Southern Illinois University
24-6, 14-4MVC
Bradley
8-19, 5-13MVC
Men's Basketball Beats Bradley, Wins Regular Season Conference Crown
02/25/2002 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2002
Postgame Audio
Feb. 25, 2002
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Kent Williams scored 24 points to lead Southern Illinois to an 84-73 win Monday night as the Salukis cut down the nets in victory celebration after earning a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship.
The Salukis (24-6, 14-4) finished the regular season tied with Creighton, which lost to Drake Monday night. However, SIU will be the number one seed in the MVC tournament next weekend because it swept the season series with Creighton.
"It's great for our kids," Saluki head coach Bruce Weber said. "That's what you come here for, to win championships. That's been our goal since the beginning."
Southern Illinois got off to a sluggish start against Bradley, falling behind 17-7 with 13:07 left in the first half.
The Salukis then went on a 22-4 run to take control of the game. Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers during the run, and Rolan Roberts drained a pair of hook shots. Williams capped off the scoring burst with a pretty, fast break layup in which he flipped the ball over his shoulder to bank home two points.
Leading 39-29 at halftime, the Salukis extended to a 17-point lead, 67-50, on a 3-pointer by Williams with 7:24 left in the game.
The crowd rose to its feet in wild celebration moments later when the score was announced that Drake had defeated Creighton.
"I think once the team heard it, they felt pretty good," Weber said. "Stetson made those free throws right after they announced it, and they were kinda juiced. I was worried that we might get too emotionally drunk, but we took care of it."
Bradley (8-19, 5-13) came no closer than nine points the rest of the way. Southern Illinois had its best free throw shooting night in the last 13 games, converting 32-of-41 from the charity stripe for 78 percent.
Roberts, who was honored before the game as part of the Senior Night festivities, made 8-of-10 from the foul line and had 22 points and four blocked shots.
With the number one seed, the Salukis will play the noon game on Saturday against the winner of the Bradley-Indiana State first round game.
"The only way you guarantee that you make the NCAA Tournament is if you win your conference tournament," Weber said. "That's what we've got to drill into our kids."
