Page A1 | The Southern Newspaper eEdition thesouthern.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thesouthern.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Three University of Evansville men’s basketball players scored in double figures, but a 19-point second half by Southern Illinois guard Lance Jones lifted the Salukis to a 63-57 win over the Purple Aces in Sunday’s Missouri Valley Conference opener inside the Banterra Center.
S. Illinois looks to extend streak vs Evansville
December 28, 2020 GMT
Banterra Center, Carbondale, Illinois; Monday, 6 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois looks for its sixth straight win in the head-to-head series over Evansville. In its last five wins against the Purple Aces, Southern Illinois has won by an average of 8 points. Evansville’s last win in the series came on Feb. 24, 2018, a 75-44 victory.
SENIOR STUDS: Evansville’s Noah Frederking, Jax Levitch and Evan Kuhlman have combined to score 43 percent of the team’s points this season and have accounted for 41 percent of all Purple Aces scoring over the last five games.
CARBONDALE (SIU ATHLETICS) The SIU men s basketball team cruised to a second win over North Dakota in as many days, 62-50, on Friday afternoon at Banterra Center. The Salukis improved to 5-0 on the season.The programs mimicked the new conference formats for each league by playing each other back-to-back days at the same site. The Salukis (5-0) took care of business on both nights, following Thursday s 85-64 win with a 62-50 win today. UND (1-7) hit a 3-pointer on its opening possession to take a 3-0 lead on Friday, but it was the only time in either game that the Salukis would trail. SIU had the lead back in less than two minutes and never relinquished it. The Salukis led by double-figures for 40 of the 80 minutes across both games.
S. Illinois looks to sweep N. Dakota
December 17, 2020 GMT
Banterra Center, Carbondale, Illinois; Friday, 4 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Southern Illinois goes for the season sweep over North Dakota after winning the previous matchup in Carbondale. The teams last faced each other on Dec. 17, when the Salukis outshot North Dakota 56.4 percent to 41.8 percent and had six fewer turnovers en route to a 21-point victory.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: Southern Illinois’ Marcus Domask has averaged 15.8 points and six rebounds while Ben Harvey has put up 17 points and 5.8 rebounds. For the Fighting Hawks, Filip Rebraca has averaged 18.6 points and 6.1 rebounds while Tyree Ihenacho has put up 8.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and two steals.FILIP IS A FORCE: Rebraca has connected on 50 percent of the 14 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 6 of 13 over his last five games. He’s also made 63.6 percent of his foul shots this season.