Southern Illinois University
13-3 3-1
Wichita St.
8-7 2-2
Men's Basketball Loses at Wichita State, 88-79
01/10/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2002
WICHITA, Kan. - Southern Illinois had its five-game winning streak snapped as Wichita State beat the Salukis, 88-79, Thursday night at Levitt Arena in front of a boisterous crowd of 7,406.
The Salukis (13-3, 3-1) led by as many as nine points in the first half and by two points at halftime, but the Shockers (8-7, 2-2) made 10-of-17 shots from 3-point range and rallied for the victory. It marked the first time in 12 games this season that SIU lost a game after leading at halftime.
"It's tough to play on the road," Saluki head coach Bruce Weber said. "It was loud. They had a great crowd, and it got to our kids. It's a long season. If we're going to win a championship, we have to earn it."
It looked like the Salukis might take control of the game in the first half as they built a 37-28 lead with 5:20 left behind the inside-outside combo of Jermaine Dearman and Kent Williams. However, the Shockers trimmed the deficit to 42-40 at halftime thanks in large part to Terrell Benton's 16 first half points, which included four 3-pointers.
Dearman had his fourth double-double of the game with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Williams scored 24 points and had five assists.
"There was so much one on one, and we didn't get movement," Weber said. "We didn't move the basketball, and consequently, we got no offensive rebounds. That's been our strength this season."
Southern was outrebounded 43-34 by the Shockers. The Salukis are 13-0 when they outrebound opponents and 0-3 when they are outrebounded this year.
Wichita State opened the second half with a 21-10 run to grab a 61-52 lead with 12:32 left in the game.
The Salukis cut the deficit to 70-65 with 5:54 remaining on back-to-back baskets by Sylvester Willis. But the Shockers countered with a jumper by Troy Mack, and a 3-pointer by Benton to rebuild the lead to 10 points.
Southern Illinois came no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Rolan Roberts, the Salukis' second-leading scorer and rebounder struggled with foul trouble, scoring nine points in 17 minutes before fouling out late in the game.
It was the most points SIU has allowed this season and the most since yielding 88 to Illinois State last year.
"Wichita State came out with a lot of energy in the second half," Weber said. "Usually 79 points is enough to win on the road, but we didn't stop them when we needed to and were impatient on offense."
