The Salukis played a good game against Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Saturday just falling short four near the end with the Panthers taking the win.
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“I think we did enough to put ourselves in a position to win,” said Coach Bryan Mullins on how the team performed on the court. “Obviously didn’t shoot the ball well and we just got to be able to make some shots on the road and execute a bit better to be able to get a road win.”
Northern Iowa team came in ready to win with head coach Ben Jacobson being a five-time MVC Coach of the Year and holding the record of all-time wins by a coach at Northern Iowa.
In the first half, both teams kept the score almost tied most of the time, with a good balance of both offense and defense with three-pointers from Guard Trent Brown and Forward Troy D’Amico.
“I thought the guys were pretty connected as a group out there,” Mullins said. “It was a physical game but we were able to get some stops when we needed to and had opportunities to win this game.”
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The Salukis led the game by one point with a score of 30 to 29 going into the second half, with multiple good offensive and defensive rebounds, four three-pointers from Trent Brown, Jarrett Hansley, and two from Xavier Johnson, with him scoring 17 points in total.
“I thought he was a little bit tentative and trying to attack it,” Mullins said about Johnson’s performance in the first half. “I was able to talk to him at halftime he was able to figure some things out in that second half, played some much aggressive and you know made some big plays for us.”
With only a few seconds left in the game to tie it, Xavier Johnson prepped for the three-pointer but ultimately missed giving the win to the Panthers.
“You know he’s going to be in those positions, we trust X with the ball whether it’s to shoot it or pass it,” Mullins said. “And we’ll keep going to him.”
The Salukis take on the Valparaiso Crusaders at Bantera Center on Wednesday at 7:00 pm.
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Jamilah Lewis can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date with all your southern Illinois news, follow the Daily Egyptian on Facebook and Twitter.
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