Evansville Purple Aces at Southern Illinois Salukis
· NCAA Men's Basketball
63 - 65
S Illinois holds off Evansville 65-63
Evansville led 46-45 on Blake Simmons' layup with 9:31 to go, then by 53-49 on Ryan Taylor's 3-pointer. Tyler Smithpeters' 3 put SIU back on top 56-55 but the Purple Aces pulled ahead 63-62 on Marty Hill's free throw with 49 seconds left. Fletcher hit two from the line, Sean Lloyd Jr. added another, and Evansville's Dru Smith missed a 3 at the buzzer.
Smithpeters scored 13 points and Lloyd added 12 for the Salukis (10-6, 2-1 Missouri Valley Conference), who made eight 3-pointers and outscored Evansville 13-6 from the free-throw line.
SIU led 32-29 at halftime after both teams shot 50 percent from the field, but the Salukis were 5 of 7 from beyond the arc to Evansville's 1 of 7.
Taylor scored 21 points, Simmons added 13, and Smith and K.J. Riley had 10 apiece for Evansville (10-6, 0-3).
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Recent Plays
| 2nd 0:00 | End of 2nd half | 63 - 65 |
| 2nd 0:00 | Southern Illinois Defensive Rebound. | 63 - 65 |
| 2nd 0:00 | Dru Smith missed Three Point Jumper. | 63 - 65 |
| 2nd 0:04 | Southern Illinois Timeout | 63 - 65 |
| 2nd 0:04 | Sean Lloyd Jr. made Free Throw. | 63 - 65 |
Statistics
 EVAN |
 SIU |
|
|---|---|---|
| 27-52 | FG | 22-44 |
| 52 | Field Goal % | 50 |
| 3-11 | 3PT | 8-17 |
| 27 | Three Point % | 47 |
| 6-9 | FT | 13-20 |
| 67 | Free Throw % | 65 |
| 28 | Rebounds | 24 |
| 10 | Offensive Rebounds | 8 |
| 18 | Defensive Rebounds | 16 |
| 12 | Assists | 13 |
| 10 | Steals | 10 |
| 2 | Blocks | 2 |
| 18 | Turnovers | 18 |
| 2 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 18 | Total Turnovers | 18 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 22 | Points Off Turnovers | 16 |
| 6 | Fast Break Points | 2 |
| 28 | Points in Paint | 24 |
| 19 | Fouls | 15 |
| 7 | Largest Lead | 6 |
Game Information
Location: Carbondale, IL
Attendance: 4,622 | Capacity:
2025-26 Missouri Valley Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont | 16-4 | - | 26-6 |
| Bradley | 13-7 | 3 | 21-13 |
| Illinois State | 12-8 | 4 | 23-13 |
| Murray State | 12-8 | 4 | 20-13 |
| UIC | 12-8 | 4 | 19-16 |
| Northern Iowa | 11-9 | 5 | 23-13 |
| Valparaiso | 11-9 | 5 | 18-15 |
| Southern Illinois | 10-10 | 6 | 16-16 |
| Drake | 6-14 | 10 | 14-20 |
| Indiana State | 4-16 | 12 | 11-21 |
| Evansville | 3-17 | 13 | 7-25 |