SIUE – Closing In on a Wins Record

Cougars Poised to Set Wins Record

(St. Louis, MO) – When Brian Barone became the Southern Illinois Edwardsville head basketball coach, he believed he could turn the program into a consistent winner and a contender in the Ohio Valley Conference. It may have taken longer than he thought it would back on that spring day of 2019, but that day seems to have arrived.

SIUE is turning heads and poised to set the program’s wins record.

SIUE (7-3) heads into a clash with the Missouri Valley Conference’s Illinois State filled with confidence and a team that is experiencing more Division 1 success than any Cougar team in history.

The program’s D1 record for wins is twelve and it’s OVC high-water mark is eight. Both under Lennox Forrester. Barone’s predecessor, Jon Harris won 31 games in five seasons and Forrester collected 50 during his five seasons as a D1 coach. Barone has accumulated 35 during his three plus seasons in Edwardsville.

Tuesday’s Game

With Tuesday’s loss to Bradley (54-52) the Cougar six-game win streak was snapped, but both head coaches came away with praise for Barone’s team. Bradley coach Brian Wardle said his team ‘escaped with a win’ and that SIUE is a good basketball team.

“That was a heck of a college basketball game,” said Barone. “This community and this arena needs to get used to seeing that kind of game. The fan support was amazing and it really helps. We’re going to fight every single day to clean up the mistakes we made to continue to have this community support us.”

While many complained of officiating inconsistencies, Barone said simply, ‘we made too many turnovers’, but also acknowledged that a narrow loss to a Valley school is ‘not a moral victory’ stating, ‘that was a good win for Bradley’.

After the loss the Cougars fell to 100 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool. SIUE’s previous high-water mark in the vaunted KenPom.com rankings is 298. During Barone’s tenure the Cougars have won eight, nine and eleven games.

With three non-conference games prior to Ohio Valley Conference play, the Cougars will almost assuredly shatter the Division 1 record for wins in a season. This Saturday’s road game at Illinois State, and then a home contest with Illinois Tech and a game at Saint Louis take place before Christmas. The OVC season tips off on December 29.

Roster Makeup

SIUE isn’t the biggest team you’ve seen, nor are they particularly adept at the three point line, but they are active, contest shots and make opponents work hard on both ends of the floor.

Guards Ray’Sean Taylor and Damarco Minor are threats from outside but seemingly look to drive to the basket on every possession. They are truly dual threat guards. Taylor is returning from his second knee injury and isn’t 100% as far as game confidence, but that is coming.

Minor was last year’s junior college player of the year and he and Taylor are learning how their similar skill sets can be best utilized. Neither stands taller than 6’1 and they lead the Cougars in scoring (Taylor 12.6 ppg and Minor 12.1) and assists (Taylor 2.6 and Minor 2.8). While both can play the point, having Minor ‘run the show’ gives Taylor some minutes of rest and less pressure while he is playing.

The Wright twins are 6’7 wings that during their time in Edwardsville have had to play both the center and power forward positions. Now in their more natural positions, they are thriving. Shamar played a more prominent role earlier in their SIUE careers, but now both are scoring (Shamar 10.7 ppg and Lamar 10.6) and rebounding (Shamar 4.3 and Lamar 4.0) and their versatility is exceptional.

Shamar’s 23 steals (2.3 per game) and Lamar’s .615 three-point percentage and twelve blocks  lead the team. Their quickness and active hands make them defensive standouts.

It’s unusual when an ‘energy guy’ comes in a 6’10 package, but that’s a role Jonathan Kurtas plays well. He contributes 4.5 points and 4.9 rebounds. Kurtas’ two blocks in the final moments of the first half of Tuesday’s game were huge momentum plays.

Last year’s leading rebounder DeeJuan Pruitt  started the Cougars’ first seven games. The 6’8 sophomore has missed the last three games with flu-like (non-covid) symptoms and hasn’t been cleared to play.

James Madison grad-transfer Jalen Hodge is a legitimate deep threat. During his four-plus years of Division 1 basketball Hodge’s career numbers from deep are eye-popping. While his.397 career percentage is outstanding, last year he completed .439 and he’s making .410 this season.

The Intangibles

When Pruitt returns, SIUE is a relatively deep team. Barone’s ‘Find A Way’ mantra is evident in this team’s makeup. They are the epitome of a team ‘being better than the sum of its parts’. Only Taylor is a player that was highly rated coming out of high school. This is a collection of players that are proving doubters wrong.

Barone says his team is very versatile.

“What we’ve found out about ourselves is that we’re something of a Swiss Army Knife,” says Barone. “We’re switchable, we can be physical at times and that is difficult to play against.”

While ‘family’ is often evoked during college teams’ huddles, ‘family’ is no cliché for Barone. He grew up in a coach’s home and his late father Tony, built his college teams with a sense of family. The younger Barone who has lost his father and mother during his time at SIUE carries that ‘family’ passion.

He labors tirelessly to build a family environment in his Cougar program. His players feel cared for, believed in and respected by their head coach and coaching staff. Players feel comfortable dropping in the basketball offices at any time of the day.

The Wright twins’ late father Lorenzen played for Barone’s father Tony. Brian’s relationship with the twins is not based on basketball, but on history and family ties.

Team Overview

Only Lamar Wright and Hodge have consistently made three-pointers. The rest of the team is shooting .244 from deep. Taylor’s numbers should improve. He converted .357 from deep last season, compared to his current .286. Since his offseason was consumed with rehab rather than basketball drills, accuracy will come as season moves forward. SIUE’s three-point shooting must improve.

The Cougars are a good free-throw shooting team with an OVC leading .736 percentage. Of the nine top scorers in the SIUE rotation, only Lamar Wright (.667) is shooting less than .714. Three of those nine players are making better than eight out of ten! During a tight game there is no Cougar an opposing team will want to foul.

SIUE also leads the league in blocks (4.1 per game), but turnovers are a problem. The Cougars are committing 14.2 of them per game, compared to 114 assists. There assist-turnover margin is under water and is the worst in OVC.

Barone says his team has great depth and team chemistry.

“We are sharpening ourselves every single day in practice,” says Barone. “As long as we continue to step up and challenge one another and support one another, you battle on the court and we love off the court, no doubt about that. Then you love together when you’re in a game.”

With so much season left to play, it seems obvious that this team is poised to make history and set a wins record.

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