EVANSVILLE, Ind. – SIUE men's basketball turned up the defensive pressure to deliver Head Coach Brian Barone a milestone win Saturday night. The Cougars downed Southern Indiana 58-46 for Barone's 100th career win.
The 46 points allowed is the fourth fewest allowed by SIUE in an OVC game.
SIUE improved to 14-9 overall and 7-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference. USI dropped to 5-17 overall and 2-10 in the league.
Barone becomes the fourth head coach in program history to win at least 100 games. He joins Larry Graham (146 wins), Jim Dudley (144) and Jack Margenthaler (112) as Cougar head coaches with 100 or more wins.
The Cougars struggled early, opening the game by going just 2-10 from the field.
USI connected on five three-pointers in the first half and took a 27-23 lead at halftime.
The Screaming Eagles pushed the lead out to 30-23 early in the half, but a 10-2 run for SIUE moved the Cougars in front 33-32, forcing a USI timeout with 14:13 to play. SIUE never trailed again.
Layups on back-to-back possessions by Tyler King made it 45-36 with 8:32 to play.
Former Screaming Eagle Jack Campion, playing his first game back at Southern Indiana, sealed the deal for the Cougars, scoring the final eight points for SIUE over the final 2:45.
SIUE shot 59 percent (13-22) in the second half and 46 percent (21-46) for the game. The Cougars outrebounded USI 36-31 and scored 30 points in the paint.
Campion led the Cougars with 15 points. He was 4-8 from the field and 7-7 at the free throw line. Arnas Sakenis followed with 13 points and added seven rebounds. Tyler King scored 11 points. Darrion Baker led the way with eight rebounds.
The Cougars held Southern Indiana to just 19 points and 19 percent (5-26) shooting in the second half. The Screaming Eagles shot just 28 percent for the game.
Devin Curtis led Southern Indiana with 11 points.
SIUE plays on the road Tuesday at Lindenwood. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
