CARBONDALE (SIU ATHLETICS/WSIL) -- CARBONDALE, Ill. - A red-hot shooting Evansville team knocked down a school-record 17 3-pointers and knocked off SIU on Monday night at Banterra Center. The Aces went 10-for-11 from the 3-point line during a 12-minute stretch in the second half to turn a six-point deficit into a 84-72 win over a previously unbeaten SIU team. SIU's loss snapped a seven-game winning streak to start the season, which was SIU's best start in 73 seasons.Â
"Give a ton of credit to Evansville," SIU head coach Bryan Mullins said. "They played better than us today. They executed better and guarded better than us. They played with confidence and more emotion. We have a lot to improve on. I'm extremely proud of our guys for how we started this season, and for the effort they have given me for the last five months. I love coaching this group. I'm excited to continue this journey with them. Obviously, we have a huge challenge with Drake coming up, and we need to have good practices to get us ready."
Samari Curtis was dominant for Evansville (3-5, 1-1 MVC). He scored a game-high 29 points in 30 minutes on 9-of-13 shooting, including 6-of-8 from the 3-point line. Marcus Domask nearly matched him for SIU (7-1, 1-1 MVC), scoring 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from the 3-point line. Domask added a career-high 7 assists.
But the story of the game was Evansville's lights-out shooting. Of the eight Evansville players who played, seven made at least one 3-pointer. Noah Frederking (18 points) hit four. The Aces turned to Curtis and Shamar Givance in the second half; that duo alone matched SIU's 33 second-half points. Evansville outscored SIU 49-33 in the second half to erase a 39-35 halftime deficit.Â
"They played better than us You can look at every area -- physicality, execution, coaching, offense, defense, effort, shooting," Mullins said.
The game had three major runs. The Aces took the first one, racing out to a nine-point lead in the game's opening six minutes. But SIU came right back with a huge 24-5 run to take a 10-point lead just nine minutes later. Evansville hung around and chipped away, taking a lead in the second half. Leading by a point with 10 minutes to go, Evansville went on an 8-0 run over two minutes to take a 9-point lead, and SIU could never recover. From the 12-minute mark in the second half to the 5-minute mark, Evansville hit seven-consecutive 3-pointers.Â
"We had chances in the first half to extend the lead, and we gave them confidence by allowing them to get good looks and make shots," Mullins said. "It started to pile up in the second half, obviously. From there, it was a snowball effect, with all their guys making 3's from all different spots."
After the snowball, Evansville maintained at least a two-possession lead for all of the game's final 10 minute; and the Aces went 8-for-8 from the foul line in the final minute to erase any hopes of a Saluki comeback.
Trent Brown had 11 points for SIU. Dalton Banks had a well-rounded game with 6 points, 5 assists (and no turnovers), 4 rebounds, a block and a steal in 32 minutes. Sekou Dembele provided a spark off the bench with six points on 3-of-4 shooting in 11 minutes.Â
After the final game of 2020, Mullins was asked to reflect on what he has learned in a year defined by a global pandemic.
"For me, I'm just grateful," he said. "I'm grateful for being able to coach today, for being able to represent my alma mater, to be able to coach a group of guys I love. With COVID and the quarentine situations, when you're able to have a game, a practice, or a team meal; it means a little bit more because, for five months, we didn't know if it was going to happen or not. We're still testing three times a week. You still don't know throughout the week if you'll be together. I'm appreciative to be able to spend time with the people I love."
UP NEXT:Â SIU travels to Drake for a back-to-back on Jan. 3-4. The Bulldogs are undefeated at 11-0 and have the most wins of any team in the country. Sunday's game is set to tip at 2 p.m., and Monday's game will tip off at 6 p.m.
NOTES: SIU's five-game winning streak over Evansville was snapped ... Despite the loss, SIU's 7-1 start is the program's best eight-game start since 2015-16 (also 7-1) ... SIU had a 7-game winning streak in back-to-back years for the first time since 2005-06 and 2006-07 ... Evansville's 17 3-pointers were a Evansville program record, and also a record for any SIU opponent. (Evansville also made 17 3-pointers against SIU in 1997.) ... SIU lost for the first time when scoring 70+ points under head coach Bryan Mullins (had been 11-0) ... SIU has won points off turnovers in all eight games this year.
