The Indiana State Sycamores defeated the Southern Illinois Salukis on Thursday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. With a 66-51 victory in St. Louis, Indiana State now advances to face Wichita State, the No. 1 seed in the bracket.
Indiana State got up early and managed to hold onto the lead despite a few different runs by Southern Illinois. The Sycamores' lead was down to just five points with roughly four minutes remaining, but they finished the game on a 15-5 run to close things out. The shooting advantage was key, as Indiana State shot 50 percent from the field while Southern Illinois shot just 36 percent.
Jake Odum led Indiana State in scoring with 17 points in addition to grabbing eight rebounds and four steals. The Sycamores also got 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from Dwyane Lathan. Southern Illinois got a double-double from Mamadou Seck, who put up 14 points and 11 rebounds, but essentially the entire team struggled with shooting on the night.
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