The ‘Cougs are going dancing for the first time in school history.
After taking down the Southeast Missouri Redhawks 69-48 Saturday night, the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars became the first of 68 men’s squads to clinch a spot in NCAA Tournament behind a 20-point outing from OVC Tournament Most Valuable Player Ray’Sean Taylor.
“Two years ago, I got hurt right out there on that court,” Taylor said. “Same side, same everything. So it just means a lot, obviously…I’m from around Edwardsville, so just doing that for my family back home, I just feel like we’re giving them hope. So, it mean a lot, but [coach Brian Barone] always believed in me and never gave up on me. Even when I was injured, he knew I could do this.”
Taylor’s story began in 2020 in Barone’s second season with the program. We’re now in Taylor’s fifth season, Barone’s sixth, and the duo can call themselves champions in the Ohio Valley Conference.
“People want to be around these guys,” Barone said. “[Taylor became] the all-time leading scorer in school history, which he was today. I’m not sure anyone’s gonna we be wearing No. 3 ever again as long as I’m the coach.”
SIUE held the Redhawks to a putrid 28% from the field following a defensive masterclass brought on by the Cougars. The rebound battle swayed in the favor of the champions, picking up 50 to SEMO’s 31 on the boards in a game where buckets were hard to come by.
“You have to overcome a lot every night in this in this league,” Barone said. “You have to be in on the other opponent for sure. What you have to do is you got to stay true to who you ultimately are. You have to find your identity. For us you have to win this game, we needed to have a better defensive output than we did in the previous two games.”
This win now sends the Cougars to the Big Dance as they await their seed next weekend on Selection Sunday. Projected as a 16-seed, the squad looks to avoid the First Four in Dayton while hoping for some upsets in lower-level conference tournaments.
