SIU returns home after an encouraging trip to St. Thomas to face the Braves of Alcorn State.
The Braves are playing a non-conference schedule entirely on the road. They started off their season with a West Coast trip and lost to Washington State, Seattle, Portland, and Gonzaga. The Gonzaga game was on Monday, November 15th and that's the last game they'll have played until this game so they'll be well-rested.
The Braves are coached by Landon Bussie in his 2nd year with the program. Bussie came over from fellow SWAC school Prairie View A&M where he was an assistant on Byron Smith's staff.
Meet the Braves:
Last season, the Braves went 6-13 overall and 6-7 in the SWAC. This season, Alcorn State was picked 7th of 12 in the SWAC preseason media poll. The Braves haven't made the NCAA Tournament since 2002 where they lost to Siena in the 16 seed play-in game.
What the Braves have done well so far this year is creating turnovers on the defensive end and not turning the ball over on the offensive end. Alcorn State is 34th best in the country in steal % on the offensive end (6.8%) and 81st in the country in steal % on the defensive end (11.4%). The Braves have been a very good free throw shooting team so far this season, they're 26th in the country in free throw % (79.7%).
Alcorn State is near the bottom in the country in 3 point field goals per field goal attempts (354th in the country) and just 18.1 % of their total points this year have come from behind the arc (351st in the country). They get 61.3% of their points from 2, good for 19th in the country. The Braves have been pretty good at defending the 3 this season (30.5% against from 3, 108th in the country) but haven't been able to guard the rim well (55.7% against from 2, 303rd in the country. Alcorn State has an average team height of 75.9', 319th in the country.
Alcorn State's leading scorer is 5'10 Sophomore guard Byron Joshua, averaging 9.8 points per game. In his Freshman season, Joshua averaged 6.9 points per game and started 5 games. He had one of his best games of the season last year against eventual champion Baylor where he scored 12 points and had 8 assists. So far this season, Joshua is averaging 3.3 assists per game and is 146th in the country in assist rate (28.2%).
6'0 Senior guard Justin Thomas has formed a nice duo with Joshua in terms of passing the ball as he's 141st in the country in assist rate (28.5%). Thomas was a 2 star recruit by 247 in the Class of 2016 and started his collegiate career at Northern Illinois and held offers from Drake & Western Illinois. Thomas spent two years at NIU before transferring to Morehead State. Last Summer, Thomas transferred to Alcorn State and he had a rough first season with the team shooting just 24% and averaging 3.8 points per game. His shot has improved this year to 35.3% from the field & he's been providing value elsewhere as he's 7th in the country in steal % (7.1%).
6'8 Senior Lenell Henry is from Morgan Park High School in Chicago and is one of the Braves leading rebounders. Henry started his collegiate career at Northern Arizona before transferring to Prairie View A&M where he became one of the better rebounders in the country. Last season, Henry was 109th in the country in offensive rebounding % and 299th in the country in defensive rebounding %. This offseason he transferred to Alcorn State and hasn't put up the same rebounding numbers yet, likely due to the competition they've played but he is 114th in the country in block % (7.0%).
The Braves best shooter so far this season has been 6'7 Sophomore Keondre Montgomery. Montgomery was a 3 star recruit by 247 out of Jackson, MS and committed to Mississippi State over offers from Auburn, Clemson, Murray State, and Ole Miss. He got 20 minutes total last season with Mississippi State and transferred to Alcorn State this offseason. So far this season Montgomery is averaging 8.8 points per game in 25.3 minutes per game and is 412th in the country in effective field goal% and 446th in the country in true shooting %. He's been the Braves best shooter from 3 as well going 6-15 (40%) good for 427th in the country.
KenPom:
KenPom has #128 SIU beating #328 Alcorn State 71-55 and gives SIU a 93% chance of winning
Links:
Alcorn State Game Notes
Ben Harvey Interview with Rodney Watson
Saluki Radio Flashback: 2006 Old Spice Classic SIU/Virginia Tech
Well, they will be the smallest team we have played, by far! They have had a very tough schedule and played Portland and Seattle very close on the road, so we better not take them lightly. Would love to see us win comfortably and be able to rest Jones, Domask and Verplancken more than we did in the VI. Would also like to see D'Amico get more minutes. Lastly, a Brown or Harvey sighting would be very nice!
Well, they will be the smallest team we have played, by far! They have had a very tough schedule and played Portland and Seattle very close on the road, so we better not take them lightly. Would love to see us win comfortably and be able to rest Jones, Domask and Verplancken more than we did in the VI. Would also like to see D'Amico get more minutes. Lastly, a Brown or Harvey sighting would be very nice!
Brown hopefully, it's going to be awhile before Harvey plays again...
March on triumphantly!
What exactly is wrong with Harvey ?
Word on the street is: complications from mono. Not to be taken lightly.
March on triumphantly!
What exactly is wrong with Harvey ?
Word on the street is: complications from mono. Not to be taken lightly.
I heard it had something to do with his spleen.
What exactly is wrong with Harvey ?
Word on the street is: complications from mono. Not to be taken lightly.
If he’s going to be out for extended time, it’s time to give Wonders some minutes and not worry about a redshirt.
What exactly is wrong with Harvey ?
Word on the street is: complications from mono. Not to be taken lightly.
I heard it had something to do with his spleen.
Well, yes. I was trying to be more discreet.
March on triumphantly!
What exactly is wrong with Harvey ?
Word on the street is: complications from mono. Not to be taken lightly.
I heard it had something to do with his spleen.
Well, yes. I was trying to be more discreet.
They just released an interview with him discussing it.
What I think this team is missing:
1. A true SF allowing Domask to play the 3
2. A healthy Trent Brown who is SIU's best defender and a big enough threat to score freeing up pressure on Domask and Jones.
I was hoping D'Amico could have been that guy for point 1 but he hasn't played a lot although he has looked good when he did.
I wouldn't mind seeing him get a start though and see a starting 5 of Filewich D'Amico Domask Brown and Jones with Muila, Coupet, Verplancken, Harvey, and Banks spelling them.
What exactly is wrong with Harvey ?
Word on the street is: complications from mono. Not to be taken lightly.
I heard it had something to do with his spleen.
Well, yes. I was trying to be more discreet.
They just released an interview with him discussing it.
Sounds like a medical redshirt to me. I don't see him coming back from this anytime soon. He should easily qualify, as he won't have played in any where near 30% of this seasons total games. We were giving him a hard time regarding his defense and effort, however with the disclosure of all he has been through and the lack of conditioning he has gotten, I think he definitely gets a pass. Really need Brown back soon! Someone mentioned removing the redshirt from Wonders, but if he isn't ready to play Saluki defense that redshirt is not coming off. A rotation of Muila, Domask, Coupet, Verplancken, Jones, Filewich, Banks, Brown, D'Amico and D'Avanzo should work fine. A 10 player rotation with more limited minutes for D'Avanzo and D'Amico. Right now a 9 man rotation with limited minutes for D'Amico and D'Avanzo is a little tight. Jones and Domask are playing too many minutes which will hurt us later on in the season.
I don't think we see Harvey again this season. SIU definitely needs Trent Brown back at 100% and needs increased minutes from Troy D'Amico.
--Insert something witty here--
What exactly is wrong with Harvey ?
Word on the street is: complications from mono. Not to be taken lightly.
I heard it had something to do with his spleen.
Well, yes. I was trying to be more discreet.
They just released an interview with him discussing it.
Kyle,
Didn't know about the interview and wasn't trying to be snarky. Thanks for the info.
March on triumphantly!
What exactly is wrong with Harvey ?
Word on the street is: complications from mono. Not to be taken lightly.
I heard it had something to do with his spleen.
Well, yes. I was trying to be more discreet.
They just released an interview with him discussing it.
Sounds like a medical redshirt to me. I don't see him coming back from this anytime soon. He should easily qualify, as he won't have played in any where near 30% of this seasons total games. We were giving him a hard time regarding his defense and effort, however with the disclosure of all he has been through and the lack of conditioning he has gotten, I think he definitely gets a pass. Really need Brown back soon! Someone mentioned removing the redshirt from Wonders, but if he isn't ready to play Saluki defense that redshirt is not coming off. A rotation of Muila, Domask, Coupet, Verplancken, Jones, Filewich, Banks, Brown, D'Amico and D'Avanzo should work fine. A 10 player rotation with more limited minutes for D'Avanzo and D'Amico. Right now a 9 man rotation with limited minutes for D'Amico and D'Avanzo is a little tight. Jones and Domask are playing too many minutes which will hurt us later on in the season.
Does the medical redshirt impact the extra COVID year he already got? Harvey already should be a Senior because he had to sit a year because of transferring.
Obviously his health is more important right now than basketball though
Good wishes and prayers for Mr. Harvey.
