CARBONDALE, Ill. – Coming off a trip to their highest-ranked opponent of the year, the Alcorn Braves (3-6) hit the road again this Saturday for a non-conference matchup at Southern Illinois (5-4) and their 10th straight road contest of the season. Rekindling the battle from last year's three-point difference in Carbondale, the Braves and Salukis are scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at SIU's Banterra Center. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and WPRL 91.7 FM Alcorn broadcaster Charles Edmond will be on the ground in Carbondale for the Braves radio broadcast.
THE GAME: Alcorn State Braves (3-6) at Southern Illinois Salukis (5-4)
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 10, at 7:00 p.m. CT
WHERE: Banterra Center (Carbondale, Ill.)
TICKETS: Southern Illinois Tickets
WATCH LIVE VIDEO: Streaming Broadcast on ESPN+ ($6.99/month or $69.99/year)
LIVE STATS: SIU Stats
LISTEN LIVE: WPRL 91.7 FM / Tunein.com
IN THE RANKINGS
Alcorn is not ranked in the latest Associated Press or USA TODAY Coaches Poll Top 25 poll. Southern Illinois is not ranked in either of the latest Associated Press and USA TODAY Coaches Top 25 poll. Neither team received any votes in these preseason polls.
Garnering two (2) No. 1 picks, Alcorn was chosen No. 2 in Preseason Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Predicted Order of Finish after winning the regular season SWAC Championship in 2021-22. Finishing sixth in the conference standings last season, Southern Illinois was predicted to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Preseason Poll.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Alcorn Men's Basketball this year by following the Braves' hoops social media platforms. You can follow
@BravesMBB on Instagram and
@Alcorn_St_MBB on Twitter.
SERIES VS. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
A repeat appearance following last year's 61-59 Southern Illinois victory in Carbondale, this is only the second meeting for these programs.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THESE TEAMS
ALCORN
Playing distinctly short-handed against an opponent whose talent exceeds its ranking, the Braves dropped a 94-50 Southeastern Conference (SEC) meeting at No. 13 Tennessee last Sunday. Only nine Braves saw the floor and Alcorn went to work without guard
Byron Joshua, guard
Dekedran Thorn and forward
Jeremiah Kendall – the top three stat leaders for Alcorn this season.
Playing in front of Alcorn's biggest opposing crowd this season (16,481), the Braves kept pace with the Vols in the early minutes, but UT's defensive ability created scoring run opportunities that resulted in near back-to-back 11-0 and 6-0 pushes. Breaking out of a drought for Alcorn, Mike Pajeud pulled up at the free throw line and a
Darryl Jordan layup created back-to-back scoring possessions, but that was the closest Alcorn would get as UT started to gain momentum. Despite all-around quality free throw shooting and
Dominic Brewton's offensive contributions down the stretch, the Vols outscored Alcorn 18-10 across the final seven minutes of the first half for a 49-22 margin at the break.
In the second half, the Vols were able to use their size and depth to run away with the game against a short-staffed Alcorn. Helped along by a 44-23 rebounding margin and 27 assists on the night, the Vols dictated the pace the rest of the way to a 94-40 win.
Brewton led all Alcorn scorers with 10 points for his seventh double-figure game of the year.
Dontrell McQuarter and
Devin Carter also added in seven points apiece.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Sealing an MVC Newcomer of the Week nod, guard Xavier Johnson shot 13-of-16 over the past two games and went 6-of-9 for 13 points with three rebounds and four assists in SIU's 74-71 home loss to Indiana State on Wednesday – their second conference outing of the early season.
The Salukis fell behind the Sycamores by a 14-point margin late in the first half after a yo-yo deficit continued in the Sycamores' favor throughout the opening period. However, after the break, Southern Illinois went to immediate work erasing the USI lead, knocking it down to a single possession near the 12-minute mark, finally tying the game and then pulling ahead with 8:54 on the clock to cap off a 17-4 SIU run. After the storming rally by the Salukis, Indiana State responded by scoring the next five points, and never again relinquished the lead, outscoring SIU 18-13 in the final eight minutes to claim the 74-71 win at the Banterra Center.
Leading the team ahead of Johnson's 13, Marcus Domask scored 16 points and Foster Wonders added 11 to round out three Salukis in double figures. Troy D'Amico and Lance Jones both paced SIU with six boards apiece.
Led by Cameron Henry with 15 points, USI commanded the paint with 46 points scored around the basket.
On the season, the Salukis are averaging 66.8 ppg as a team, but have given up some points while holding only a 3.8 ppg scoring margin. Sharpshooters abound, SIU is hitting .460 from the field with a 79th-ranked (third MVC) Effective FG percentage at .541, but rank 207th on defense while allowing .432 opponent shooting. The Salukis are strong perimeter defenders with an 18th NCAA ranking beyond the arc, holding opposition to just 26.7 percent from three.
Led by MVC-leading (18th in the nation) Lance Jones' 20 steals, (2.22 spg) SIU registers 8.7 steals per outing and comes in at 87th in the NCAA and third in the MVC on steals per game.
LAST SEASON FOR THESE TEAMS
Alcorn completed the 2021-22 season as the SWAC Regular Season Champion with a 17-17 overall record and 14-4 SWAC mark, reaching the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) for the third time (previously 1979 & 1985). Southern Illinois ranked sixth in the MVC and notched a 16-15 overall and 9-9 conference record. The Salukis ended their season with an opening-round loss to Drake in the MVC Tournament.
Alcorn Head Coach
Landon Bussie is in his third season and has a record of 26-36 with the Braves (26-36 career). Southern Illinois Head Coach Bryan Mullins is in his fourth season leading the Salukis and has a record of 49-49 in his first career head coaching role.
KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR THESE TEAMS
ALCORN
Soph. Guard
Byron Joshua: 11.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.6 spg, .378 FG%, .346 3FG%
Soph. Guard
Dominic Brewton: 11.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.0 apg, .361 FG%
Jr. Forward
Dekedran Thorn: 7.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 12 3pt FG
Grad Guard
Trevin Wade: 6.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.8 spg, .356 FG%
Jr. Forward
Jeremiah Kendall: 6.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg
- Byron Joshua (11.6 ppg) and Dominic Brewton (11.4 ppg) are the top scorers for the Braves, accounting for three of the top four scoring performances; Joshua – 30 vs. Grand Canyon (11/29), Brewton; 17 vs. UTEP (11/22) and 16 vs. CSU Bakersfield (11/25).
- Jeremiah Kendall leads Alcorn on the glass, coming away with 5.8 rpg, reinforced by 28 offensive boards through eight games to produce a 3.5 offensive rpg average that leads the SWAC and ranks 27th nationally. His effort leads the way for Alcorn to rank 36th in the NCAA (3rd SWAC) with 13.00 offensive rpg as a team.
- He collected a team and individual season high of 10 rebounds at Arizona State (11/27). His career high of 12 was earned vs. Mississippi Valley State last year (1/8)
- Alcorn leans into their depth heavily with 15 players seeing time this year, and ranks third in the SWAC and 95th in the NCAA with an average of 24.89 bench points per game.
- The Braves have met some serious long-range shooters in contests at Stephen F. Austin (39%, 1st WAC, 29th NCAA), Grand Canyon (33.6%, 74th-ranked 8.7 3FG/game) and No. 13 Tennessee (101st-ranked 8.4 3FG/game). Despite the tough opposition, Alcorn ranks 77th nationally in Three Point Percentage Defense, keeping foes down to 29.9 percent from the perimeter.
- Alcorn's 13.2 made free throws per game ranks second in the SWAC and 135th in the NCAA.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Sr. Forward Marcus Domask: 17.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.0 spg, 14 3FG, .486 FG%
Sr. Guard Lance Jones: 11.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.2 spg, 15 3FG, .349 FG%
Sr. Guard Xavier Johnson: 7.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.6 spg, .532 FG%
Soph. Forward Clarence Rupert: 6.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg, .694 FG%
HOME, HOME ON THE ROAD
The Alcorn Braves have yet to see a home game in the 2022-23 season, and they won't again until the start of 2023, with the first contest in the Davey L. Whitney Complex set for the SWAC opener against Jackson State on Jan 2.
In the meantime, the Braves opened up on their lone in-state competition to date at Ole Miss, traveling to meet Wichita State in Kansas five days later, and then making a quick turnaround to Nacogdoches, Texas to face Stephen F. Austin. With less than a week at home, the road next landed them in El Paso, where they scrapped out three games against UTEP, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and CSU Bakersfield in four days, with Thanksgiving wedged in between. Immediately after closing the Jim Forbes Classic, it was off to Arizona with another date against Arizona in two days' time; then on to Phoenix for Grand Canyon just two days later.
Following last week's trip to Knoxville, the Braves have tracked across over 5,500 miles (that's more than a trip-and-a-half across the continental United States), with this being the tenth game in the 33 days since the beginning of the 2022-23 season.
TOUGH OPPOSITION
Regardless of the rigors of the road, the selection of opponents for the 2022-23 Braves present their own challenge, as Alcorn faces the 19th overall strength of schedule and 16th-ranked non-conference strength of schedule according to the latest Warren Nolan rankings.
UPSETTING THE ORDER
The Braves drew attention right out of the gate with their aggressive style of defense, and immediately gave Ole Miss a run for it. At their next stop in Wichita State's Charles Koch Arena, the Braves took the next step and outscored the Shockers by 12 in the second half to knock off their American Athletic Conference opposition. Down to Texas and Alcorn led for 27 minutes to take the road victory over Stephen F. Austin – opening the year at 2-1 for the first time since the 2013-14 season. Alcorn put everything they had into taking UTEP to double overtime, but the Miners came out ahead. Facing off with the Pac-12's Sun Devils on a short turnaround, the Braves led late into the opening half, but couldn't sustain it. And finally, Alcorn showed the fortitude to nearly make one of the biggest NCAA comebacks at Grand Canyon (rallying from 30-down), tying the game late but running out of steam after fighting their way back for over 20 minutes.
Braves Notable News
Defending 2021-22 Achievements
The Alcorn Braves earned the SWAC Regular Season Championship for the first time since 2002 (17 total regular season titles) after notching a 14-4 league record, earning the top spot in the conference tournament seeding. The Braves were bumped out of the field by the eventual winner in the final, two-time champion Texas Southern. For their efforts on the year, Head Coach
Landon Bussie was named SWAC Coach of the Year in just his second season with the squad after turning around a 6-13 team from his first season. In year two, the Braves stared down losses in 11 of the first 12 games, but rebounded to finish 17-17 on the year. Prior to taking the ASU helm, Bussie served six seasons at Prairie View A&M serving as an assistant coach. After the 2021-22 season, Bussie was selected to coach in the inaugural HBCU All-Star Game during Final Four week in New Orleans.
Alcorn is Invested in Program Consistency
Alcorn Athletics announced on Oct. 27 that President Felecia M. Nave and Director of Athletics Raynoid Dedeaux have completed an agreement for a contract extension of Head Coach
Landon Bussie beyond his current deal and through 2026.
"This shows the commitment they've made to me and the men's basketball program. Hopefully, we can continue to have success in leading the program, and we can make all our administration, student-athletes and alumni proud of the work we do here each and every day. I'm excited about where we're going, and I'm happy to be a Brave," Bussie said.
Expertise Added to Coaching Staff
During the months leading up to the 2022-23 preseason, Bussie and the Alcorn Braves fortified their coaching staff with the announced hires of two coaches in August 2022.
The program first announced assistant coach Ben Mandelbaum was joining Alcorn after serving the previous two seasons as the associate head coach for the men's basketball program at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. Mandelbaum spent two seasons at Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, Florida.
Just one week later, ASU raised the bar higher with the announcement of adding veteran coach Cyrus "Cy" Alexander to the staff. A former head coach with 391 career wins across 26 years leading notable HBCU programs such as North Carolina A&T, South Carolina State and Tennessee State. Some of Alexander's distinctions include, but are not limited to, MEAC Coach of the Year and Palmetto State Coach of the Year. He has also been named to the Catawba and South Carolina State Hall of Fames, respectively. In 1996, he was named
American Sports Wire National Coach of the Year.
CATCH THE BRAVES LIVE AT THE WHITNEY IN 2022-23
Season Tickets for the 2022-23 Alcorn men's and women's basketball teams at the Davey L. Whitney Health and Physical Education Complex are now available for purchase at
https://alcornsports.myimpacttickets.com/basketball. Season tickets for the home SWAC competitions are $76.25, while single-game admission is $12.65 in advance.
UP NEXT
The Braves still have three more games before the New Year and the same count before they take the floor for the first time at home. Next week will be a busy one with travel to Seattle (Dec. 18) and then across to Dayton (Dec. 20). After the holidays, the Braves will head back out to Minnesota (Dec. 29) to close out 2022. The first opportunity to catch the Braves in the Davey L. Whitney Complex is Jan. 2 in the SWAC opener vs. Jackson State.
Follow Alcorn State Men's Basketball on Twitter (
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