EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE men's basketball used its strongest defensive effort of the year to hand league-leading Morehead State its first Ohio Valley Conference loss. The Cougars won their second straight OVC game, winning 61-48 Saturday at First Community Arena.
The 48 points marked the fewest allowed by SIUE this year, and the fewest scored by Morehead State, which came in averaging nearly 80 points per game for the season.
"Our guys came out and really guarded," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "We set the tone defensively and it was a team-led defense."
The Cougars have won two straight to improve to 10-8 overall and 3-2 in the OVC. Morehead State is 13-5 overall and 4-1 in the league.
"This game was picked for (ESPNU broadcast) a reason," Barone said. "It's a credit to what Morehead State does as a program and what these guys do for our program. The nation saw what the OVC is capable of. We came out there, had a heck of a game and it's fun that a lot of people got to see it."
SIUE also ran its home court record to 8-1.
"How about this community coming out, getting out early," Barone said. "You could really feel them today. I appreciate this community and I appreciate how they appreciate (this team)."
MSU was limited to just 20 first-half points and were 0-11 from three-point range in the first half. The Cougars built as much as 12-point lead in the period before taking a 28-20 lead into halftime.
SIUE never trailed after halftime, but Morehead State trimmed the lead to two on two different occasions.
The Eagles' Jordan Lathon cut the SIUE lead to 52-48, but that proved to be MSU's last basket. The Cougars held Morehead State scoreless for the final 4:09 and finished off the game on a 9-0 run.
Damarco Minor led the charge for SIUE. Minor turned in his sixth double-double of the year, the second-most in the OVC, scoring a game-high 24 points and adding 13 rebounds.
Ray'Sean Taylor turned 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Taylor stressed the importance of a team win.
"I just like that we're taking steps in the right direction," Taylor said. "I am not so caught up in who it was. I just like that we got better, we played as a team and we got a good win."
SIUE connected on 41 percent (24-58) from the field for the game. The Cougars were 3-15 from three-point territory and knocked down 10 of 11 free throws.
Both teams finished with 39 rebounds.
"We gave up 14 offensive rebounds," Barone said. "When you're missing shots there are more opportunities for offensive rebounds, but we only gave up eight second chance points, which means these guys didn't hang their head."
The Cougars forced 11 turnovers, while only turning the ball over eight times themselves. Both the Eagles and the Cougars finished with seven steals.
MSU was just 19-62 (31 percent) from the field and 3-27 (11 percent) from three-point range.
Riley Minix scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the Eagles. Lathon finished with 12 points.
Saturday's win capped a two-win league weekend for SIUE, which defeated Southern Indiana Thursday in Edwardsville.
"The approach of our team this week was the right approach," Barone said. "Their approach was business-like while enjoying each other and we had a big week."
SIUE now goes on the road for a pair of games. SIUE will face Lindenwood Thursday in St. Charles before traveling to Southeast Missouri Saturday.
"We have to carry what we did this week into next week," Barone said. "We need to go into Lindenwood with the right mindset and be ready for another game like today."
