SIUE Getting Back in the Race

Depth and Defense

(St. Louis, MO) – SIUE’s Cougars are getting back in the race. After losing their first two Ohio Valley Conference road games, Brian Barone’s team has snared two home wins to climb within one game of the conference leaders.

Saturday’s defensive dominance brought the Cougars a 58-47 win over Lindenwood. During a game when their offense was not particularly sharp, SIUE won relatively easily. The SIUE defenders claimed sixteen steals and caused 20 turnovers overall. They held Lindenwood to 18 percent on long distance shots and 32 percent on all shots.

Barone says his players were eager to buy in to the scouting report put together by assistant coach Angres Thorpe. SIUE leads the OVC in scoring defense (65.7 points per game).

Stable Starters

While SIUE has lost two key contributors (Joe Valrie and Darrion Baker) to injury, the Cougars remain a deep team. Four players (Ray’Sean Taylor, Desmond Polk, Brian Taylor and Ring Malith) have started every game and Arnas Sekenis has started all but one. Barone has been getting valuable contributions from numerous players and recently Kyle Thomas has returned from injury.

Barone has turned the Cougar program into an upper level OVC program. Previous SIUE coaches amassed winning percentages of .325 (Lennox Forrester) and .261 (Jon Harris). After his first three seasons, Barone has compiled a .555 record and setting a D1, program record 19-win season (2022-23). Even last year’s seventeen-win campaign is five victories more than any other Cougar achievement.

After three undefeated OVC teams lost on Saturday, the Cougars (9-6, 2-2) are now one game back in the loss column. Morehead State, Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech are each 3-1 and Little Rock is 2-1. SIUE, Western Illinois and UT Martin are 2-2. The Cougars are back in the race.

While Barone was keeping a positive tone during the Cougars’ opening losses, now his team is legitimately ‘in the race’.

The Cougars have a quick turn around playing Eastern Illinois (5-9, 1-2). Thursday, Morehead State faces Little Rock. Southeast Missouri entertains Southern Indiana and Tennessee Tech visits Eastern Illinois.

During the Barone resurgence, Ray’Sean Taylor has become the Cougars’ all-time D1 scoring leader. Taylor has amassed 1,576 points and is SIUE’s all-time leader in three-point baskets (255). He’s currently the OVC’s third leading scorer (17.5 ppg) and second in three-pointers per game (3.3) and third in assists (4.5 per game).

After a Thursday off, the Cougars host Tennessee Tech on Saturday. This week’s games will give further clarity into who is back in the race.

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