Taylor with 25, Evansville upsets Southern Illinois 75-44

Feb 24, 2018, 09:53 pm

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Ryan Taylor scored 25 points and grabbed five rebounds and Evansville upset Southern Illinois 75-44 on Saturday, snapping a four-game skid.

Taylor was 10 of 18 from the field, including five from distance, for the Purple Aces (17-14, 7-11 Missouri Valley Conference). Dru Smith added 14 points with four rebounds and four assists. Blake Simmons had 12 points and five rebounds.

Kavion Pippen who has averaged 12.6 point a game this season for the Salukis (19-12, 11-7), was held to just two points. Southern Illinois finishes the regular season in second place in the conference standings, four games behind Loyola-Chicago.

Taylor had a dunk and two 3-pointers in the first half, helping the Purple Aces to a 36-17 lead at intermission.

Taylor and Simmons each hit a 3 in a 10-5 run to open the second half, pushing it to 46-22 with 16:57 to play and Evansville cruised from there.

Armon Fletcher led the Salukis with 11 points and five rebounds.