SIU-Edwardsville punches first men's March Madness ticket

With the win, the Cougars are going dancing for the first time in program history.

SIU-Edwardsville (22-11, 13-7 in OVC) was led offensively by senior guard Ray'Sean Taylor, who had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

The Cougars have been led by their defense this season, and that was no different against the Redhawks.

SIU-Edwardsville entered Saturday ranked 30th in the country in defensive rating and 42nd in scoring defense (66.7 points allowed per game). It held Southeast Missouri to 28.3 percent shooting (17-of-60), including just 3-of-24 (12.5 percent) from beyond the arc.

SIU-Edwardsville is in its 15th season as a major college basketball program. The program moved up to Division I in 2008 from Division II but spent its first two seasons as a non-major. 

It had 14 consecutive losing seasons before earning its first winning season in 2022-23, head coach Brian Barone's fourth year.

"It just feels amazing," Barone told the ESPN play-by-play crew following the win.

In six seasons, the former Texas A&M (1996-98) and Marquette (1999-2001) guard has an 85-102 record, with three consecutive winning seasons. 

SIU-Edwardsville made five Division II NCAA Tournament appearances, with its last coming in 2006, when it reached the Elite Eight, losing a heartbreaker, 60-58, to Virginia Union.

The Cougars are unlikely to advance as far in this year's NCAA tournament, but it's a significant milestone for the program that it even earned a ticket.

In men's college basketball bracketologist Joe Lunardi's most recent projection for ESPN, he had Southeast Missouri as the projected OVC Tournament winner and being in a 16-v-16 First Four game.

SIU-Edwardsville, No. 225 in NET rankings and No. 217 in KenPom, will take that spot instead, giving it a potentially arduous Round of 64 game against a 1-seed, if it gets that far.

But that's a problem for another day. On Saturday night, SIU-Edwardsville can revel in being champions.