In their last road game of the season, the SIU Salukis (19-11, 11-8) lost to the Bradley Braves (21-9, 13-6) 86-67. Within the first five minutes, the Braves flew to a 10-point lead. While the Salukis did shorten that gap several times in the first half, they could never close it.
“We didn’t play nearly well enough,” said Head Coach Bryan Mullins in the postgame press conference. “We didn’t play winning basketball. The level of execution wasn’t there, and that’s my fault.”
Bradley didn’t let up in the second half, extending their lead to 29. Southern Illinois could not overcome this deficit, even with impressive showings by AJ Ferguson, Jarrett Hensley, and Troy D’Amico. The Braves, led by Darius Hannah, capitalized on the Salukis missteps, racking up 39 rebounds and forcing SIU to turn the ball over 14 times.
“Too many turnovers and offensive rebounds,” said Coach Mullins. “They get 40 points on those two things and those are two things that you can control. Can’t expect to play that way and have success on the road.”
Ferguson and Hannah led their teams in scoring (16 for Ferguson, 22 for Hannah).
“I thought he [Ferguson] had a good motor. I thought he was the one guy that was active on the court, was trying to fly around, was trying to be aggressive, thought he had some good looks offensively. He’s got to continue to play with confidence,” Coach Mullins said.
This loss puts the Salukis in a position to lose the first-round bye to the Northern Iowa Panthers (17-13, 11-8). Losing would mean the Salukis fall to 6th in the Missouri Valley Conference if Belmont (18-12, 11-8) beats Evansville (15-15, 6-13). The Salukis must beat Northern Iowa in order to secure the bye and build momentum going into Arch Madness.
It all comes down to this.
The first-round bye is up for grabs Sunday, March 3rd at 1 p.m. inside the Banterra center.
