Back-to-back wins propel USI men's basketball into OVC mix after early struggles
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Jacob Polakovich could barely contain his excitement.
The University of Southern Indiana senior forward dunked in the final minutes of Saturday night's home showdown with the University of Tennessee-Martin. He screamed in jubilation after throwing it down, and the Screaming Eagles Arena crowd of 2,560 was fired up, continuing the momentum that started Thursday on national television.
The Screaming Eagles had a point to prove this week and are now winners of back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference games following their 80-66 victory against the Skyhawks. After a three-game OVC skid to start the year, defeating the high-scoring Skyhawks was critical. UT-Martin entered with the top offense in the league and was the leading rebounding squad, too.
USI (10-9, 3-3 OVC) won the battle on the boards by 10 and held the Skyhawks (11-8, 3-3) to 16 points fewer than their average.
"Anytime you win against a really good team like UT Martin, you're happy," USI coach Stan Gouard said. "I'm happy with the guys' defensive performance. They did a great job keeping those guys out of the paint for the most part. We just competed at a high level."
Polakovich, Isaiah Swope and Jelani Simmons once again competed at a high level. With 19 points and 12 rebounds, Polakovich picked up his seventh double-double of the season. Gouard referred to the 6-foot-9 big man as one of the primary catalysts of their success on the glass.
"He sets the tone every night on the board," Gouard said. "When you have a guy having to battle like that, I think it's hard for guys to sit and watch him do what he does because they're going to be proud of what he's doing."
Swope led all scorers with 21, marking the fourth time this season he's surpassed the 20-point mark. He also made a game-high three 3-pointers at a 50% clip. And despite some recent struggles, Simmons was the third Eagle in double-digit scoring with 14 points, including a pair of timely triples.
"When Jelani is hitting shots, Trevor (Lakes) is hitting shots and Swope is playing at the level that he's been playing lately, I don't think there's a team in the country that can really match up with us," Polakovich said. "It's a lot of fun to play with them, and I think it's going to be a lot more fun to keep stringing together these wins, too."
USI's home sweep has it in a four-way tie for fourth place in the conference. Everyone in the OVC has a loss already — more than half the league remains within two games of first place. But the Eagles also don't want to find complacency with another tough week looming.
Up next is a two-game road swing to Lindenwood (2-4 OVC) on Thursday before facing league-leading Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (5-1 OVC) next Saturday. If the Eagles plan to contend for the regular-season conference title, they'll need to turn a good few days into a winning streak.
"We've got two wins in a row, but we know how good of a team (Lindenwood) can be," Simmons said. "We've just got to come in locked in and ready to go throughout practice."
USI women blow double-digit lead, fall to UT-Martin
Rick Stein didn't mince words postgame. His team committed too many turnovers.
USI aims for no more than about a dozen cough-ups per game. But it committed 27 turnovers in Saturday's 63-60 loss to a short-handed UT-Martin team. The Skyhawks took care of business on the road, despite bringing in seven players and playing five. The Eagles, meanwhile, missed a major opportunity to improve their OVC standings as they dropped to 2-4 in the conference.
"It hurts," Stein said. "We led this game for 30 minutes. And when you lead the game for 30 minutes, you think that you're going to have a chance to win. UT Martin is a perennial in this league. We've proven that we can play with anybody in this league, but you've got to top it off and win games. We didn't make plays down the stretch."
Meredith Raley paced the Eagles in scoring (12) and rebounds (seven). Hannah Haithcock and Tori Handley added 10 points apiece while Ashlynn Brown and Soffia Rieckers combined for nine assists.
USI (8-9, 2-4) hadn't lost two games in a row at home since 2018-19. The Eagles head to Lindenwood (1-16, 0-6) on Thursday in search of their first road conference win.
Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on Twitter @Twashington490.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Back-to-back wins propel USI basketball in Ohio Valley Conference mix
