CARBONDALE, Ill. – Indiana State men's basketball suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in the 2023-24 season with a loss at Southern Illinois on Saturday, 74-69. ISU fell to 22-5 and 13-3 in the Missouri Valley.
 
Robbie Avila led the offense with a game-high 30 points on 12-for-18 shooting from the floor, knocking down a trio of three-pointers. He grabbed six rebounds, recorded two assists, and swatted two shots. Ryan Conwell scored 16 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, and secured five rebounds. Jake Wolfe recorded a team-high seven rebounds, while Julian Larry finished with a team-high five assists, chipping in five rebounds. Other scorers include Larry with seven, Isaiah Swope with six, and Wolfe and Xavier Bledson each with five.
 
Two key factors contributed to the Sycamores' fifth loss of the season: turnovers and shooting. Indiana State committed 16 turnovers in 69 possessions (23.19%) leading to 14 Saluki points. SIU recorded 10 steals, only the fourth time this season an opponent has recorded 10 or more, and the highest total is 11 in two separate games.
 
The three ball wasn't finding its way into the basket, as Indiana State shot 28.0% from beyond the arc but 44.2% from the field. ISU did continue its success scoring inside the arc, making 16-of-27 two-pointers (59.26%) in Saturday's game. Despite the lower numbers from three, ISU is shooting 65.48% inside the three-point line in the last six games.
 
Avila started off the game strong for Indiana State, scoring seven of ISU's first nine points. With the score 13-7 in ISU's favor early on, Avila had nine of ISU's 13, outscoring the Salukis by himself. Indiana State then built to a nine-point, 18-9 lead just over 11 minutes into the ballgame.
 
The Sycamores compiled a 7-0 run off two layups by Bledson and Avila and four made free throws also from Bledson and Avila. SIU cut into the lead by could never get less than a five-point deficit, which was only once with 57 left in the half. Wolfe drilled a corner-triple to give ISU 37-29 led with 19 seconds left in the half, but SIU made a buzzer-beating tip-in at their basket off an out-of-bounds play, making the halftime score 37-31 in favor of Indiana State.
 
The first basket of the second half went to Indiana State, courtesy of a Conwell Jumper at the 19:06 mark, but the Salukis used the next five minutes to battle back and take its first lead of the game with 14:26 to play, 44-43. The score continued to flip with neither team giving up a big lead – from the 15:51 mark in the second half through the end of the game, the lead was never more than five.
 
Just inside five minutes to play, the Salukis knocked down a three to go up by four, only for Larry to respond with a triple of his own to bring the SIU lead down to 63-62. ISU used a short 5-0 run from 3:40 to 2:01 to claim the lead 67-65, but another Saluki triple a 1:30 gave them the lead. Conwell made a layup at the 1:15 mark to again flip the lead in favor of the Sycamores, 69-68, and those would be the last two points by the Sycamores as SIU scored a layup and converted four free throws to give SIU the 74-69 victory.
 
News & Notes

• Indiana State is still top the MVC heading into Sunday's games. With a Drake win on Sunday, both teams would be 13-3 in the MVC.
• Robbie Avila scored a career-high with his 30-point effort, knocking out his old record of 27 points (set twice – Rice, Valparaiso). Avila hitting the 30-point mark is only the second time this season an ISU player scored more than 30, and it was only the seventh time a player has scored 30+ in the Coach Schertz era.
• Jake Wolfe grabbed a career high with his seven rebounds. It's also Wolfe's first time leading the Sycamores in the category.
• Indiana State continued its free throw efficiency, recording its sixth game out of the last eight shooting 80%+ from the line as a team.
• ISU's 16 turnovers are the highest in nine games since finishing with 16 in the win against Murray State (January 21).

Postgame Radio Interview Presented by Dorsett Automotive with Joey O'Rourke


Up Next
Indiana State makes a trip to northern Indiana to visit Valparaiso on Wednesday. The game will tip at 8 p.m. ET.
 
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