Southern Illinois University
17-3, 7-1VALLEY
Drake
8-10, 3-5VALLEY
Men's Basketball Beats Drake, 79-64
01/24/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2002
DES MOINES, Iowa - Southern Illinois jumped out to a big lead early and coasted to a 79-64 win over Drake Thursday night at the Knapp Center.
Four players scored double figures for the Salukis, led by Kent Williams' 18 points.
SIU never trailed in the contest and opened the game with back-to-back steals on Drake's first two possessions of the game, leading to a breakaway layup for Marcus Belcher and a dunk for Rolan Roberts.
The Salukis made seven 3-pointers in the first half and built a 42-23 halftime lead. During one stretch in the first half, the Salukis converted four straight 3-point buckets, one by Belcher, two by Brad Korn and one by Darren Brooks.
"We felt that if we moved the basketball and got it inside, that would free up our shooters," Saluki head coach Bruce Weber said. "We had good post action, and that opened up the 3-point shot."
Belcher and Korn had three 3-pointers each in the first half.
Drake came as close as eight points in the second half, 61-53, with 9:42 remaining. But Southern Illinois eventually rebuilt a 20-point lead, 79-59, with 2:47 left.
The Salukis controlled the paint in the second half as Rolan Roberts went to work and scored on a series of dunks and layups. He finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. And Williams scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half, hitting runners in the paint and jump shots from the baseline.
"The positive thing about our team is that they are unselfish," Weber said. "They share the basketball, and someone different is always stepping up."
Drake, which entered the game shooting 44 percent from the field, was held to 38 percent in the game. The Bulldogs' Luke McDonald, who is the second-leading scorer in the Missouri Valley Conference, was held to just five points on 2-of-11 shooting.
"That was really big," Roberts said. "We were worried about him going off, but Stetson (Hairston) did a great job defending him."
Southern Illinois (17-3, 7-1) is off to its best start since the 1966-67 team went 24-2 and captured the National Invitation Tournament championship. Drake dropped to 7-9 overall and 3-5 in the MVC.
