Scott Nagy’s first Missouri Valley Conference game as head coach certainly didn’t go as planned.
“We’re a mess right now,” Nagy said.
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The Salukis were run off the court by the Bradley Braves 83-60, who seemingly couldn’t miss. Bradley shot an incredible 63.6% from three, going 14-22 from beyond the arc, which was tied for the third-most threes SIU had ever given up in a game.
Jarrett Hensley had the second double-double of the season for the Dawgs, scoring 12 points and corralling 12 rebounds.
Kennard Davis Jr. and Hensley were virtually the only offense the Salukis had, scoring 15 and 12 points respectively. As a whole, the Salukis offense struggled, shooting only 40.4% from the floor.
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Bradley defensively dominated the Dawgs, sticking tightly to each Saluki as they tried to run their offense and holding them to their fewest points of the season. SIU could rarely get open looks, especially from three, where they shot a putrid 4-16.
Bradley held SIU under 10 points for the first 11 minutes of the game
Nagy didn’t blame the loss on the players though.
“I don’t think that our kids didn’t play hard. It’s probably just that we didn’t get the information across to them, in terms of the scout, the way we wanted it to,” Nagy said.
He did point out one key issue that the Dawgs suffered from: discomfort.
“It was probably the second possession of the game, we had three or four guys who couldn’t catch the ball, it just went through their hands,” Nagy said. “For whatever reason, we just looked nervous… we were very tight.”
“How many times did we fumble the ball, miss a layup, just very very simple things that are normal for a college basketball player that we struggled with tonight,” Nagy said.
Like every game in the Nagy era so far, there were highlights and things the Dawgs were able to do well. Rebounding, which has been a concern at various times this season, wasn’t tonight. SIU snatched 38 rebounds as opposed to Bradley’s 29.
An issue that is turning into a habit for the Salukis showed up again against Bradley. The Dawgs turned the ball over 17 times, and it marked their fourth game of the year with at least 17. The Braves scored 24 points off of turnovers, nearly matching their winning margin of 23.
Ali Dibba had his lowest scoring output of the year, shooting 2-8 and totaling 5 points. On the flip side, Antwaun Massey had his highest, scoring nine of 4-5 shooting. Massey was one of the few players who looked comfortable on offense, and was able to use his size multiple times to get to the basket.
SIU (3-6, 0-1) will take on Southern Indiana at home on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2:00 pm. As to whether the Dawgs will be ready or not, Nagy had a simple answer.
“There’s two options: you either roll up in a ball and act like a baby, or you get to work and you fight… we’ve gotta make sure we fight,” 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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