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CARBONDALE- (SIU ATHLETICS) - The SIU men's basketball team allowed its fewest points of the year in a 59-49 win over Illinois State on Sunday afternoon at Banterra Center, avenging Saturday's 25-point loss to the Redbirds.

"I'm proud of our guys," SIU head coach  said. "To bounce back after not playing well yesterday, I think it says a lot about the resiliency and the character of this group. It's been a crazy year for everyone. Every time we haven't played the right way, we have came back and responded. That speaks volumes for our young group. We have to continue to get better, continue to be more consistent, and continue to put together 40 minutes of Saluki basketball. I think the guys are looking forward to the rest of the season."

Illinois State (6-15, 3-12) started the game by hitting five of their first eight shots. SIU (10-9, 4-9 MVC) kept pace thanks to three early 3-pointers from  After that, the Salukis put on a clinic defensively, holding the Redbirds to 26 points in the next 30 minutes. 

"Today, I thought our guys stuck to the game plan, and it was probably our best defensive effort for 40 minutes," Mullins said.

While SIU held down Illinois State's offense, the Salukis built up a 34-24 halftime lead. Even when SIU's offense faltered -- SIU committed six turnovers on its first eight possessions of the second half -- ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý's defense maintained the lead. Then, the offense started rolling again, and SIU built up a lead as big as 17, its biggest against an MVC opponent this season. 

"The ball moved better today against their zone," Mullins said. "The guys didn't hold it. They had their eyes to the rim on the catches. People were moving on the weak side. The cuts were harder. Overall, there was a better bounce."

 was outstanding, and he led SIU to its third-straight win in the second game of a back-to-back. Two weeks ago, Jones poured in 27 to lead SIU to a win over UNI. Today, he did a little bit of everything. He led SIU's defensive charge; he played all 40 minutes; he scored a game-high 14 points; he grabbed five rebounds, dished three assists and had two steals. 

"He had a great energy to him today. He had a great presence," Mullins said of Jones. "He was making good decisions, and that's infectious with our team. He has a lot of responsibility right now as a sophomore. When he plays like that, we need him on the court, especially when we're limited right now with Marcus (Domask) being out. Lance has to continue being as consistent as we need him to be. That's the challenge for him in the final stretch."

Jones led a balanced offensive attack. Verplancken hit four 3-pointers in the game and finished with 12 points.  was in double-figures again with 11 points and 7 rebounds.  added nine points, a career-high 8 rebounds, and 4 assists against just one turnover in 33 minutes. 

"With these (back-to-back) series, you can't put your head down. You can't get too negative. You have to get right back up because that next game is coming in 18 hours or 20 hours or whatever it is," Mullins said. "I thought the bounce-back and resiliency from our guys today was outstanding."

For SIU, the ninth-youngest team in the nation playing its ninth-straight game without leading scorer , who has a foot injury, the win showed a fight, determination and maturity of a young team hoping to grow into a Valley contender in the coming years.

"These guys have won in high school at a high level, state championships," Mullins said. "In terms of The Valley -- a top-10 conference in the country -- it's a little bit of a different type of commitment, a different type of consistency that you have to have possession by possession. For these guys to get a little bit more experience than maybe they would normally get without Marcus, just because Marcus plays a lot, it's valuable for the future of the program."

UP NEXT: SIU hosts Missouri State at 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17. The game will be televised on Marquee Network and will stream nationally with no blackouts on ESPN+. 

NOTES: SIU held an opponent under 50 points for the first time since a 66-49 win over Drake on Jan. 19, 2020 ... SIU held Illinois State under 50 points for the first time in the SIU-ISU series since the 2006-07 season ...  set a career high with eight rebounds ... The game was SIU's fifth in the last nine days ... SIU improved to 6-2 this year and 14-3 in the Mullins era when it records 15+ assists (also: 5-1 this year and 14-3 under Mullins when it has more assists than its opponent) ... SIU is 4-0 when it holds its opponent under 40% from the field.