After an impromptu weeklong break, the Salukis men’s basketball team took the Banterra Center floor against the Northern Iowa Panthers on Wednesday, Jan. 28 looking to snap a four game losing streak. They did so in dominating fashion, leading for the last 30 minutes in a 65-50 win, the 600th of head coach Scott Nagy’s career. This brought SIU to 3-7 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

If fans were looking for a high-scoring affair, they were greatly disappointed by the opening four minutes. Despite UNI guard Trey Campbell opening the scoring 17 seconds in, both teams had scoring droughts of at least two-and-a-half minutes, leaving the score at a 4-4 tie.

The entrance of superstar guard Quel’Ron House, who hadn’t appeared in a game in over two weeks, wasn’t enough to spark something in the Saluki offense. The lid stayed on the basket for both sides, resulting in a slim 8-6 lead for the Panthers with 11:54 left in the first half.

SIU finally warmed up from the weekend’s snowstorm behind triples from guard Drew Steffe and forward Rolyns Aligbe. Northern Iowa still wasn’t far behind, trailing 15-11 with 6:24 remaining in the opening half.

The Salukis couldn’t strike while the iron was hot however, and immediately went into another cold snap of over two minutes. The Panthers’ own struggles meant SIU carried an 18-14 lead into the first half’s final media timeout.

Aligbe hitting another 3-pointer and a Steffe alley-oop to forward Davion Sykes highlighted the offensive outburst from SIU to end the half. That left the Salukis with a 27-19 lead at halftime, the largest lead for either side.

Aligbe headed to the locker room already on double-double watch with 10 points and seven rebounds.

SIU came out of the halftime break firing on all cylinders, scoring the first 3 points of the half. The Salukis settled in nicely from there, holding a 35-26 lead with 15:38 left in the game.

UNI found their groove on offense as the time wound down, but couldn’t slow down SIU with the same success. A Sykes slam brought the SIU lead to 45-38, and Salukis head coach Scott Nagy called timeout with 11:26 remaining in regulation to keep the Dawgs on the same page.

The Salukis continued their rampage as the time continued to dwindle down. A string of five turnovers in less than four minutes, along with a stepback jumper from House, forced UNI head coach Ben Jacobson to take a timeout with 6:40 left in the contest trailing 55-44.

At that point, it seemed like a possible UNI comeback train had left the station. The Panthers continued to turn the ball over, and SIU continued to put the ball in the basket at a rate they hadn’t been able to all year. That gave the Salukis a 61-46 advantage at the last media stoppage of the matchup.

A Steffe foul sent fans to the exits with 12 seconds to go and the Salukis up 65-50. 12 seconds later, the final tally officially became a 65-50 victory for the Salukis.

Aligbe added another double-double to his resume with 21 points and 10 rebounds, including a surprising 4-4 performance from behind the 3-point line.

“After the first two, they kept playing off and I was confused about that. My teammates told me to keep shooting so that helped me out,” Aligbe said.

He was joined in double figures by House, who had 17 points.

Even with the win, Nagy is ready to turn the page to the second half of the conference schedule.

“Generally our teams do better in the second half of the conference season, and I certainly hope we do this time. I mean it would be hard for us to do worse,” he said postgame.

The now 9-12 Salukis have a rematch with the Illinois-Chicago Flames next on the docket. That game will take place on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. inside the Banterra Center.

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

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