Wednesday, January 29, 2020 7:00 p.m.
Banterra Center, Carbondale, Ill.
Less than two weeks ago, SIU visited Loyola and the Ramblers handed Coach Bryan Mullins a 64-48 defeat, which dropped the Salukis to 2-3 in the Valley. It seems, however, that the trip to Rogers Park to play a team with a lot of the same defensive pedigree awakened something in the young Salukis. They've won every game since, including a home win against UNI and their first road conference win at Illinois State this past Saturday, Now at 5-3 in MVC, tied with Bradley and Drake and just one game behind leaders UNI and Loyola at 6-2.
Coach Mullins starts one center, one forward, and three guards. The center is Northwestern grad transfer Barret Benson, a 6'10" big man who leads the team in rebounds (5.4 per game) and blocks (0.8 per game). Joining him in the front court is one of the top candidates for MVC Freshman of the Year, Marcus Domask, a versatile 6'6" forward and last year's Mr. Wisconsin Basketball who leads the team in scoring (14.1 per game), three point percentage (42.1%), and made free throws (49). Domask is also second on the team in rebounds (4.8 per game) and third in assists (2.58).
Six-foot-one freshman Lance Jones out of Evanston has been on fire since the Loyola game; he's averaging 14.7 points over the past three contests while shooting 50% on threes. Ronnie Suggs, Jr., a 6'6" grad transfer from Missouri, averages 5.7 per game for the Salukis. Eric McGill, a 6'2" senior, has also been hot lately with 18 points against Drake and 15 at ISU.
SIU's bench is rather thin, with 6'6" freshman forward Karrington Davis, 6'4 sophomore guard Harwin Francois, 6'2" freshman guard Trent Brown, and 6'5" junior guard Brendan Gooch as available scholarship players. Only Brown, Davis, and Francois are averaging double digit minutes.
The Ramblers are coming off a hard-fought 67-62 overtime loss at Northern Iowa. Loyola shot only 36.4% as a team from the floor against UNI. The Salukis have held their opponents to 41.3% shooting on the season, and a league-best 28.9% from three-point territory.
In their previous matchup less than two weeks ago, Marquise Kennedy led all scorers with 17 points off the bench, and Tate Hall added 16. Loyola's defense held Domask to only 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting from the field, but Domask also had nine rebounds, two assists, and a block. Eric McGill led the Salukis with 14 points on seven of 10 from the floor.
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _29_20.pdfSouthern Illinois game notes: https://siusalukis.com/documents/2020/1 ... df?id=9697TV/Streaming video: ESPN +
https://www.espn.com/watch?id=389add92- ... nois-US-ENRadio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=23&type=LiveLive stats: https://siusalukis.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summaryVegas odds: Loyola by 4