25th-ranked University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball displayed a great game on both ends of the court in a 30-point win over William Jewell College, 81-51, Sunday afternoon at Screaming Eagles Arena. USI is 1-1 after the first weekend, while William Jewell is 1-1 to start the year.
Today’s victory is Stan Gouard‘s first as the head coach of the Screaming Eagles and the 1,000 victory in the history of the USI program.
USI got off to a smooth start to open the contest, building a12-point advantage before 10 minutes were gone. Senior forward Emmanuel Little, who moved into 12th all-time at USI in scoring this afternoon with 1,207 career points, led the offensive charge with 11 of the 17 points.
After USI extended the margin to as many as 15 points (21-6), the Cardinals battled back to close to within seven points, 33-26, with 1:36 remaining before halftime. USI senior forward Josh Price, who had double-double before halftime, dropped in the final bucket of the opening stanza and sent the Eagles into halftime with a 36-26 advantage.
In the second half, USI increased the lead to 19 points, 53-34, in the first eight minutes after the break and used a 23-8 run to post its largest margin of the contest, 34-points, 76-42, with 4:05 remaining. Little and Price led the 23-8 run with nine and seven points, respectively.
William Jewell sliced the USI advantage to 30 points three times, but that would be as close as the score would come in the final minutes of the 81-51 USI win.
Price and Little tied for the game-high with 23 points. Price, who finished off his double-double with 17 rebounds, was 10-of-20 from the field and three-of-three from the stripe, while Little was a blistering six-of-eight from the field, including a three-pointer, and 10-of-14 from the line.
Eagles’ sophomore guard Tyler Henry rounded out the double-digit scorers with 18 points.
USI continues its season-opening five-game homestand Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts the University of Illinois Springfield. The Prairie Stars, who are idle today, are 1-0 to start the season after defeating Quincy University, 89-82, at home Friday night.
The Eagles lead the all-time series with the Stars, 13-4, after winning the only match-up a year ago, 71-62, on the road last year. Price led the way with a double-double in the victory with 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Little also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards in the win.
