Recapping SIUE's 70-56 exhibition win over Blackburn

Last night, the Cougars came away with a 14 point victory over Division III Blackburn College at the Vadalabene Center in their exhibition opener. There is still a lot of work to be done with this young team, but what we saw last night was very promising.

Okay, we won by 14 points against a school we have beaten by 50 in previous years. In this case, I don't think the score was indicative of the positives we saw. SIUE shot 42 percent from the field, which is very good, especially given they started the game 1-11. There were nerves amongst some of the younger guys, and we have grown to expect and accept that. Once SIUE got rolling we saw exactly what I wrote about in the preview story. This group is much more athletic than in years past and you can see the chemistry on the court. The business-like approach to the game is gone, and once they were rolling they looked to be having fun out there, which is very good to see. Once SIUE got it together their shooting percentage was not the only thing we saw increase. They rebounded much better, collecting 48 boards, out-rebounding the Beavers by 10. At halftime, we were even at 23. Blackburn was gassed by the much more physical, athletic Cougars, so I don't know how much we can buy into the stats as far as what this team will look like in a couple weeks.

 SIUE did, however average just 30 rebounds a game last season, so 48 is a welcome change. They distributed the ball well. 19 assists, compared to just 8 for Blackburn. Kevin Stineman and Jerome Jones, who we will talk about in a moment each had five.

Let's talk about the guys who played. Jerome Jones. What else is there to say? The JUCO transfer and former Missouri State Bear recruit turned the most heads last night, scoring 21 points and collecting 12 rebounds for a double-double. Five more assists, and we are talking about a triple-double. He was the best player on the floor and played well enough to merit a position in the starting five. I was expecting him to be good, but not great. He was great.

Derian Shaffer scored 18 points playing as the Cougar's primary center. This was a point of concern going into the season without Nikola Bundalo. Worry eliminated. Shaffer is a strong, athletic center and will thrive in this league. You can't burry opponents inside, because he lacks the height, and we did see him blocked on several occasions, but we will be fine there.

Kris Davis, given a few more years to mature will be an excellent point guard. He likely won't start this year, but he is fast, poised, shoots well and most of all has a very high basketball IQ. He scored nine points, which was nice, but he has to shoot better at the free-throw line, because he lacked some touch, going just 5-11 there. That worries me, especially when we get into some of the more hostile environments.

 I can't really form an opinion on Michael Birts and Charles Joy, as each scored four points, but no obvious flaws stood out to me. Both are big and strong and should fit in nicely with this team.

Corey Wickware didn't do too much, but this game wasn't about him and we know he will show up. He played a smart game, and the stats don't indicate it. The same goes with Kevin Stineman, who is not a big-time scorer, he is more of a distributer and sets the tempo of the offense. He has been in the system for a while and knows what he is doing. I like that about Kevin and don't need to see him put up a ton of points. That is not what makes Kevin successful.

David Boarden is a good team leader, but has probably fallen behind most of the team considerably in what he brings to the table. That's okay, because that means as a team the Cougars are growing. Kyle Heck and Reggie Reed are both end of the bench type guys, so no positives or negatives in anything they do, because it is kind of moot to the overall success of this team.

The little things:

SIUE was 4-17 from "Three for the E" land last night, and I like this stat. I don't remember exactly what it was last year, but the Cougars at times just threw the ball up from there, sometimes taking 30, 35 threes. That is sloppy basketball. I think 17 is a very good number, and they should continue to work less from the perimeter and more inside.

SIUE had 32 points in the paint, more than I can remember them having in a long time.

The height advantage, while Shaffer looked really good could pose some problems. Blackburn blocked five shots and made the Cougars at times look foolish. SIUE's 14 second-chance points are a testament though to an improved game on the glass, or so we hope.

When the Cougars get out of system, they get sloppy. They had 12 turnovers, many coming in transition. With the set offense in place, they did execute.

SIUE had 10 steals. Stineman had four.

Other things to note:

Attendance was 1,380. For an exhibition game at SIU Edwardsville, I will take that any day. If the team wins, they will average 3,000 or so in the regular season, which we all would like to see.

LeShaun Murphy has been granted his transfer request at the end of the semester by coach Forrester. Murphy has some family issues to deal with in Texas, and felt it would be best to head closer to home to finish school. Murphy will not play basketball at his next college, and was in uniform supporting his teammates Thursday night. Best of luck to Agent Zero, we loved your electrifying dunks. A lot.

Zeke Schneider was dressed in a shirt and tie and missed the game because of off-the-court issues. Treat it as a short suspension at this point.

Mark Yelovich should receive clearance by his doctor to resume all basketball activities today and will play next Thursday against MacMurray.

Projected starting lineup: Shaffer, Jones, Yelovich, Messer, Wickware. 6th man: Stineman, followed by a very deep bench.
As always, the comment line is open.

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