Provided by SIU Athletics
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The SIU men's basketball improved to 4-1 at Banterra Center with a 75-53 win over Hampton on Wednesday night. Eleven Salukis reached the scoring column while SIU's defense limited the Pirates to just 39.6% shooting from the floor.聽
SIU's best effort came on the defensive end. Hampton big man Ben Stanley had scored 86 points over his last three games, which included a 40-point game. The Salukis completely took him out of the game; he had six points on 2-of-10 shooting, one rebound, zero assists and seven turnovers in 30 minutes. When asked about the best part of his team's defensive performance, SIU head coach Bryan Mullins聽didn't hesitate.
"It was our defense on Stanley," Mullins said. "Everyone knew where he was. He came in averaging 29 points in his last three games, obviously. Against him, we were disciplined. Against the other guys, we had too many fouls; but against him, we did a great job with our lock-ups and our walls. We made it difficult on him. I was really pleased with that effort."
Hampton (4-7) stuck around with the Salukis (5-7) for most of the first half. The Pirates even took a 26-25 lead late in the first half, but the Salukis ended the half on a 9-2 run, punctuated by a perfectly executed full-court play in the final 3.6 seconds of the half, and then outscored Hampton by 16 in the second half. While SIU star freshman Marcus Domask聽dominated the game -- he had 19 points (on 7-10 shooting), 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals -- the Salukis also got lifts from Ronnie Suggs Jr. (season-high 10 points), Karrington Davis聽(9 points) and Sekou Dembele聽(10 points, 5 rebounds). In the second half, that foursome (Domask, Suggs, Davis and Dembele) combined to go 14-for-16 from the field for 33 points.聽
"I'm proud of our guys, especially the way they came out in the second half," SIU head coach Bryan Mullins聽said. "I challenged them at halftime to come out and play the right way. It started with our defense. We did a great job on (Ben) Stanley all night. Once we were able to get stops, we pushed the ball in transition. We attacked the basket better. We were able to score inside. Karrington (Davis), Sekou (Dembele), and Ronnie (Suggs) gave us a great lift. Lance (Jones), Marcus (Domask), and really all of the guys stepped up for us tonight."
The combined 19 points from Davis and Dembele聽illustrated what the Salukis are still working towards -- a fully healthy roster. Davis has missed the last two years with injuries, and Dembele had a stress fracture that took him out of the entire preseason and the first six games of the year. The final piece is star guard Aaron Cook Jr.聽聽who is expected back soon after missing his sixth-straight game with a broken hand.聽
"(Davis and Dembele) are getting better every day in practice, and the more experience they can get in games, the better they will be," Mullins said. "We're starting to get healthier. Hopefully, we'll get AC back soon, and we will have a healthy roster for the first time."
SIU had 19 assists in the game, and 15 of them came from true freshmen. Domask聽(6 assists) and Lance Jones聽(8 assists) both set career highs in assists. Jones scored just 2 points and was 0-for-3 from the field, but he found 18 points for his teammates. During SIU's truly game-deciding run -- a 13-2 run to turn a 12-point lead into a 23-point lead in the final eight minutes -- Jones had four assists that accounted for nine of the 13 points.聽
Jones' final assist was the perfect exclamation point on the win -- a corner 3-pointer for walk-on聽 Will Keller, a Marion, Ill., native who grew up coming to SIU games.聽
"He's one of the best teammates that I've been around in coaching," Mullins said of Keller. "He does so much for our team that nobody knows about. He deserved to make that three, so I'm happy for him."
