SIUE basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament — for the first time ever — after earning the Ohio Valley’s automatic bid.
The steady growth of the SIUE basketball program under head coach Brian Barone reached a new pinnacle on Saturday, March 8, when the Cougars knocked off rival Southeast Missouri to win the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
The victory meant a lot of firsts: The Cougars won their first conference title at the Division I level; they became the first team in the country to earn an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament; and they are now set to dance for the first time.
Barone took the reins in Edwardsville before the 2019-20 campaign, and to that point, the program had yet to make any impact in Division I. After making the jump in 2008-09, SIUE posted 11 consecutive losing seasons, with the highlight of its first decade being a 12-16 (8-8 OVC) finish in 2014-15. While it took Barone a while to push SIUE to its first winning record, he finally did it in 2023 — and has now repeated the trick in three consecutive years.
Barone’s teams just keep getting better, too. The Cougars’ 22-11 record heading into the 2025 NCAA Tournament is a program-best, as is their No. 232 ranking on KenPom.
More Heat Check CBB:
- Bracketology: Projected field | Bubble Watch
- Tournament Index: Complete March Madness projections
- Full conference tournament TV schedule
The Cougars go through Taylor(s)
Leading the way for SIUE this season is the OVC Player of the Year, Ray’Sean Taylor.
The 6-1 guard has been a mainstay for the Cougars, starting all 119 games of his career with the program and averaging at least 13 points in all four campaigns. This season has been his best, though, posting career-highs in points (19.3 ppg), assists (3.8 apg), steals (2.0 spg) and true shooting percentage (.571). Taylor has broken the 30-point barrier three different times this year, including twice in the last six games.
A deadly scorer both inside and out, Taylor is one of only five players in the country with at least 100 made 2-pointers and 90 made 3s to his name.
Alongside him is cousin Brian Taylor, a junior guard who has taken a major leap this season. He filled a reserve role for the Cougars last year and averaged an inefficient 2.8 points. This time around, he has started every game and averages 12.0 points on .486/.471/.724 shooting splits.
Per EvanMiya, Ray’Sean and Brian Taylor have the best weighted chemistry of any two-man lineup for SIUE this season. Hoop-Explorer shows that the Cougars post a +0.3 adjusted net rating when they play together, as opposed to a -18.1 adjusted net rating when one or both sits:
Meanwhile, 6-9 forward Ring Malith (11.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg) runs the frontcourt. He has reached double figures as a scorer in seven of his last eight games, and has recorded six double-doubles for the year. A floor-stretching forward, Malith — who won an NJCAA National Championship last season at Barton Community College — has hit at least one 3-pointer in 29 of 33 games with SIUE, shooting 35.5 percent from deep during league play.
Beware SIUE spraying from the right corner
As the OVC Player of the Year, Ray’Sean Taylor rightfully receives a ton of defensive attention. As dangerous as he is as a scorer, he also makes the Cougars better with his playmaking. Lots of Cougars benefit from Taylor’s defensive attention, but the two that opponents need to always be aware of are Brian Taylor and Desmond Polk — particularly from the right corner.
Brian Taylor is an obvious player to keep an eye on; the Cougars’ second-leading scorer is an extremely dangerous shooter as evidenced by his 39-for-83 (47.0 3P%) mark for the season. Polk is a bit more of a wildcard, averaging just 6.4 points on 28.3 percent from deep. However, he is 12-for-27 (44.4 3P%) from the right corner, and the Cougars are 7-2 when Polk makes at least two 3-pointers.
Taylor is the focal point, but defenses cannot sink off the right corner. SIUE is 12-1 when shooting at least 36 percent from three (10-10 otherwise). For the season, the Cougars have connected on 50 percent of their 78 3-point attempts from the right corner, as opposed to 31.9 percent from anywhere else beyond the arc. They attempt 26 percent of their 3s from the corner (either right or left) in wins, compared to 19.8 percent in losses.
Similar NCAA Tournament efficiency profiles
Similar efficiency profiles and statistics found via Bart Torvik.
Tournament Index evaluation
As it stands, SIUE is a projected No. 16 seed both by our bracketology at Heat Check CBB as well as on the Bracket Matrix. Should that be the case, SIUE would rate as a middle-of-the-road 16-seed (19th-strongest of 41 such teams as measured by the Tournament Index).
If the Cougars move up a line, they would be the second-weakest No. 15 seed of the last 10 years. As it stands, though, the TI projects an average of 0.07 wins (play-ins excluded) for SIUE given their projected seed and strength.
You must be logged in to post a comment.