'Self-inflicted wounds' cost Southern Indiana men's basketball in loss to Morehead State
One second remained in the first half, with the University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team leading by three points. Morehead State got a steal and called a timeout in order to run the final play.
The Screaming Eagles needed a stop with just a moment remaining before the break. The goal was simple: Protect a three-point lead as the hosts inbound from in front of their own bench on the opposite end of the floor.
In the first meeting between the programs, Drew Thelwell said his prayers. His Hail Mary pass found Alex Gross and his hook shot fell in just before the buzzer sounded. That cut USI’s lead to one point, but the tone for the rest of the evening was set.
Last games: Why USI basketball believes it needs to be tougher after losing to Eastern Illinois
USI lost 82-80 in Morehead, Kentucky, dropping its second Ohio Valley Conference game in a row as its first league road win remains elusive.
“It boiled down to us just defending at a high level. We did that in the first half,” USI coach Stan Gouard said during his postgame radio interview. “The second half, when our guys are not in front of our bench, they’re forced to talk more and (it) wasn’t very good.”
Thursday represents a missed opportunity for USI. The Eagles were up by as many as 10 points. Let's run through the main reasons USI’s suffered another early OVC loss:
‘Self-inflicted wounds’
There was a stretch in the second half when neither USI nor Morehead State could miss. USI hit four consecutive field goals, while MSU hit five in a row in front of the sparsely populated Johnson Arena.
Then the 11-minute media timeout was whistled, and only one team returned from the break.
MSU went on a 7-0 run in 49 seconds, and that ballooned into an 11-1 run with USI failing to score for a two-minute stretch. Those runs forced Gouard into a timeout. By then, the Eagles trailed by 13 points, which proved to be insurmountable. Although USI went on a run to make it close again, it was too late.
“Self-inflicted wounds,” Gouard said. “We have to have a little more poise down the stretch. Those guys just out-executed us.”
‘Needed some other guys to join’
Isaiah Swope had another impressive performance, finishing with a game-high 25 points. Unfortunately for USI, he was the only player side with more than 10 points midway through the second half.
Swope eventually fouled out, which forced others to step into the scoring role. Trevor Lakes finished with 11 points while both Jeremiah Henandez and Jacob Polakovich added 10.
Polakovich posted another double-double, but Gouard said USI didn’t do a good enough job of getting him touches.
“(Swope) was feeling pretty good, especially when he was dribbling the ball and got to his sweet spots. Didn’t force very much,” Gouard said. “We just needed some other guys to join him on the offensive end.
Morehead State had four players in double figures, with Mark Freeman and Jake Wolfe scoring 24 and 22, respectively. Gross added 13 and Thelwell 11.
“(It was) miscommunication on defense,” Gouard said. “Any time you leave any college ball player open, he’ll knock them down. There was too many miscues on the defense.”
USI women also fall to Morehead State
The Screaming Eagles fell 64-61 to Morehead State. Similarly to the later game, USI had a 10-point lead in the first quarter but lost it due to the hosts making timely shots and going on runs.
USI brought the game to within one point in the final minute, but the Eagles hit their free throws to hold on to their late lead. Like the loss to Eastern Illinois, the Eagles had 25 turnovers that led to Morehead State scoring 28 points.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: 'Self-inflicted wounds' cost USI basketball against Morehead State
