USI men's basketball survives a scare from Eastern Illinois to remain tied for first place
EVANSVILLE — Aaaaaaaaaand breathe.
Despite being outscored by 12 points in the second half and leading by as many as 20 in the first, the University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team survived a scare against Eastern Illinois. Once again, Isaiah Swope was the savior, scoring a step-back 3-pointer to ice the 78-74 win for the Screaming Eagles.
It wasn’t Swope’s best game, finishing with 10 points on 4-11 shooting. But in the clutch? He’s your guy.
“(It’s) just a lot of practice. My teammates believe in me,” Swope said. “It gives me an extra boost in confidence throughout practice and each and every night to go out there and do it.”
“5 a.m. work,” Tyler Henry, who scored his 1,000th career point in the win, said while Swope was being interviewed.
What was a promising start for USI quickly changed after halftime — “we always struggle with something every game,” coach Stan Gouard said. The Eagles led by 15 points at the break, but former University of Evansville coach Marty Simmons’ Panthers slowly chipped away at the deficit.
The first half was one of USI’s best offensive showings of the season. Jelani Simmons had 20 points before the buzzer sounded. Jacob Polakovich notched a first-half double-double. Everything went to plan.
The second? Well… not so much.
“We were flat. We walked the ball up the court a lot; we allowed those guys to walk the ball up the court and score late,” Gouard said. “We gotta be able to sustain the same type of pressure we put on those guys in the first half.”
Last game: USI men's basketball enters tie for first place in OVC as winning streak hits four
Polakovich had his second 20-and-20 outing of the season and his fourth with 20 or more rebounds. Prior to the game, he texted teammate Jack Campion, who was absent due to his father’s passing. Polakovich said he was playing for Campion's father.
“For me to go out there and do what I did tonight and have another big game,” Polakovich said, “I think that shows that he’s up there with us.”
The Eagles (13-9, 6-3 Ohio Valley Conference) remain atop the league standings. With Tennessee-Martin’s win over Lindenwood, USI’s trip on Saturday to the Volunteer State will feature two teams tied for first place. Morehead State, Tennessee Tech and Southeast Missouri State are also locked together atop the league’s summit, one game ahead of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
As for Simmons, who received a warm welcome from the crowd prior to tipoff, and the Panthers (7-15, 3-6), they are one game above Lindenwood and Little Rock for the final conference tournament spot.
Saturday’s conference-topping clash comes at an opportune time for the Eagles. USI has won five games in a row, four of which have been by double figures. It’s been a dominant stretch for the Eagles, with Thursday’s win no different. Eastern Illinois never led.
All of that — paired with USI’s previous win over UT-Martin — and confidence and momentum are building for the Eagles.
“It’s gonna be a battle,” Polakovich said. “We guarded (UT-Martin) last time and that really set us up to win at the end. If we can put two halves of defense together at their place, we’re gonna be in a position to win every single game.
“They’re a great team, they can score the ball, they’ve got one of the best offenses in the league — but they gotta guard us too.”
As Gouard implied, USI will go over what went wrong and said the Eagles would do one thing extensively before getting on the bus Friday: Practice free throws.
USI shot 46% from the charity stripe Thursday — “we shot better from 3 than we did from the free-throw line,” Gouard said. The Eagles also finished 50% from deep. That continued concern has been present throughout the season and is largely the reason Simmons and Co. made it a game in the later stages.
“(Simmons) is a great Xs-and-Os guy,” Gouard said, “and he just picked us apart.”
All of the focus — on free throws, guarding, ball screens, everything — shifts to Saturday. The Eagles’ five-game winning streak has them in position to stay afloat as the pack at the top inevitably begins to thin, with two of their next three games against teams tied for first.
“To be here and prove a lot of people that thought we wouldn’t have a chance wrong is a great feeling,” Polakovich said. “We gotta lot more work to do but I think we’re willing to do it and I think we’re going to surprise a lot more people this season.”
Despite the second-half concerns, which Polakovich took “on the chest” as a captain, USI snuck out of Screaming Eagles Arena with the victory, celebrating with the 2,136 fans in attendance. Despite the defensive lapses and offensive disappearance, the Eagles are still tied for first place.
Above all, as the cliche goes, a win is a win — even if it requires a long exhale afterward.
USI women fall in overtime to Eastern Illinois
When Vanessa Shafford scored on a chucked 3-pointer as the shot-clock expired, it appeared the USI women’s basketball team was on its way to a signature win. That score helped the Eagles to eventually take a lead over the OVC-leading Eastern Illinois team that came into town unbeaten in league play with an eight-game winning streak.
Yet, mistakes cost USI down the stretch.
After leading by as many as six in the fourth quarter, the Eagles fell 67-62 to the Panthers in overtime.
“It was a heck of a college basketball game,” coach Rick Stein said. “We had the ball in our hands with the chance to win it, and you have to give (EIU) credit — there’s a reason they haven’t lost a game yet — they’re good. They made a couple more plays than us.”
Again, turnovers were costly for USI (9-11, 3-6). The Eagles conceded possession 20 times Thursday, which led to 24 Eastern Illinois points.
“It’s been a problem of ours throughout the year,” Stein said. “We want to limit turnovers. We’ve been talking about and battling all year.”
Despite the loss, the Eagles have something to build on going forward. Taking the league’s top team to overtime shows they can compete, and with Shafford’s career-high 24 points, USI seems to be moving in the right direction.
“It all goes back to (the) team,” Shafford said. “It goes back to them. I can’t take all the credit.”
The Eagles are tied with Morehead State for seventh place in the OVC, meaning at this point they'd qualify for the conference tournament. Following the tight loss to Eastern Illinois (17-3, 9-0), USI seemed fixated on forcing a rematch at Ford Center in March ahead of the trip to UT-Martin.
“We want to play them again. We want another fight against them,” Shafford said. “We gotta take care of business Saturday and the games moving forward in order to get that opportunity.”
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: USI men's basketball tied for first in OVC after Eastern Illinois win
