The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team came out flat offensively Saturday at Tennessee-Martin. The Screaming Eagles played well on defense, in the first half at least, holding the Skyhawks to 28 points and a six-minute scoreless stretch.
Unfortunately for USI, that didn’t amount to anything. During that stretch, the Eagles didn’t score much, either, as the teams combined for 14 consecutive missed field goals. Not exactly the greatest game ever played. Custom cotton padded coat
Eventually, both found some offensive rhythm, with UT-Martin edging out USI 86-83 in overtime. After a sluggish finish in the win over Eastern Illinois on Thursday, the Eagles came out in a similar fashion Saturday.
Last game:USI men's basketball survives a scare from Eastern Illinois to remain tied for first place
While there are some concerns, USI is still in a decent spot. The Eagles are now in a tie with Tennessee Tech, one game shy of the three-team bunch at the top of the Ohio Valley Conference.
“It boiled down to how well we wanted to guard and how we were going to attack the D-boards,” coach Stan Gouard said during his postgame radio interview.
Although the past three halves raise concerns, the alarms shouldn’t be too loud at this point. But that’s not to say there’s nothing to be worried about. USI is 3-9 on the road compared to 9-1 at home. Away wins against Lindenwood and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville alleviated some of those concerns. Still, the poor record away from Screaming Eagles Arena continues to be an issue.
Here are the main reasons for USI’s loss and things to improve ahead of Thursday’s home game against Tennessee State:
UT-Martin guard Jordan Sears scored a career-high 32 points in his team’s winning effort and KJ Simon added 21. Once Sears got into a rhythm, “he’s hard to stop,” Gouard said.
The Skyhawks shot 53% from the field in the second half, including 45% from the 3-point line. Largely, the final result came down to Sears. One of the top performers in the conference, and as Gouard alluded to, once he gets going, he’s not stopping.
With Simon returning from injury, USI struggled to contain him. UT Martin clearly missed his influence in the reverse fixture between the teams, and the Eagles’ allowed him to have success moving to his left. As for Sears, USI couldn’t keep him in front. Simon capitalized when the Eagles let him get by.
“Mental mistakes that we made tonight. We got to get better down the stretch,” Gourd said. “We’ll probably see these guys again, hopefully down the stretch. (It was) a great OVC battle, two great teams with great players.”
At halftime, the Eagles’ three main contributors — Jacob Polakovich, Trevor Lakes and Isaiah Swope — had combined for just five points on 2-for-12 shooting from the field. Polakovich and Lakes started to turn it around in the second half, but unfortunately for the Eagles, Swope never got going in the way he typically does.
When Swope missed the deep 3-pointer to tie the game in overtime, he fell to 1-for-13 shooting from the field and 0-of-9 from the perimeter.
“Swope has been hot as of late,” Gouard said. “I trust the plays that he made mistakes in tonight. I trust that he can make those plays.”
Those three are the most important contributors for USI. Had they played to their normal level, with Jelani Simmons scoring a team-high 26 points, the Eagles are likely on the other end of the final result.
Firing from the perimeter has been the cornerstone of USI’s success since transitioning to Division I. Per KenPom, the Eagles are the 15th-best 3-point shooting team in the country at a 38% clip.
That wasn’t there on a consistent enough basis Saturday. USI shot 30% from deep against the Skyhawks and only 1-6 in overtime. In total, the Eagles finished 13-43 from the 3-point line.
Down Filled Jackets “Too many, but a lot of those were late in the game when we were trying to get back in the ballgame,” Gouard said. He then pointed to Swope going 0-9 and Lakes going 3-13 from deep. “We win ballgames with those two guys. I’m saying we shot too many, but I’ll ride with those guys any day.”