First game versus fifth-seeded Bellarmine
University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball opens 2020 post-season play Friday in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament versus fifth-seeded Bellarmine University. The GLVC Tournament is hosted at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois.
The fourth-seeded Screaming Eagles (21-7) and Knights (20-7) are slated to tipoff at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the final game of the conference quarterfinals. USI and Bellarmine are joined in their half of the bracket by top-seeded University of Missouri-St. Louis (25-5) and eighth-seeded Drury University (20-8), who are scheduled to play Thursday at 6 p.m.
The bottom half of the GLVC Tournament includes second-seeded University of Indianapolis (23-5) versus seventh-seeded Southwest Baptist University (20-8), who play Thursday at 8:30 p.m.; and third-seeded Truman State University versus sixth-seeded Rockhurst University (16-12), who face off in Friday’s 6 p.m. contest.
Post-season game coverage for USI Men’s Basketball, including live stats, video, and audio broadcasts, is available at GoUSIEagles.com. The games also can be heard on ESPN 97.7FM and 95.7FM The Spin.
USI Men’s Basketball Week 16 Quick Notes:
Eagles need to bounce back. USI needs to bounce back after a rough end of the regular season, dropping a road game at Bellarmine University, 78-63, and Senior Day loss to the University of Indianapolis, 88-76. Junior forward Emmanuel Little led the Eagles’ attack with 25.0 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per contest, followed by senior guard Darnell Butler, who had 11.0 points per contest off the bench.
Little connects for career high. Junior forward Emmanuel Little dropped in a career-high 31 points in the loss to the University of Indianapolis. He was 12-of-18 from the field, one-of-two from long range, and a perfect six-of-six from the line. Little is the first Eagle to go over the 30-point plateau this year.
Big Scorers. Junior forwards Emmanuel Little and Josh Price are the only Eagles to surpass 20 points in a game this season. Price has gone over six times with a high of 25 points, while Little has nine games with a high of 31.
USI vs. GLVC Tournament field. USI is 4-6 against the GLVC Tournament field (3-3 at home; 1-3 on the road) and has been outscored on an average of 76.1-71.7 during the 10 games. The Eagles have controlled the glass, 35.5-34.7. Junior forward Emmanuel Little leads USI versus the field with 15.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, while junior guard Mateo Rivera follows with 12.1 points per outing. Junior forward Josh Price rounds out the double-figure scorers with 11.2 points per contest.
Leading the Eagles overall. Junior forward Emmanuel Little leads USI this season with 16.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, while junior forward Josh Price  is posting 13.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest. Junior guard Mateo Rivera and senior guard Joe Laravie also are reaching double-digits in scoring with 12.0 and 10.1 points per game in 2019-20.
Double-doubles in 2019-20. Junior forwards Emmanuel Little and Josh Price are tied for the team lead with nine double-doubles in 2019-20.
USI among leaders in rebounding. The Eagles lead the GLVC and rank fifth nationally in defensive rebounds. USI also is tops in the GLVC and fifth in rebound margin overall.
USI vs. Bellarmine. USI leads the all-time series versus fifth-seeded Bellarmine, 52-46, but has lost twice to the Knights this season (79-65 at home; 78-63 on the road).
USI vs. upper bracket. In addition to Bellarmine in the upper bracket, USI leads the all-time series versus top-seeded Missouri-St. Louis, 39-13, after splitting the two games this year (73-68 loss on the road; 67-66 win at home) and is tied in the series with Drury, 12-12, after winning the only meeting this year (win at home 86-82).
USI vs. the lower bracket. USI has the upper hand in the all-time series with third-seeded Truman, 7-2; second-seeded UIndy, 58-24; and sixth-seeded Rockhurst, 19-2; but trails Southwest Baptist, 1-2.
