Southern Illinois University
3-0
Iowa St.
1-1
Men's Basketball Shocks Iowa State, 66-57
11/22/2001 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
LAS VEGAS - Southern Illinois rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to beat Iowa State, 66-57, in the second round of the Las Vegas Invitational Thursday.
Rolan Roberts led Southern Illinois (3-0) with 24 points and was nearly unstoppable in the paint. He made 10-of-16 shots and caused the Cyclones' front court to get into foul trouble.
"We've talked about Ball State and Western Kentucky and how you have to dream big and take advantage of your opportunities to beat big-time programs," SIU head coach Bruce Weber said. "But it's a long season, and we can't have a one-game season. We have to come back and play even harder the next game."
For a while, it looked like the Salukis would be in no position to pull off the upset. SIU shot just 25 percent in the first half, while Iowa State converted 58 percent in building a 36-25 halftime lead.
"I told our kids at halftime that I don't care if we score, we just have to stop them," Weber said. "We played good defense in the second half and made some plays. Our game plan was to get (Iowa State) in foul trouble, get to their bench and dominate inside."
"We had good looks," Saluki guard Kent Williams said. "We just weren't hitting, so we looked inside and found Rolan."
Roberts, who scored eight points in SIU's first two games, dominated the low post area with layups, dunks and short jumpers.
"Guys just kept believing," Roberts said. " I've been in a slump, but this was a big game, and I was really excited. Eventually we knew we'd cut into (Iowa State's) lead and guys' shots would start falling. It's about trust. I trust Kent. He trusts me."
The Salukis trailed by 11 points at halftime, but opened the second half with a 20-8 run to take a 45-44 lead with 8:06 remaining. The lead changed hands six times in the next three minutes as the teams traded baskets.
With the score tied 50-50, SIU went on a 7-2 run to build a 57-52 lead with 2:58 remaining. Two of the baskets came on layups by Roberts.
Iowa State cut the deficit to 57-54 on a pair of free throws by Jake Sullivan, but SIU made nine of its last 10 free throws in the game to seal the victory. The Cyclones were held to 21 points in the second half and shot 29 percent in the final 20 minutes.
In addition to Roberts, Williams scored 10 points, though he was limited to 1-of-10 shooting from the field.
"Even though Kent went 1-for-10, he took good care of the ball, got the ball to people and made his free throws down the stretch," Weber said.
Iowa State (1-1) was led by Sullivan who scored 21 points before fouling out.
SIU will play Hartford tomorrow at noon local time. If the Salukis win, they will play in the championship game on Saturday and could face Illinois or Georgia Tech.
