Game 2

SIUE Cougars (1-0, 0-0 OVC) 
at Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons (0-1, 0-0 Horizon)
Saturday, November 12, 1:00 p.m.
Memorial Coliseum (13,000), Fort Wayne, Indiana

OPENING ACT 
DeeJuan Pruitt and Damarco Minor each turned in double-doubles Monday as SIUE opened the 2022-23 season with an 85-57 win over Harris-Stowe at First Community Arena. SIUE improved to 38-17 all-time in home openers and has won 16 consecutive games over Harris-Stowe. Lamar Wright added 18 points and Ray'Sean Taylor scored 10. 

DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Pruitt and Minor each recorded double-doubles on opening night. It marked the first time that two SIUE players had recorded double-doubles in the same game since the 2016 season when Jalen Henry and Christian Ellis each did it. 

TAYLOR'S RETURN
Taylor returned to game in the exhibition against Eureka for the first time since tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the second half of SIUE's game at Southeast Missouri last Jan. 29. Taylor previously sat out the 2020-21 season with the same injury, which he sustained in August 2020. Taylor is a preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference selection.

TAYLOR'S SEASON
Taylor scored in double figures in 19 of 21 games in which he played last season. He led SIUE in scoring 14 times and scored 20 or more points in a game nine times. Taylor was the leading scorer among first-year players in the country at 17.6 points per game. Taylor won the OVC Freshman of the Week award five times during the season. He was a finalist for the Macy Award for National Freshman of the Year.

PRUITT PROVED IT
Pruitt also was chosen to the preseason All-OVC team. Last year, he led the Cougars in rebounding at 6.8 rebounds per game, which was fourth in the OVC. Pruitt turned in two of the top 10 single-game rebounding performances in the OVC last year with 16 at Tennessee Tech (1/20), tying SIUE's Division I single game record and 15 at Eastern Illinois (1/13). He was third in scoring at 10.2 points per game, which was 21st in the OVC.

BUILDING BLOCKS
Lamar Wright added three blocks in the season opener. His career total now stands at 88, which is seventh all-time at SIUE.