CARBONDALE, Ill. – It was raining threes inside Banterra Center as Southern Illinois connected 18 3-pointers to tie the school record during a 101-62 win over Saint Louis Saturday afternoon.
 
Five Salukis (5-2) scored in double figures for SIU led by graduate guard Xavier Johnson who dropped 31 points in the win – his second 30-point performance this season.
 
Forward Troy D'Amico scored a career-high 20 points while Clarence Rupert and Jovan Stulic added 14 apiece. St. Louis native Kennard Davis Jr. scored 11 points for the Salukis – hitting three triples in the victory.
 
"I thought the last couple days of practice were really good. I thought the guys had a great attitude and a great mindset going into the game, obviously, it is a great opportunity to play Saint Louis at home," head coach Bryan Mullins said postgame. "I think it was our most connected game in terms of both sides of the ball and just playing team basketball (SIU Basketball). I'm really happy for our guys and looking forward to our next challenge here."
 
Saint Louis (5-4) picked up a free throw from Tim Dangler to make it a 3-2 lead two minutes into action before Johnson drilled a triple the next possession and SIU never looked back. The Salukis put together an 18-7 run over the next eight minutes to go up 23-10. During that time SIU forced six Saint Louis turnovers and converted them into eight points.
 
The Salukis hit just six of their 18 3-pointers in the first half with Johnson connecting on four of the six. Southern closed out the half on a 10-4 run to take a 42-27 lead into the locker room. Johnson had 16 of his 31 in the opening 20 minutes while Rupert scored 11 first-half points – shooting 5-for-5 from the floor.
 
Southern played small for much of the game which allowed the Billikens to clean up on the offensive glass, pulling down eight offensive boards in the first half alone which they turned into 10 points.
 
"They hurt us on the boards in the first half getting eight offensive boards," Mullins said. "We challenged the group at halftime and talked about the first four to six minutes and how whether it was a 10- or 12-point game at halftime it could go either way there. The guys had great maturity about them, and we were able to get stops, and push the ball in transition, create open threes and get good looks. That has to be our identity – that has to be our staple."
 
The Salukis continued to pour it on in the second half, outscoring the Billikens 59-33 in the frame. SIU connected on 12-of-17 from deep in the second half as both Davis and D'Amico hit all three of their attempts. At one point in the second half, D'Amico hit back-to-back-to-back triples while Davis capped off the 17-4 SIU run with a corner three of his own.

SIU was outrebounded 17-11 in the first half but closed the margin on the glass to 29-28 by the end of the contest. Rupert led the Salukis with seven boards while Trent Brown and Scottie Ebube had four each.
 
Brown drew the defensive assignment of SLU guard Gibson Jimerson, holding him to just 10 points in 36 minutes. Brown also added nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep.
 
It was the first time that SIU scored 100 or more points since December 6, 2020, against Quincy and the first time that SIU has scored over 100 against a Division I team since 1998 against Missouri State. It was the first time that Saint Louis had allowed 100 points since 1992.
 
SIU shot 66 percent (37-56) in the game while going 62 percent (18-29) from deep. On the flip side SLU was held to 43 percent from the floor (22-51) and to just four triples.
 
UP NEXT
The Salukis play host to Power Five opponent Oklahoma State Tuesday night at Banterra Center. The contest will air to a national audience on CBS Sports Network and tipoff at 8 p.m. The game will mark the first Power Five opponent Southern Illinois has hosted since the 2007-08 season when Oklahoma State traveled to SIU during the NIT. During the same season, Indiana also played a regular season game at SIU during the non-conference slate.
 
FOLLOW THE SALUKIS
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Salukis by following the team on Twitter at @SIU_Basketball, on Instagram at @SIU_Basketball, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SalukiAthletics. Fans can also download the "Salukis" Mobile App on the App Store or Google Play Store.