The Valparaiso University men's basketball team raced out to a 39-20 halftime lead and led by as many as 21, before holding on to defeat Southern Illinois 69-63 on Wednesday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The Beacon bench outscored the Salukis 35-7, led by a big boost from sophomore Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West), who poured in 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
 
How It Happened

• Southern Illinois scored the game's first four points, and the Salukis led 8-5 with 15:13 left in the first half.
• That's when the Beacons went on the most important run of the game, scoring the contest's next 20 points. Isaiah Barnes (Chicago, Ill. / Simeon Career Academy [Tulsa/Michigan]) had a fastbreak dunk and hit a big 3 during that stretch, while McNair swished in two triples during the big Beacon burst.
• By the time SIU finally made a free throw with 8:25 left in the half, Valpo had built up a 17-point lead and had held the Salukis without a point for nearly seven minutes.  
• McNair made another 3 with 6:28 on the clock to push the lead to 19. His free throw with 1:33 left in the half gave Valpo its first 20-point lead of the night, and the cushion was 19 when the halftime horn sounded at 39-20.
• SIU shot under 30 percent and missed eight of its nine 3-point attempts in the first half, while Valpo shot 50 percent from both the floor and from 3.
• It was indeed a Missouri Valley Conference contest, so everyone knew that when one team had a big half, the other was likely to make a push. After Valpo took its largest lead of 21 early in the second half, SIU scored 14 of the game's next 16 points to get within single figures at 43-34 with 13:28 to play.
• A dunk by Shon Tupuola (Brownsburg, Ind. / Brownsburg [Saint Mary-of-the-Woods]) on a JT Pettigrew (Lisle, Ill. / Bolingbrook) assist lifted the lead to 13 with 10:37 left and reengaged the crowd. SIU whittled the lead to seven at 52-45 with 5:43 to go, but Brody Whitaker (Greencastle, Ind. / Greencastle [University of Indianapolis / Marian]) made two free throws then drained a 3 to lift the lead back to 12.
• The gap fluctuated between nine and 12 before SIU got within six with 37 seconds left and within four with 10 seconds to play. Whitaker made two free throws with 10 seconds on the clock to allow the Beacons to escape despite being outscored 43-30 after halftime.

Inside the Game

• McNair's 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 4-of-6 from 3 played a key role in the game's outcome. He had his highest scoring output in league play and second highest of the season behind 21 on Nov. 19 at Cleveland State. McNair's four 3s marked a season high.
• Whitaker finished with 12 points, the bulk of which came at the free-throw stripe, where he went 9-for-9. He tied a career high for made free throws, leading to his third double-figure scoring output in his last four games.
• Over the last two games, Valpo's bench has outscored the opponents' bench 57-7. Wednesday's 35-7 edge in bench points reversed the first matchup between the two teams, when Valpo faced a 30-13 disparity in that category.
• Six of the seven players who came off the Beacon bench had positive plus-minus numbers, while four of the five starters were in the negative. Sader Servilus (Montreal, Quebec, Canada [Fort Erie International Academy]) posted a team-best +13.
• Barnes scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and drained each of his two 3-point attempts. He had his highest scoring output in Valley play and highest since 10 points on Dec. 13 vs. UNCW.
• Freshman Rakim Chaney (Rockford, Ill. / Rockford Auburn [212 Sports Academy]) handed out six assists, tied for his most in league play and one shy of a personal best.
• Valpo's strong 3-point defense continued as SIU finished the game just 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from long distance.
• Both teams scuffled from the free-throw line with SIU at 60 percent (18-of-30) and Valpo at 66.7 percent (20-of-30).
• The Beacons improved to 9-3 at home and recorded their fourth straight victory at the ARC. This marks Valpo's first four-game home winning streak since 2019-2020 (Drake, Indiana State, Evansville, Illinois State).
• This marked the second straight game where Valpo defeated a team after losing to them earlier in the season – reversing the results on both UNI and Southern Illinois.
• The victory was Valpo's first home win over the Salukis since Feb. 12, 2020, ending a four-game home skid in head-to-head matchups.

Postgame Press Conference
Click here for postgame press conference.
 
Up Next
After a weekend off, Valpo (10-10, 4-5 MVC) will host Belmont next week on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the ARC on Pack the ARC Night. For tickets, visit tickets.valpoathletics.com.