EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Southern Indiana shot near 60 percent from the field Saturday, downing SIUE men's basketball 84-67 at Screaming Eagle Arena.
The loss, was the third straight for SIUE, which hadn't lost more than two in a row to that point. The Cougars are now 6-6 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 13-12 overall. Southern Indiana is 7-18 overall and 4-8 in the league.
"We didn't defend," SIUE Head Coach Brian Barone said. "We just didn't guard the way we can guard, and the way we are going to guard moving forward."
SIUE led 29-24 with 4:01 left in the first half, when USI came to life. The Screaming Eagles finished the half on a 13-2 run to lead 37-31 at the break.
"We had them down to 24 points with about five minutes left in the first half and they got loose on us," Barone said. "We never really stopped it."
The Cougars came out of halftime and proceeded to go to 4-5 from the field to open the period, trimming the lead to four (42-38) after a three-pointer by Eddiean Tirado with 16:47 left. USI quickly pushed the lead back out to nine (49-40).
Another three from Tirado made it 51-45 with 13:40 left, but Southern Indiana used a 21-7 run to swell its lead to 20 with 5:30 left.
After going 3-9 from three-point range in the first half, the Screaming Eagles were 8-12 after halftime. USI shot 27-46 (59 percent) overall from the field.
AJ Smith led the way with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He was one of four Eagles in double figures.
SIUE was led by Lamar Wright who scored 11 points, including four at the free throw line. Shamar Wright added 10 points. Damarco Minor scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Cougars finished 20-55 (36 percent) for the game and 6-21 (29 percent) from three. SIUE connected on 21-25 (84 percent) from the free throw line.
The Cougars return to First Community Arena to finish the home schedule with games Thursday and Saturday.
"We're excited to get back home," Barone added. "Our community and our fans are the best in the league."
SIUE next faces Lindenwood Thursday in a 7:30 game in Edwardsville.
"We're going to study this game and we'll get after Lindenwood starting tonight and early tomorrow," Barone said.
