2024–25 SIU Edwardsville Cougars Men's Basketball Team

The 2024–25 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars, led by sixth-year head coach Brian Barone, play their home games at the First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Illinois as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). As the No. 2 seed in the OVC tournament, the Cougars defeated Tennessee State and Southeast Missouri State to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the school's first-ever trip to the tournament.

Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2023–24 season 17–16, 9–9 in OVC play to finish in sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the OVC tournament, they defeated Southern Indiana in the first round before losing to eventual tournament champion Morehead State.

SIUE guard Damarco Minor was honored as a member of the ''All-OVC First Team.''

Season forecast

Six players return from the 2023–24 squad. They are joined by one freshman, four transfers from junior colleges, two transfers from other Division I programs, and two graduate students from non-Division I schools.

In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men's basketball coaches and communication directors, SIUE was picked to finish 3rd in the 11 team Ohio Valley Conference.

2024–25 OVC Men's Basketball predicted order of finish

# Little Rock (20 first-place votes) – 200 points
# Western Illinois – 172
# SIUE (2) – 151
# Tennessee State – 134
# Morehead State – 131
# Eastern Illinois – 87
# Southeast Missouri – 86
# Southern Indiana – 79
# Lindenwood – 67
# UT Martin – 52
# Tennessee Tech – 51

Regular season

The Cougars won 20 games for the first time since transitioning to Division I status in 2008. After going 7–4 in nonconference play, SIUE finished 13–7 in the Ohio Valley Conference, establishing a new school record for OVC wins and earning the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament.

Postseason

After a double bye as the #2 seed, the Cougars faced #3 seed Tennessee State Tigers in the OVC Tournament semifinals. With solid defense, SIUE took a 10-point halftime lead after being up on TSU by as any as 12 points. The Tigers, the highest scoring team in the OVC, demonstrated why in the second half, eliminating the Cougars' lead and briefly taking the lead before the SIUE defense locked down, hung on, and hung tough for the win. Ray'Sean Taylor was largely responsible for SIUE hanging on, scoring 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half. However, although Taylor was the only Couger scoring in double figures, the win was a team effort, with all nine players who saw action scoring and having at least one rebound, and eight players having at least one assist. With the win, the Cougars advanced to the OVC Championship game for the first time to meet #1 seed Southeast Missouri, who defeated SIUE twice in the regular season, most recently 83–68 on Feb. 27 at First Community Arena.

SIUE’s Declan Dillon took an elbow to his face early in Saturday’s Ohio Valley Conference title game against Southeast Missouri that had blood streaming down his face. Dillon, who played the rest of the game with a large wound near his eyebrow, embodied the Cougars’ play Saturday in Evansville, Indiana. The second-seeded Cougars started slowly, turning the ball over four times in the first few minutes, and allowing the top-seeded SEMO Redhawks to go out to a 14–7 lead. Then they turned things around by rebounding, getting second chance baskets, and locking down on defense. SIUE led SEMO 35–24 at the half, but the second half started much like the first, and the Redhawks had a 10-1 run to open and tied the game at 36-36. After again being tied at 38, the Cougars went on a 16-0 run to take over the game, and never led by less than 14 from then on, winning by 69–48. “We talked about trust,” an emotional SIUE coach Brian Barone said after the game on ESPN2. “We talk about playing for one another, and that's what those guys just did. It feels amazing, because I love those guys right there. And it's amazing.” SIUE held Southeast Missouri State to an absolutely miserable shooting night from beyond the arc. The Redhawks had averaged more than seven made three pointers per game, but against the Cougars was held to a season low 3 of 24 (13 percent) from long range. SEMO finished the second half shooting only 1 of 17 (under 6 percent) and was held without a field goal for more than six minutes. Once again, Ray'Sean Taylor led the team in scoring, with 20 points, and all of his 11-second half points were from the free throw line---Taylor's scoring made him SIUE's all-time leading scorer, and he now has 1,952 points in his career. Ring Malith followed with 12 points, and Brian Taylor II had 10. Malith, the Taylor cousins, and Myles Thompson led the Cougars rebounding with 7 boards apiece. This was the Cougars' first win over the Redhawks this season, having been swept in the regular season. With the win, SIUE was the first team to garner an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and secured the Cougars' first OVC title and the school's first-ever trip to the Division I championship, where they are projected to be a #16 seed and to play in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. "Hats off to Edwardsville with the way they played. They played a phenomenal game and had a great game plan," SEMO coach Brad Korn said. "It stings. It don't feel very good because we didn't play our best ball, but it also had a lot to do with them. I give them credit." SIUE coach Barone declared,"We're going to be dancing all night, and we're going to be dancing into next week."

On the March 16 Selection Sunday, the NCAA Selection Committee placed the Cougars in the Midwest Regional versus the 2nd ranked and 2nd seeded Houston Cougars.

The top-seeded Houston Cougars spotted the SIUE Cougars a 4-2 lead in the opening minutes, then they went on a tear, with a 25-6 run over the next seven minutes while rolling to a 52-24 halftime lead. Then, they calmly ran out the string in the seoond half en route to ending SIUE's first NCAA entry with a 78-40 vctory at Wichita State's Intrust Bank Arena on the way to their national runnerup finish. "We didn't do what we needed to do and Houston won the game," SIUE head coach Brian Barone said, "but this is a good team, man. We gave up 52 points in first half, and (Houston) was just as relentless in the second half. That team can win it all, no doubt." Barone was just as quick to give kudos to the large crowd of SIUE fans that made the trip to Wichita. "Are you kidding me," a choked-up Barone said on postgame radio. "Listen to our fans. We heard them the entire game. They don't want this to end and neither do I." SIUE shot only 31.7 percent overall and just 20 percent in the second half. They made just two of 24 three-point attempts. Ray’Sean Taylor, the ''Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year'', led SIUE with 10 points. Teammate and cousin Brian Taylor II added another 10. A fifth-season grad student from Collinsville, Ray'Sean Taylor ended his collegiate career as SIUE's all-time leading scorer with 1,926 points. Houston, the Big 12 Conference champion, shot 42 percent overall and made 10 of 28 treys. The top-seeded Houston Cougars shot the lights out in the first half and put any notions of an upset out of the minds of the No. 16-seeded SIUE Cougars. Houston shot a sizzling 61 percent in the first half, including a combined five 3-point baskets by Milos Uzan, J.J. Cryer and Emanuel Sharp during an early run that put the game away early. Overall, Cryer and Uzan comined for 31 points. Barrone said that despite the loss, a solid foundtion has been built for SIUE basketball, along with memories of a special season. "We have a group of guys who care," Barrone said. "You can't make up what this group has been through. They made people believe, and belief is a powerful thing."

Honors

In voting by league head coaches and communications directors prior to the OVC Tournament, Cougar guard Ray'Sean Taylor, who has averaged 20.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game was voted the 2024-25 ''Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year.''

Graduate student guard ''Player of the Year'' Ray'Sean Taylor was named to the eight-person ''All-OVC First Team'', while his cousin junior guard Brian Taylor II was named to the eight-person ''All-OVC Second Team''.

After being named the ''Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year'' and the ''Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player,'' SIUE graduate student guard Ray'Sean Taylor was named one of 35 finalists for the 2024-25 ''Lou Henson Award'' which is presented annually to the top player in mid-major college basketball. The ''Lou Henson Award'' honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach, who was the winningest coach at both schools, with a total of 775 victories in 41 seasons.

On March 18, the National Association of Basketball Coaches announced the ''Division I All-District Teams'' and ''Coaches of the Year''. SIUE graduate student guard Ray'Sean Taylor was named to the ''Great Lakes District Second Team.'' The Great Lakes District included players from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. This was Taylor's second career All-District selection, having also been an All-District pick in 2022-23.

SIUE men's basketball Head Coach Brian Barone has been selected as an ''Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Co-Coach of the Year''.
After leading SIUE to its first 20-win regular season at the Division I level, Barone guided the Cougars to their first-ever Ohio Valley Conference Championship when SIUE defeated Southeast Missouri in the OVC Championship game. The Cougars then advanced to the program's first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament. A No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region, SIUE fell to the eventual national runner-up Houston in the first round.

SIUE men's basketball graduate guard Ray'Sean Taylor was named to the 2025 Scholar-Athlete Team as chosen by the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association. Players from all Division I-AAA ADA schools are eliginle if they have a grade point average of at least 3.2 (on a 4.0 scale), have been a starting player or a significant contributing reserve player, have played in at least half of their team's scheduled games, and have at least junior academic standing.

SIUE graduate guard Ray'Sean Taylor was selected as the Ohio Valley Conference Male Athlete of the Year'for 2024-25 . Taylor becomes SIUE's first-ever OVC Athlete of the Year selection and is the 50th selection since the first award was given out following the 1976-77 season (there have been multiple award winners in some years).

Roster

Source

Schedule and results

Source

, -
!colspan=9 style="", Exhibition

, -
!colspan=9 style="", Non-conference regular season

, -
!colspan=9 style="", Ohio Valley Conference regular season

, -
!colspan=9 style="",

, -
!colspan=9 style="",

Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team
SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball seasons
SIU Edwardsville
SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball
SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball
SIU Edwardsville