00 pm on your local Gray Media TV stations.

SIU led big and early in the first contest, but a furious come back sparked by Valley ‘Freshman of the Week’ Zaxton King, led to an overtime session where SIU prevailed 88-78.

These are the Valley’s eleventh and twelfth place teams. Saturday’s win was SIU’s first in league play and the Bears are still hungry for their first MVC victory.

Fighting to Find Success

While both teams enjoyed some nonconference success, they have struggled mightily inside league play. Missouri State won seven of eleven nonconference games, including wins over very solid mid-majors Tulsa, UT Arlington, High Point, Oral Roberts and UC Santa Barbara. The High Point win is one of the Valley’s best nonconference wins.

But the Bears haven’t been able to win at home. Their conference mark of 0-3 at Great Southern Bank in league play is shocking. They lost to Indiana State and Valparaiso by a total of four points, but UIC won by 17 on the Bears’ home floor.

Despite those losses, head coach Cuonzo Martin says his team is progressing, growing and getting better. I asked him about having his son Chase on the team.

SIU’s nonconference mark was less than impressive. A solid win over North Dakota State was their only win over a team in the top 300 in the country, until Saturday’s OT thriller. Saluki head coach Scott Nagy says there is a measure of relief that comes by removing the ‘zero’ from the ‘wins’ column.

After four conference losses by double digits, the Salukis were outstanding in the second half of their four-point loss at Belmont before Saturday’s first league win. Nagy says that game helped his team’s confidence.

Martin’s team was down 13 points with 5:20 left in the game and dug deep to force overtime. The former Purdue Boilermaker says he is constantly trying to teach his players to ‘dig deep’ to find a successful path forward.

Round Two – Players to Watch

These teams have some very talented players. Missouri State’s Dez White (15.4 ppg) and Vincent Brady (14.6) have each been honored as a Valley ‘Newcomer of the Week’ and King (10.2 ppg) is this week’s freshman honoree.

Michael Osei-Bonsu (9.9 and 7.1) and Jalen Hampton (7.4 and 6.9) have been important on the glass, but the loss of point guard Mozae Downing-Rivers has hindered the Bears’ offense.

Martin says that White, Brady and King have the ability to be big time scorers and moving King out of the point guard role has helped his game.

Three Salukis average better than ten points per game. Nagy’s team had back-to-back games where one player scored thirty. Leading scorer Ali Dibba (15.7 ppg) accomplished that feat against Belmont and Jarrett Hensley (11.5) matched him during Saturday’s victory. Wing Kennard Davis (13.7) is second on the team in rebounding and leads the squad in assists.

Nagy says Hensley prefers playing ‘the four’ spot, but after Saturday’s 30-point performance playing ‘the five’, he is warming to the proposition.

SIU lost second leading scorer Elijah Elliott after five games and those were games Sheridan Sharpe missed. He is in the lineup and playing significant minutes. Redshirt freshman Drew Steffe is getting better each game and has nearly a 3-to-1 assist to turnover rate.

Round Two – The Matchup

During league action these two have struggled to score. SIU has had back-to-back 80-point games, but during their first four Valley games never reached 70 points and twice finished in the fifties.

Statistically speaking they are the Valley’s second and third worst two shooting teams and the worst at stopping the other teams’ shots. They are eleventh and twelfth in free throw shooting. These two have struggled. Elliott’s loss was a huge blow for the Salukis. He was arguably first-team, all-conference talent and their offense has shown it.

Coming right back to play the same opponent is unusual, but not unheard of. Both Nagy and Martin say that it shortens the scouting report work. Since most Valley schools play one another twice per season, it isn’t that strange.

Nagy says sweeping a team is very difficult.

MO State’s Downing-Rivers is rumored to be back in the lineup Wednesday night. Both Dez White and guard Makhai Valentine left Saturday’s game with injuries and will be Wednesday night, game time decisions.

Nagy says the Bears are better than people think and that they were a determined team on Saturday.

‘Getting over the hump’ or ‘breaking through’ are words we hear, and we know what they mean. Martin insists his job is to teach his players how to overcome adversity and to help them grow as people.

Wednesday night will be Nagy’s and Martin’s challenge.

You can watch our entire interviews with coach Martin and coach Nagy on the Missouri Valley Conference website (mvc-sports.com), where you can also find information about your local Gray Media television stations.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo of Ali Dibba, courtesy of siusalukis.com.