Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
7-3, 2-0MVC
Illinois St.
1-9, 0-2MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois State | 39 | 26 | 65 |
| Southern Illinois | 34 | 40 | 74 |
Men's Basketball Rallies to Beat Illinois State, 74-65
01/04/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2003
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Sparked by its seniors, Jermaine Dearman and Kent Williams, Southern Illinois rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to beat Illinois State, 74-65, Saturday at SIU Arena.
The Salukis (7-3, 2-0) played lethargic in the first half and trailed the upset-minded Redbirds (1-9, 0-2), 39-34, at halftime.
Illinois State extended its lead to nine points, 49-40, on a jumper by Baboucarr Bojang with 15:12 remaining in the game.
Southern then went on a 22-6 run during the next 10 minutes that started with a 3-point play by Dearman. Guard Darren Brooks then blocked a Redbirds' shot attempt by Trey Guidry and dribbled coast-to-coast before spotting Bryan Turner in the left corner, who drilled an open 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 49-46.
The crowd of 7,104 came to life but was quieted moments later when Guidry sank a 3-pointer to put ISU back up by six.
However, Southern reeled off nine straights points that started with a jumper by Brad Korn and included a steal and dunk by Stetson Hairston, a 3-pointer by Korn and a jumper by Brooks to give SIU a 55-52 lead, which it never relinquished.
Williams led the Salukis with 19 points and secured the victory by making 7-of-9 free throws. Dearman had a double-double with 13 poins and 10 rebounds. Brooks also finished in double figures with 11 points, and Hairston had a strong game on the glass with eight rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
The victory extended the Salukis home winning streak to 19 games.
Postgame Quotes SIU Coach Bruce Weber:
"It's kind of what we expected as a staff, with Tom (Richardson's) whole thing last Sunday trying to get (his team's) attention. I guess it paid off because (Illinois State) played hard, especially the first half. They scored 13 out of their last 19 possessions of the first half. We couldn't stop them. Our kids got their heads down a little bit. We couldn't finish some things in the paint."
"Our kids responded in the second half. A lot of big plays by different people. That's what you hope a veteran team does at home. The crowd was great."
"We defended real well in the second half. They scored a quick seven or eight points, but after that, we pretty much shut them down the rest of the half."
"We only shot eight threes, which is probably a record for us. Getting the ball inside and getting them in foul trouble was very important for us."
"(Our players) were very proud of themselves in the lockerroom after the game. It was a gut-check game. We were struggling. We had no enthusiasm, we had our heads down. We never got the crowd into it. Finally, we made some plays and got the crowd into it."
G Stetson Hairston:
"(ISU) came ready to play in the first half, and we didn't, and it showed. The second half we made some plays, had high energy, boxed out, helped each other out defensively, we ran breaks, executed and passed. We did the right things to win."
G Kent Williams:
"When it comes to conference, it's a whole different story. You've got more to lose. The coaches are familiar with your players, and we're familiar with theirs. So it's just going to be a war. You're not going to get easy looks. It comes down to who's going to play a little tougher."
"We have to take pride in our defense and make everybody work for everything. I think our biggest problem has been on offense. We have to get down there and be patient and make them work. When we're at home we take some quick shots, and a lot of them fall. When we're on the road, some of them don't seem to fall, and you don't have the crowd to get your adrenaline going."
"We just have to respect our opponent. We knew Illinois State is a wounded warrior and they were going to come out ready to fight,and that's what they did. I think some of us didn't respect them as much. You look at a team's record. That's what I told the guys, it's conference play and you don't look at records. Anybody can beat anybody."
F Jermaine Dearman:
"It was a physical game, but we expected them to play hard because they've been in the doghouse all week with their coach. He took their lockerroom away from them, and they came off a tough loss, so we knew they were going to give us a good effort."
"When you get to conference, there's no gimmees. We just have to be ready and prepared. We haven't been playing well on the road. I think turnovers is the big key. We have to limit our turnovers and outrebound teams and just play hard. We can't get down on ourselves. We have to play together as a team."
"I don't think we're out of the running for an at-large bid (to the NCAA Tournament). We have to focus on winning the conference and taking it one game at a time."
