Salukis run past Northern Iowa on Senior Night
CARBONDALE – Southern Illinois hit a season-high 17 shots from behind the arc en route to an 86-63 victory over Northern Iowa Wednesday night at Banterra Center.
“I’m proud of our guys for coming out after a tough loss last time out and coming out and really playing a full 40 minutes,” head coach Bryan Mullins said postgame. “I thought the ball was moving really well on offense and the guys were giving up good shots to get great shots. I thought we had a good bounce to their step, and I thought defensively in the first half we were able to bother them with our pressure.”
It was a Senior Night to remember for the Salukis as Lance Jones scored a game-high 28 points. Marcus Domask dropped in 24, and Trent Brown added 11 points as the Salukis improved to 21-9 overall and 13-6 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Mullins continued: “I’m happy for the seniors to play the way they did and for the group. It was good to see a lot of emotion and passion on those faces. We have to build off this and continue to play well – with a big game coming up this weekend.”
Southern jumped out to an 8-2 lead and never looked back, taking a 34-23 lead into the locker room at intermission. The Salukis won the battle on the boards 34-28. Southern let it rain in the second half, connecting on 9-of-15 from deep and 9-of-10 at the charity stripe, pushing their lead to 25 points in the final minutes.
“It’s been a tough 48 hours for him (Lance). Just talking to him and making sure he was okay and that he was ready to go,” Mullins said. “Monday was one of the better practices that he’s had in a long time and today he was ready at shootaround, ready for the game and I’m just really happy for him and his family.”
The Evanston native was lethal from the field, finishing with a season-high 28 points – just three points shy of a career-high. Jones was 11-for-14 from the field and 5-for-8 from deep while also dishing out four assists.
“He (Lance) played one of his best games probably in this jersey,” Mullins noted. “He was decisive – pass, catch or shoot., and he made some great passes when he got to the paint and I’m just really happy for him.”
Domask dominated every facet of the game for the Salukis, showing out in his final home game of the season. He scored 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting while tying a career-high with six 3-pointers in the game.
The duo combined to score 33 of the Salukis’ 52 points in the second half as Southern led wire-to-wire.
Brown knocked down three 3-pointers in the game – the most the senior has hit in a game since the Chicago State game in December.
The Salukis shot 57.7 percent (30-for-52) in the game and 58.6 percent (17-for-29) from behind the arc, while holding UNI to 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from the field.
Tytan Anderson led the Panthers (13-16, 9-10 MVC) with 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting while Landon Wolf added 17 for UNI.
UP NEXT
The Salukis will wrap up the regular season on Sunday with a trip to UIC. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. in Chicago.
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