The Valparaiso University men's basketball team received a 22-point output from freshman All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year), but the Beacons were on the wrong end of a 79-75 score against Southern Illinois on Tuesday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Valpo led by as many as 11 in the second half, but the Salukis rallied to capture the road victory.
 
How It Happened

• An early 7-0 run helped the guests own a 7-2 advantage four minutes into the contest, but Valpo closed to within two on a 3 by Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest) at the 14:25 mark and took the lead when Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Victory Christian Academy) connected from distance on the following possession to make it 10-9.
• The game went back and forth in the middle of the first half, with Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle, Quebec, Canada / Orangeville Prep [Western Michigan]) hitting a go-ahead 3 with 13 minutes to play in the half, a shot that gave Valpo the lead for the remainder of the half. A 7-0 Valpo run built the lead up to eight with 4:04 on the first-half clock, but Southern Illinois battled back to within two points over the next two minutes.
• The Beacons went into the locker room leading 34-29 while holding SIU to 0-for-6 from 3-point range in the opening stanza. Valpo shot at a lower percentage, but held a 9-4 edge in the turnover battle and made six triples to SIU's none over the first 20 minutes of play.
• Valpo scored the first six points of the second half, and what had been a five-point cushion at the break was suddenly 11 after Wright swished a jumper to make it 40-29 with 18:17 to play.
• The Salukis responded with a 7-0 burst of their own, and clawed away until creating the first tie of the second half 48-all with 10:49 to play. Kaspar Sepp (Tartu, Estonia / Fairmont Academy) hit a big 3 with 9:41 on the clock to put Valpo up 53-50, and Wright followed with a big trey of his own as the lead eventually got back up to eight at 60-52 with 5:52 remaining, and nine when Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) swished from 3 at the 4:41 mark.
• A 6-0 run shrunk the lead to two at 66-64 with three minutes to go. Eventually, SIU's Kennard Davis Jr. made a 3-pointer with 1:54 on the clock to put the Salukis up 69-68, their first lead since 11-10 with 13:41 left in the first half.
• Wright cut the SIU lead to one at 75-74 with a 3 with nine seconds to go. The Salukis made their free throws and then elected to go with the strategy of fouling up three in the closing seconds. Valpo missed both, and the Beacons got the offensive rebound and Schmidt's shot while being fouled spun around the rim and off. Schmidt made the first and missed the second, but the Salukis secured the carom and the victory.

Inside the Game

• Wright scored a game-high 22 points while draining four 3s, handing out four assists and swiping two steals. This marked his fourth game with 20+ points this season. The four made 3s tied a season high set on Dec. 14 vs. Central Michigan.
• Schwieger added 13 points and a team-high five boards, his 13^th straight game with at least a dozen points. He also rejected three shots, his fifth multi-block game in his last seven contests.
• Schmidt was the third Beacon in double figures with 10 points to go along with four boards. He scored in double figures for the 13^th time this season.
• Valpo's 3-point defense was much improved from the previous contest, holding the Salukis to 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from beyond the arc in a game Valpo owned a 30-9 advantage in points scored on 3-point shots. Conversely, SIU held a 46-26 edge in paint points.
• Valpo turned it over just six times, holding a 14-6 advantage in the turnover battle. This was the 13^th time this year that Valpo limited its turnover total to 10 or fewer.
• DeAveiro played 20 minutes and owned a team-best plus-minus of +6, meaning Valpo held a six-point edge in the 20 minutes DeAveiro was on the court and was outscored by 10 in the 20 minutes he was not on the court.
• Sepp had nine points, four rebounds and four assists, going 4-of-8 from the floor.
• This marked the first time a Valpo opponent overcame a double-figure deficit to win since Feb. 24 of last season at Murray State.

Postgame Press Conference
Click here for postgame press conference.
 
Up Next
Valpo (10-12, 3-8 MVC) will hit the road for the next two games, starting with a trip to Normal, Ill. to face off with Illinois State on Saturday at 4 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.