Game 30
SIUE Cougars (17-12, 8-8 OVC)
vs. little rock trojans (9-20, 5-11 OVC)
Thursday, February 23, 7:00 p.m.
First Community Arena (4,000), Edwardsville, Illinois
LAST TIME OUT
Jr. Clay scored 40 points to lead Tennessee State to a 100-85 win over SIUE Saturday at the Gentry Center. The opening minutes were close and SIUE trailed 12-11 following a
DeeJuan Pruitt layup with five minutes gone in the game. Tennessee State proceeded on a 15-0 run from that point to extend the lead to 27-11 with 11 minutes left in the half. SIUE trimmed the lead back to six after a layup by
Damarco Minor made it 34-26.
Shamar Wright scored at the hoop with 3:47 to play before halftime to make it 42-35, but SIUE settled for just two free throws the remainder of the period and a 15-2 run put Tennessee State up 57-37 at half.
CONFERENCE CALL
The Cougars have qualified for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournamanet for the third consecutive year. SIUE is in its 12th season in the OVC. The Cougars are 66-137 in the OVC.
Brian Barone is 25-46 in his fourth season in the league.
RECORD WINS
With 17 overall wins, SIUE has won its most games at the Division I level. Seven road wins also is a program high at Division I. Eight OVC wins ties the program best.
DO IT FOR FREE
SIUE leads the OVC in free throw percentage at .736. The Cougars lead the league in free throws made per game at 17.0, which ranks 12th in the NCAA and attempts at 23.1, which is 13th nationally. SIUE has had nine games this year with at least 30 free throw attempts. The Cougars attempted 41 free throws Jan.5 vs. Tennessee State, which was the most in a single game since 2018.
BLOCK PARTY
SIUE tied the school record for blocks with 11 against Illinois Tech. The Cougars lead the OVC in blocks at 4.1 per game, which ranks 67th in the NCAA. Five Cougars appear in the top 14 individually in the OVC.
WRIGHT PLACE
With 15 points against UT Martin,
Shamar Wright eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau for his career, becomming the 17th player at SIUE to do so. He has 1,060 career points, which is 11th all-time at SIUE. He is averaging a career-best 10.8 points per game. He scored a season-best 20 points at TSU Saturday.
