Reserve guard Davion Sykes’ layup with 4.1 seconds left lifted No. 8 seeded Southern Illinois to an 86-85 victory past No. 9 seed Indiana State in the opening round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center Thursday.
The Salukis, avenging a 95-77 loss at Indiana State Sunday, improved to 14-18 overall while advancing to Friday’s noon quarterfinal game against top-seeded Drake.
There were 15 lead changes and 11 ties in the game before Sykes’ heroics. Indiana State’s K’mani Doughty missed a half-court heave with 1.2 seconds remaining.
A layup by Samage Teel gave Indiana State an 85-84 edge with 1:09 left. After a traveling violation on Jarrett Hensley with 49.6 seconds left, the Sycamores missed an opportunity to extend their lead, but Jaden Daughtry misfired on a three-point shot with 28 seconds left.
Guard Ali Dibba led the Salukis with a game-high 30 points, while tying his season-high with nine rebounds. His scoring effort was the first 30-point effort by any player in the MVC Tournament since a trio of players went for at least 30 in the UNI-Bradley quarterfinal game March 3, 2023.
Sophomore forward Kennard Davis, Jr. finished with 22 points, five assists and five rebounds for Southern Illinois. Hensley, held to three points last Sunday against Indiana State, scored 10 points.
Southern Illinois shot 58.1 percent in the first half, enjoying a 47-43 lead with Dibba scoring the team’s last four points. Southern Illinois picked up where it left off to end the first half, by making nine of its first 10 shots to open the second period, extending its lead to 64-51 following a dunk by Sykes.
Five players scored in double figures for Indiana State. Graduate guard Aaron Gray led Indiana State with a career-high 27 points, including 18 in the first half to match his 18-point output against Salukis last Sunday. He had a team-high eight rebounds. Camp Wagner added 11 points. Indiana State first-team all-MVC guard Samage Teel, who had 20 points in the previous game against Southern Illinois, had 10 points and a game-high seven assists.
The Sycamores closed out the season with a 14-18 record under first-year coach Matthew Graves.
