CARBONDALE, Ill. – Little Rock fell behind early in the season opener and was unable to recover, falling at Southern Illinois 94-63 at the Banterra Center Monday evening.
D.J. Smith was the bright spot of the night for Little Rock, leading all players with 21 points while adding five rebounds.
DeAntoni Gordon added 10 points with five rebounds but was the only other Trojan to hit double figures.
Myron Gardner finished just shy, scoring nine points with a team-high six rebounds and four steals while
Isaiah Palermo added nine points of his own on 4-of-5 shooting.
Little Rock shot just 40.6% from the floor for the game, including just 3-of-18 (16.7%) from three point range and 44.4% (8-of-18) from the free throw line. That was countered by Southern Illinois' 58.2% for the game, knocking down 42.9% of its threes (12-of-28) and 75.0% from the line (18-of-24).
The Salukis dominated on the boards, outrebounding Little Rock 48-25, including a 35-15 edge defensively. A bright spot for Little Rock came in turnovers as the Trojans committed just seven and forced 19 Saluki giveaways, notching 11 steals on the night.
Southern Illinois came out firing in the early going, knocking down its first four shots of the game to build an early 11-2 lead on the Trojans at the first media timeout. Little Rock battled back to get to within three at 11-8, thanks to back-to-back jumpers from Gordon and a tip-in from Smith.
But the Salukis were able to string together a handful of extended runs, including an 11-0 surge to take control at 22-8 at the 11:42 mark. Southern Illinois continued to impose its will through the remainder of the half, pushing its lead to 24 at 49-25 with just over a minute remaining.
Little Rock tried to cut into the lead at the end of the half, but a Saluki three from the corner as time expired had Southern Illinois doubling up the Trojans at the half at 54-27. SIU shot 61.3% from the floor, including 8-of-17 (42.1%) from three point range. In contrast, Little Rock knocked down just 32.4% of its shots from the floor and was 1-for-10 from beyond the arc.
The second half played out in similar fashion to the first as Little Rock was never able to cut into the Southern Illinois lead. The Salukis would push their lead to as many as 34 at 79-45 at the midway point of the second half, and the Trojans had little answer, falling 94-63.
Little Rock drops a season opener for the first time under head coach
Darrell Walker and the first since the 2017-18 season. The Trojans fall to 2-2 all-time against Southern Illinois and are now 0-2 against the Salukis in Carbondale after a 67-42 loss in 2005.
The Trojans will look to bounce back Thursday in its home opener, hosting Arkansas Baptist at 7:30 p.m. as part of a doubleheader at the Jack Stephens Center.
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