Xavier Johnson drove for the go-ahead layup with 53.5 seconds left Saturday night and host Southern Illinois scored the last six points to upset No. 23 Indiana State 74-69 in Carbondale, Ill.
Troy D’Amico added a one-and-one with 21.8 seconds remaining and Johnson canned both ends of a one-and-one with 7.7 seconds on the clock to seal the outcome. Johnson, the nation’s second-leading scorer, finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
D’Amico added 15 points, while freshman Kennard Davis Jr. came off the bench to net 12, including a key 3-pointer in the final two minutes. The Salukis (17-10, 9-7 MVC) earned crucial advantages of 14-2 in points off turnovers and 17-7 in fast-break points.
Robbie Avila pumped in a game-high 30 points for the Sycamores (22-5, 13-3), who appear certain to fall out of the Top 25 after their second straight Missouri Valley Conference loss. Ryan Conwell added 16 but leading scorer Isaiah Swope was held to six, 11 under his average, on 2-of-10 shooting.
Indiana State coughed up a 13-point, first-half lead by hacking up 16 turnovers, allowing Southern Illinois to take nine more shots. It was held to 8-of-21 shooting after halftime.
Playing an opponent it drilled 77-48 on Nov. 28 in Terre Haute, Indiana State learned before tip-off that its top rebounder, forward Jayson Kent, would miss the game after suffering a head injury in Tuesday night’s upset loss to Illinois State.
But it didn’t keep the Sycamores from establishing an early lead as they fed Avila consistently. He had his way with smaller defenders, either posting up and scoring or flaring out to the 3-point line for open pops that connected.
Avila collected 19 points on 11 shots, helping Indiana State establish a 25-12 lead at the 6:15 mark of the half. Southern Illinois was able to find traction after that, pulling within 37-31 at the break when Jarrett Hensley laid in a perfect alley-oop pass from D’Amico as time expired.
–Field Level Media