Recapping SIUE's 69-55 exhibition win over MacMurray

No, the Highlanders did not get the "Best" of the Cougars Thursday night, but they didn't get their best effort either. There are just as many questions about this team today as there were last week, also following a 14-point exhibition win against Blackburn. The Cougar's practice run against a pair of teams from the SLIAC gave us an opportunity to gauge what we can expect from them when these games actually count. Truthfully, I don't have much resolve heading into Monday's trip to Champaign, but I have seen things I like, things I dislike and things I have learned to accept. During neither of these games, none of which were blowout victories did I think the Cougars were in trouble. I never felt dissapointed or let down by a 14 point victory, although last night was probably more frustrating than the opener, given SIUE had a few chances to blow this thing wide open. We will take the win. Morehead State would have liked to have gone 2-0 in their exhibitions after all. They did not, and they were in the NCAA tournament last year. Butler lost to a school nobody heard of last week as well. Take them for what they are worth. Two similar games against two similar opponents and two very similar final scores. Both were victories.



I think this just about sums up how sloppy this game was. It featured a lot of action in transition, bodies were flying all over the floor, balls were going out of bounds when they probably shouldn't have and neither team could hold onto the ball, let alone put together a substantial run. SIUE turned the ball over 18 times, which is about nine too many. The Cougars did force 24 turnovers against an undersized and overmatched opponent, but that really isn't what matters here. You can take the 24 turnovers forced with a grain of salt, because more disciplined teams are going to be more disciplined (obviously) and MacMurray is not one of those teams. Kudos to Reggie Reed for scoring five of his six points during this two minute video.

Before we get into the positives we have to talk negatives, because those are the things that will be exploited beginning Monday. The turnovers were huge, but I think one of the biggest problems we saw was the team's inability to get out to a fast start at home against a Division III school. There are still nerves, I get that. The Cougars fell behind 7-3 early. They were behind to Blackburn 18-6 and 8-0. Neither time was anyone really panicking and neither time did the opposition get so confident to where they couldn't miss and turned into an unstoppable force. Look back to last year. Indiana was up 24-0 on us. Those are the things you cannot simulate in practice and have to take on a game-by-game basis. I can't stress the importance of starting fast.

Defense could have been a bit better, especially in transition. A lot of open space on the court for MacMurray to get easy baskets. Nothing horrible and nothing that cannot get tightened up.

That's all I have negative, and we only won by 14.

Mark Yelovich returned from his foot injury and his impact was felt immediately. Yelovich scored 17 points including SIUE's first seven and had seven rebounds. After the game he talked about how well the foot held up and said it was good to get back in there, although he did not feel like he was as dominant as he could have been. He said it will come in time. If 17 points and seven boards for No. 33 is an off-night, I can't wait. Full quotes in the Alestle game story soon. MacMurray was beating the hell out of Mark. He was leading on a lot of fast breaks caused by turnovers, which resulted in him getting pounded on his way to the basket. Mark was on the floor two or three times and each time I was crossing my fingers. Hopefully he is 100 percent so this is not an issue. He has bulked up considerably in the off-season, was dominant when he had the opportunity to grab a rebound and was 8-12 at the free throw line.

Jerome Jones posted his second consecutive double-double, 23 points and 14 rebounds. On paper, he isn't a five, but I have no doubt he can do it. He was dominate again, safe for a little trouble getting going early on.

Corey Wickware scored 11, a good game despite going 1-5 from 3-point distance. Nice to see him score after he was used in a different role last week. Derian Shaffer just had a bad night and Kris Davis has some freshman kinks to work out still, but he bleeds potential.

SIUE shot 40 percent (a little low) and had 39 rebounds (a little low considering the opponent) but did a good job getting to the free-throw line (20-29).

We will take a win.

Lennox Forrester did not disclose why Charles Joy missed the game, but he should be back for Illinois. Michael Messer has a brace on his wrist, but won't be out much longer.

This ends my sneaky post from my internship desk. Comments are much appreciated. I'll take a look at Illinois Sunday and be on the road to Champaign Monday, have a recap probably late that night or early Tuesday and do it all over again Wednesday with a preview of ISU and a road trip to BloNo to follow. There will be live chats for both games.

Posted in: Archives