The USI men’s basketball team kicked off its home opener Thursday night with a tough matchup against Bucknell University of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Say what you want about the Patriot League, the conference that the Bison play in. Some say it’s a “glorified Ivy League, with questionable talent,” but the team that entered Liberty Arena wasn’t to be slept on. Noah Williamson, junior center, is an incredibly skilled big guy, which would be a challenge in the game. 

Going into the game, USI lacked critical players due to injury, including guard Braxton Jones, a junior transfer from Garden City Community College. Jones would likely have played a significant role and will be a crucial scoring option when he returns. In his absence, Jayland Randall, junior guard from Alabama A&M University, and Damoni Harrison, junior guard from Tallahassee Community College, would need to step up. This was illustrated in their last game, where they combined to score 39 in their USI debut against DePaul.

The most key player for USI was, without question, Stephen Olowoniyi, sophomore forward from Melbourne, Australia. Olowoniyi is exceptionally skilled defensively but isn’t to be slept on on offense, as he has a couple of post-moves and a solid mid-range jumper. He’s an extremely versatile player who can thrive in a system that promotes playing gritty, tough defense and running and gunning when the opportunity presents itself. 

To begin the game, Olowoniyi exhibited his incredible defensive power, grabbing a steal that led to an opening game jump shot by Randall. He would replicate this on the next possession after Jack Mielke, graduate forward, stole the ball from Bucknell’s Joe Bascoe, senior guard. 

Following a Bucknell layup, Olowoniyi scored his first bucket at home. He then stole the ball from Elvin Edmonds IV, senior guard, and threw down a monster jam to rile up the crowd, opening the game up on an 8-2 run. 

However, Bucknell bounced back to cut the lead to 8-10 by the 16:10 mark. For the next handful of minutes, scoring was scarce for both teams until Harrison drained a three-pointer. Following a matched three-pointer by Bucknell, Josiah Dunham, freshman guard and Evansville native, drained a three-pointer in his home debut. 

The three-point barrage would continue for USI as Jack Campion, junior guard, and Randall hit threes of their own, creating a three-point lead with 5:50 to go in the first half. However, the scoring went on a drought, which saw Bucknell take the lead almost two minutes later. 

This lead would remain going into half: Bucknell: 30, USI: 27. 

Both offenses struggled in the first half, shooting under 43% from the field. However, USI did shoot 40% from downtown, which isn’t nothing. 

Unfortunately, to open the half, USI kicked itself in the pants by fouling Bascoe twice on back-to-back possessions, which led to five early points for Bucknell, bringing the lead up to 8 at 19:02.

Fortunately, the trio of Olowoniyi, Harrison and Randall came to play in the next couple of minutes, combining for a 12-2 run in the next three minutes and storming back to take the lead at 16:31. 

However, something was missing: consistent facilitating guard play. At the 13:59 mark, Stan Gouard, men’s basketball head coach, made a major adjustment at the point guard position, bringing in Sam Kodi, junior guard from West Texas College, to replace Campion. 

Campion had been shaky and inconsistent in the game against DePaul, which continued tonight. He committed four turnovers last game, and despite not turning the ball over against Bucknell, the offense stagnated somewhat when he had the ball.

Kodi’s addition to the lineup paid immediate dividends, as he hit a three-pointer at 13:21, scored a layup, and was aggressive in getting to the free-throw line twice in one minute, hitting three-fourths of the free throws to push USI ahead at the 10:29 mark. He also found Randall for a three-pointer, which brought the lead to four points. However, the team had trouble growing the lead, as Williamson utilized his height advantage and skills against Mielke and Olowoniyi, USI’s big men, forcing two foul calls and adding four more points from the free-throw line. 

Olowoniyi continued to find misfortune, committing two more fouls in the closing minutes, one of which was on an and-one layup, which occurred with 35 seconds left in the second half. This crucial foul led to his disqualification for committing too many fouls. 

In his place, Alex Horiuk, junior center from Ukraine, continued to battle Williamson. However, he committed a foul against Williamson with one second left, which sent Williamson to the line for two shots since Bucknell was well over the bonus. He then hit the first free throw but uncharacteristically missed the second one, sending the game to overtime, and both teams tied 63-63. 

In overtime, USI’s offense fell flat, likely from fatigue, having played back-to-back overtimes. In addition, Williamson made up for his missed free throw, scoring seven points in overtime despite Horiuk’s effort. Unfortunately for USI, they couldn’t buy buckets and, scoring a mere six points in overtime, ultimately fell behind with little time left on the clock. Bucknell didn’t look back and led through the extra period, eventually winning 75-69. 

After the game, Gouard credited the other team, especially Williamson. 

“We threw the kitchen sink at him,” he said. “Stephen guarded him, Alex guarded him, Mielke guarded him. He’s a good player. You can’t speed him up, you can’t slow him down. He’s just one of those kind of kids that is a matchup nightmare.”

When asked about Dunham’s home debut and what he brings as a freshman impact player, Gouard was adamant about Dunham’s confidence.
“He’s playing because he works hard, and I trust him defensively, I trust him offensively,” he said. “He’s a great program guy.”

Finally, I asked Gouard about the challenge of building a rotation early in the season and finding guys he trusts, like Dunham. He began by quantifying that he has five to seven players he really trusts.

Based on the minutes rotation throughout the first games, these would be Harrison (84 minutes), Randall (71 minutes), Mielke (63 minutes), Olowoniyi (62 minutes), Campion (51 minutes), Dunham (47 minutes) and Kodi (39 minutes). 

Mielke hasn’t shot the ball well from the field, but given time, he’ll find his touch again. He’s a smart and skilled player. 

Campion’s minutes were yanked tonight in favor of Kodi, who has been less erratic as a ball-handler and might be the better option going forward, at least until Jones returns from injury. Campion is probably better as an energy, change-of-pace guard off the bench anyway. 

The center play has not been ideal, but Gouard said it takes “about five to seven games for guys that can activate it,” so perhaps Horiuk just needs more time to be an anchor in the paint. 

USI’s next game will be on the road on Monday night, where they will face Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. It will be the first game, apart from the I-64 Showcase, featuring USI. Last season, they played in the Duke Blue Devil Challenge, dropping all three matchups, so I think it’s crucial that they win at least one of these games to avoid a rough start. They will then play Bellarmine and Purdue-Fort Wayne, two rivals from their days in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, so those games are must-win for me, just for the sake of rivalries. Hopefully, the team can get at least two out of the next three to grab some momentum.