It’s no secret that 3-point shooting has been an issue for the Salukis men’s basketball squad this season. Heading into their final regular season matchup Sunday, March 1 against the Evansville Purple Aces, they were shooting 27.8% from distance, a bottom five percentage in all of Division I.  

They bucked that trend in a big way in Evansville, going 9-22 from behind the arc, good for 41%. The Dawgs rode that shooting to an 81-67 win that brought them to 10-10 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

“We’re so good defensively, even if we shoot average we’ll be just fine,” Saluki head coach Scott Nagy said. Forward Prince Aligbe noticed the defensive improvement throughout the season as well.

“We’ve improved a lot. I think it comes down to clarity and understanding where we’re supposed to be,” he said postgame.

Both teams struggled on offense early on, with the ESPN+ broadcast going as far as calling it a “rock-throwing contest.” The two teams combined to shoot 30% in the opening six minutes, leading to an 8-all tie.

The Saluki offense started to unthaw as the game went on, going on an 8-0 through the middle portions of the first half. A steal and fast break dunk from Aligbe forced Evansville head coach David Ragland to call timeout down 26-20 and 7:31 remaining in the first half.

Just as fast as they heated up, SIU went ice cold. The Purple Aces answered what ended as a 10-0 run with a 5-0 surge of their own, trimming the deficit to 28-25 with under four minutes left in the opening half.

Evansville’s charge was short-lived, and the Salukis spent the rest of the half stretching out their lead. A last-second driving layup from guard Jalen Haynes gave SIU a 38-27 advantage heading into halftime.

Aligbe’s 8 points and six rebounds led the Salukis through 20 minutes.

Coming out of the locker room, Evansville poured it in on the offensive side. The problem for the Purple Aces is so did the Salukis. So much so that SIU held a 47-35 lead at the first media timeout of the second half.

The Purple Aces started to claw their way back coming out of the stoppage, going on a 7-0 run that forced Nagy to ask for a timeout. The timeout didn’t slow the Purple Aces at all, with forward Josh Hughes hitting a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 51-48 with 11 minutes remaining in regulation.

Evansville cut the lead down to one multiple times, but couldn’t score the basket that would get them over the hump. A driving layup from guard Drew Steffe gave the Salukis a 60-57 advantage with 7:36 left in the contest.

Neither squad could miss down the stretch. Anytime one team made a shot, the other went right back down the floor and answered. It all culminated in SIU leading the Purple Aces 71-67 at the final media timeout of the regular season for both squads. 

Three turnovers in four possessions put to rest any possible Evansville comeback. The Saluki defense held the Purple Aces scoreless over the last three minutes on their way to an 81-67 victory.

Damien Mayo scored a career-high 23 points to lead all players. He was joined in double figures by Steffe (16), Aligbe (14) and guard Quel’Ron House (10). Aligbe also brought down 12 rebounds to secure his first double-double of the season.

“He can be a difference maker when he plays that way for sure,” Nagy said of Aligbe’s play postgame.

The now 16-15 Salukis will head to St. Louis for Arch Madness as the eight seed, taking on the ninth-seeded Drake Bulldogs at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 4.

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

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