Box Score
The size and length of Southern Indiana was simply too much for Kentucky Wesleyan Tuesday night.
The No. 17 Eagles dominated the glass and held the Panthers in check of fensively to earn a 70-61 win at the Sportscenter in the first ever non-conference game between the two rivals.
KWC, playing without four key players due to suspensions and a departure, played mostly a 2-3 zone the entire game and USI was able to find enough holes in it to knock down enough outside shots and withstand a late run by the Panthers.
"What's frustrating is when we go press and we talk about how their point guard is going to cut middle and we don't get there," Osborne said. "We draw it up in the timeout and we don't get there. But our kids really worked the zone. I give them all the credit in the world. They're outmanned without question. They fought, they fought — just came up a little short."
USI (1-0) won the battle on the glass, 37-22. Perhaps the more glaring number, however, was USI's 27 defensive rebounds to KWC's eight offensive rebounds.
USI was able to limit KWC to one shot on a good number of the Panthers' possessions and forced KWC to settle for outside shots, which weren't falling. The Panthers (1-3) finished 39 percent shooting and just 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) on 3s.
The key stretch in the game came with around four minutes left to play. KWC's
James Herzog buried a jumper to cut the USI lead to 54-51 after trailing by 12 early in the second half, but Ben Jones answered with a 3-pointer to put the Eagles up 57-51.
Lonnie Hayes had a shot blocked on KWC's ensuing possession.
Dominique Dawson then missed a shot as well and USI's Lawrence Thomas came down and knocked down a 3 that put the Eagles up 60-51 with 2:25 left to play.
"I thought Ben Jones in the second half…not only did he do a good job on Lonnie (Hayes), but the 3 he made when it was 54-51 to stretch it to six — that was a big lift for us," USI coach Rodney Watson said.
USI as a team was able to hold Hayes in check compared to his previous three games. The senior, who came into Tuesday's game averaging 35.7 points per game, was limited to 16 points.
"I thought we could guard him with length," Watson said. "He's a terrific player and he puts you in a bind. The thing that Lonnie does is he finds everybody else. A lot of times players like that are only looking for their shot. I thought Manny (Ogonfolu) did a really nice job of creating some problems for him. He never really let him get into a rhythm because of his length, and we could back off. He's so good at creating fouls."
Hayes, who set a record for free throws made (26) and attempted (30) in his 57-point performance against Lake Erie, got to the line just four times on Tuesday but made all four tries.
"We really keyed in on him in the scouting report," USI forward Taylor Wischmeier said. "We were able to contest his jump shots and be able to play off on a drive to the hole and play without fouling for the most part. Any time you can hold a 30-plus point scorer to 16 points, you're doing a good job."
KWC was led in scoring by freshman
Ken-Jah Bosley, who finished with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting and 4-of-9 on 3s. Dominique Dawson finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.
Jake Jenkins had eight points as well.
USI, meanwhile, had three players in double figures while Wischmeier (16 points and 10 rebounds) and forward Aaron Nelson (11 points and 11 rebounds) logged double-doubles.
Osborne said USI had the clear height advantage, so that was the reason for playing 2-3 zone all game. KWC was able to force 18 turnovers by playing zone and committed just seven on offense.
"I thought zone neutralized it," he said. "I thought we trapped well. I thought we trapped the low post well. I thought our guys tried. I thought we did a reasonable job on Nelson. I'm going to tell you this —Wischmeier is good. He doesn't get enough credit. He's a very smart, savvy player — basketball-savvy. That's something to appreciate it."
Tuesday's loss gave the Panthers their third straight loss after what's been a trying start to the season. Osborne felt like he saw some good things to hang his hat on after Tuesday's game.
"Zone really helped us be more organized," he said. "We've got a long way to go. This is the start of hopefully more better things."
