Southern Illinois University
11-2, 1-0
Evansville
3-8, 0-2
Men's Basketball Beats Evansville, 82-72
01/02/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2002
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Southern Illinois used a stifling defense to subdue Evansville and claim an 82-72 victory Wednesday night at Roberts Stadium in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for SIU.
The Salukis (11-2, 1-0) held the Purple Aces (3-8, 0-2) to just 30 percent shooting from the field in the first half and 41 percent for the game. Evansville entered the contest shooting at a 49 percent clip.
Five Salukis scored in double figures led by Kent Williams' 22 points. Rolan Roberts added 16 points, Marcus Belcher scored 13, and Jermaine Dearman and Darren Brooks each had 11.
"It was a sloppy game," Williams said. "We just couldn't put them away. They just kept coming back and fighting back. We have to get better at putting teams away."
SIU opened the game with an 18-4 run in the first eight minutes. All 18 points were scored by guards including six points by Williams and five by Brooks.
Evansville countered with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 18-12 at the 10:00 mark. However, SIU built a 40-22 halftime lead behind 11 points from Belcher and 10 from Williams.
Evansville cut the deficit to 76-70 with 1:22 left in the game, but SIU answered with a 6-2 run to finish the game.
"We play hard and then we don't play hard," Saluki head coach Bruce Weber said. "We don't deal with leads very well, and obviously, we're not a very good free throw shooting team."
Southern Illinois was plagued by poor free throw shooting for the second straight game. SIU, which converted just 37 percent of its free throws in its last game, made 49 percent against the Purple Aces on 17-of-35 shooting.
The Salukis used their size and strength advantage in the second half, as Roberts scored a dozen of this 16 points in the final 20 minutes. SIU outrebounded the Purple Aces 43-35 on the evening.
Sophomore forward Sylvester Willis, who missed the last two games for the Salukis with a strained Achilles' tendon, returned to action and played three minutes.
Quoting Coach Bruce Weber: "We've got to be pleased with some things and work on some others. At halftime, our players were giddy and happy. Rolan (Roberts) can be giddy and then go out and block a shot. Some players can do that, but that takes maturity."
"We're not pretty, but we're pretty successful."
