The first official game of the Scott Nagy era, and the first game in the 2024-25 season between Division 1 opponents in the country, was promising for the future of the Salukis, if not a little bit confusing.
“Things I thought were our strengths really showed to be our weaknesses, and things I thought were our weaknesses didn’t hurt us,” Nagy said.
After a slow start and scoring only six points in the first six minutes of action, the Dawgs came roaring to life against the College of Charleston. Layups and getting to the free throw line were the name of the game, as Davion Sykes had two buckets and two free throws within three minutes, and Elijah Elliot had two other baskets in that same time frame, leaving the score at 23-18.
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The Dawgs hung around for the rest of the half and were able to get as close as two points, when the score was 29-27. SIU made up a lot of ground in the last 3:40 of the end of the first half, when they went on an 11-3 to enter the break.
The Salukis, outside of a missed dunk by Antwaun Massey to start the half, picked up right where they left off, matching the Cougars nearly shot for shot, and even taking a couple of brief leads with about 17 minutes left to play.
The lead continued to ping back and forth, and the score was tied with eight minutes left. SIU didn’t make another field goal until Kennard Davis’ layup with 2:38 left on the clock. The only times they scored in that span were a pair of made free throws each from Jarrett Hensley and Elliot.
The Salukis poured in 80 points against the College of Charleston in the Field of 68 Opening Day Showcase in Sioux Fall, South Dakota. However, the Cougars, who play out of the Coastal Athletic Association conference, managed to score 90 of their own.
“Defensively, we were not good at all. The big kid destroyed us,” Nagy said.
Charleston’s bigs were able to feast on SIU’s, especially after Massey, Hensley and freshman Rolyns Aligbe ended up in foul trouble. Massey and Aligbe, who only played 15 minutes a piece, both had four fouls in the game.
SIU let Charleston shoot 56.4% from the floor and go 9 of 20 from three point range. The Dawgs offense went 25 of 62 from the floor, and an abysmal 5 of 21 – 23.8% – from three.
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The best area for the Salukis was at the free throw line, where they shot 25 of 33 – good for 75.8%.
Newcomer Elliot was the star Saluki in Sioux Falls, going an efficient 9 for 14 from the floor and 3-7 from three, good for 23 points.
Nagy, though proud of Elliot, was mostly indifferent to his point total.
“I don’t know who’s going to be our leading scorer; I don’t care. What I do care about is that we do a better job defensively,” Nagy said.
Besides on defense, the Dawgs struggled heavily on the boards, getting outrebounded 38-to-27 and only collecting seven in the second half. Against a team that made the NCAA tournament each of the last two seasons, SIU corralled only nine offensive rebounds in the contest.
Nagy’s rotation extended well down the bench; eight players played at least 15 minutes, with Kennard Davis, Ali Dibba and Elliot all playing at least 32. Sykes led the bench in minutes played at 20.
With 12 and 13 points respectively, Dibba and Davis were second and third in scoring. Davis, while only going 2-8 from the floor, managed to go 8-9 at the free throw line.
According to Nagy, there are many things to fix before the Salukis take the court at home on Friday against Missouri S&T at 7 p.m.
“Just simple things that have to get cleaned up if you’re going to win a college basketball game,” Nagy said.
Sports consultant Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.
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