The Blue Hens emerged on top the last time they faced the Salukis back in 2019, narrowly winning 56-54, but it was the Dawgs who dominated this year’s rematch. SIU and Delaware faced off in the first matchup of the Jacksonville Classic on Sunday, Nov. 23, the Salukis leading the entire way to a 79-59 finish. 

Both defenses came out of the gate on their A game. Four and a half minutes into the contest, the teams were a combined 2-14 from the floor. The Salukis knocking down 3 free throws gave them an early 5-2 advantage.

A 3-pointer from guard Quel’Ron House coming out of the media timeout kickstarted the Saluki offense. That bucket was part of a 12-0 run that forced a Delaware timeout with 13:45 left in the first half, with the Blue Hens trailing 14-2.

At one point the Salukis opened up their lead to 19-4, before Delaware guard Alex Kazanecki nailed the first three of the game for the Blue Hens. That began a 15-3 run that brought Delaware within 22-19 with 6:19 left in the half.

While both offenses had their runs early in the half, the later parts of the half were a defensive showcase. Only one field goal was converted between the two teams for over two and a half minutes. Free throws left the Salukis with a 24-22 lead with 3:57 left in the first half.

The Salukis poured in points with a fury to end the half. An alley-oop from House was thrown down for a monstrous two-handed dunk by guard Davion Sykes to punctuate a 9-2 run, leaving the halftime score at 33-24 in favor of SIU.

Team defense was the MVP for the Salukis in the first half. They managed to hold the Blue Hens to a 21.1% 3-point shooting percentage and a 31.3% field goal percentage overall.

Coming out of the locker room, neither squad could get a run going. Any time one team scored, the other went down and answered immediately. That left the Salukis leading with a score of 41-32 just five minutes into the half.

The Blue Hens continued to struggle to find their groove on offense. At one point midway through the second half, Delaware was in the middle of a 1-11 stretch from behind the three point line, leaving the Blue Hens with a 49-39 deficit. 

The Salukis continued to stretch the lead as the game reached the later stages. A fast break layup from guard Drew Steffe brought the lead to a game-high 16 points, with the Salukis leading 60-44 with 6:28 to go.

A quick 11-4 Saluki run over the next three minutes put the game seemingly out of reach. A bucket from guard Isaiah Stafford extended the lead to 71-48 with 3:32 to go, prompting head coach Scott Nagy to pull the starters for the game’s remainder.

Stafford broke out offensively with 13 points, a welcome sight for Nagy.

“It was nice to see Zai finally get going,” Nagy said postgame

An and-1 from Delaware guard Mason Ellison was far too little, far too late, and brought the final score to 79-59 in favor of the Salukis.

Stafford’s 13 points led the Salukis. He was joined in double digits by Sykes (12), Steffe (12), forward Prince Aligbe (12) and House (10).

Defense played a huge part in the win for the Salukis as well, and Aligbe’s 6 rebounds were a big part of that.

“I feel like I could be one of the best defenders in the MVC,” Aligbe said postgame.

Despite the margin of victory, there were facets of the game Nagy still wasn’t pleased with.

“Offensively, it wasn’t smooth for us all game,” Nagy said.

The now 3-2 Salukis won’t have to wait long for a chance to smooth out that offense. They retake the floor in Jacksonville at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 24 to take on the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers.

Sports reporter Eli Hoover can be found at [email protected] or on Instagram at @hoovermakesart  

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