Southern Illinois University
6-1
Indiana
4-2
Men's Basketball Shocks Indiana, 72-60
12/01/2001 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2001
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois stunned #24 Indiana, 72-60, in front of a rowdy, sold-out crowd at SIU Arena Saturday. It was the Salukis' first win over a ranked opponent since beating 11th-ranked Villanova on Nov. 26, 1988.
Indiana (4-2) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the game, but Southern Illinois (6-1) pulled ahead 8-6 on a jumper by Rolan Roberts and never trailed the rest of the way.
The Salukis were led in scoring by Kent Williams, who poured in 22. Roberts had 12 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks. SIU held the Hoosiers to 32 percent shooting for the game, including 26 percent in the first half.
"They are a better team than us," said Indiana coach Mike Davis. "They played extremely hard, covered well and closed out on us."
The frenzied home crowd played a big part in the victory, Davis said.
"I knew we were in trouble when they were shooting off fireworks before the game," Davis said. "It was un-freaking believable. I thought we were playing the Lakers. Our guys were looking around like `what's going on?'"
SIU led at halftime, 26-20, but Indiana rallied back to tie the game 32-32 with 15:48 remaining. The Salukis then used an 18-6 run to build a 50-38 lead with 10:30 left. Williams scored a pair of buckets in the flurry and Brad Korn and Darren Brooks each drained a 3-pointer.
Indiana cut the deficit to five, 54-49, with six minutes left, but Sylvester Willis hit a pair of free throws, and Williams and Marcus Belcher swished 3-pointers to build the lead to 62-49. SIU's biggest lead in the second half was 15 points, 72-57.
"It was a tremendous victory for us," Southern Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. "I talked to the kids before the game about all the hard work we put in during the spring in the weight room and all of the hard practices. I said this prepared you to deal with their toughness, to deal with them physically. It was just a tremendous effort.''
"We were embarassed by them last year," Weber said, referring to the Salukis' 85-63 loss at Indiana. "I still watch that film and can't believe it is our team. We have made big strides since then. The kids have made a big committment.''
Quotes from the lockerroom
Coach Weber: "I think this was the best game Kent has played here at SIU. He didn't force anything and stepped up against a high quality team. We talked about somebody stepping up and having a special game, and Kent did that. (Dane) Fife is a big-time defender too. It isn't like Kent was going up against some weakling. Then we had Mutumbo (Roberts) blocking shots for us. We actually thought he had about 10 blocks."
"It was just a great game plan. Coach (Matt) Painter and the assistants did a great job of preparing, staying up Thursday night until 6 a.m."
"I think the boards were the key to the first half. It seemed like every time we missed, we had hands on the ball. We didn't need a pretty game, and I think that is what happened in the start of the second half, we got soft again. I called a time out and said, 'you aren't going to win pretty' we needed an ugly hard-nosed game. We were much more physical after that."
"There is no doubt this is a huge win. I was really sweating in that last 1 1/2 minutes. Then they kept fouling Kent and I was so happy."
"I was really worried about the lights not coming back on at the start of the game. Then the lights came back on and nobody got burned with all the fireworks, no fire in the arena, it all worked perfectly like a story book."
"It is great to have the fan support, and hopefully they will come back. I told the kids that the fans are going to be here if we play well."
"Hopefully, ESPN will get our highlights and show that we are a pretty good basketball team."
"I thought that the kids played hard in the first half, our play hard chart was at 34 at half. A lot of times we don't get that for a game. It had to have ended up in the 50's. Then the rebounding, and of course the defensive effort. The kids executed. Our biggest thing was contesting the 3's, which we did a good job at, and then hitting the glass, and I think we did that for the most part. We had a lot of guys that had tremendous efforts."
"We played for the Salukis tonight, not for the names on our back."
Indiana quotes
Tom Coverdale: "This was our worst game of the year. We have been playing well, but we just didn't show up tonight. Not all five guys were going to the glass. We gave up 17 offensive rebounds."
Jared Jeffries "We played like crap. We played in spurts and were really weak. It was probably my worst game of the year."
SIU Quotes
SIU vs Indiana Player Quotes
Kent Williams: "I feel really good about this win, and I know the whole team does as well. We knew we had a chance to get a (NCAA Tournament) bid if we won this game."
"The first half, the scoring was pretty spread out. During the second half, we picked up our play to another level."
"This is a huge win for this program, beating a big ten school means something."
Rolan Roberts: "Coach tells us to play loose, and that is how I played tonight"
"Coming into the game we thought Indiana would be tougher than Illinois."
Jermaine Dearman: "I'm feeling so good right now, you don't even know. It all starts with defense. Rolan looked like Mutumbo out there tonight. That gives our defense a lot of confidence knowing he is down there."
"I used the crowd as motivation. Everyone was active, getting loose balls and things like that."
"When they tied it up, we just stayed calm and kept playing our game."
"I felt we could out-rebound them coming into the game. We just wanted to keep them off the boards. This game was not an upset in my mind"
