Southern Illinois University
7-1
Montana
3-7
Men's Basketball Tops Montana, 82-71
12/21/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2003
By Seth Whitehead
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE - The Montana Grizzlies were in the giving spirit four days before Christmas.
The Southern Illinois University men's basketball team, on the other hand, was doing its best impersonation of the Grinch.
Montana coughed up 28 turnovers Sunday-- 15 coming on SIU steals -- helping the Salukis build a 28-point lead midway through the second half.
SIU then hung on despite a UM charge down the stretch, picking up an 82-71 win and a school-record tying 30th straight home victory.
"Obviously, when you cause 28 turnovers, your pressure was a key part of the game," SIU head coach Matt Painter said. "We're finding out from our opponents so far that they are not used to our pressure."
"We worked hard in practice this week on playing better defense," said SIU guard Darren Brooks. "And it looked like it worked tonight. Our main focus was defense tonight. We really didn't care about offense. We tried to pressure them so much on defense, that on the offensive end, we were kind of just running around."
Great Saluki defense -- along with brilliant performances by Brooks -- have become common occurrences this year. Sunday's game was no exception.
Brooks led SIU on both ends of the floor, tying his career-high with 26 points and grabbing six steals. Brooks was an efficient 10-for-17 from the field, adding five rebounds and three assists.
Brad Korn added 12 points for SIU, while Sylvester Willis chipped in 10 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the foul line. SIU made 22-of-30 foul shots in the second half, keeping the Grizzlies from seriously threatening down the stretch.
SIU was 24-for-34 from the line overall, one game removed from getting to the charity stripe just 10 times.
"We went 10-for-10 from the foul line at Murray State, and we talked about how we're not getting there enough," Painter said. "We play Murray State -- and they press -- and we don't get in the bonus. I thought that was our fault for not getting the ball inside and not recognizing and being aggressive. Tonight we were more aggressive and were able to take the ball to the basket."
SIU (7-1) held a comfortable 37-26 lead at halftime, but really didn't dominate until it went on a 19-2 run early in the second half, seemingly putting the game away.
Willis got the Dawgs going, hitting six consecutive free throw attempts to push SIU's lead out to 48-31. Willis entered the game a career 58 percent shooter from the free-throw line.
Brooks then hit a 3-pointer to give the Salukis a 20-point advantage.
LaMar Owen completed 15-0 SIU run moments later with thunderous dunk on a lob from Hairston. Owen set up the fast-break hoop with a steal on the other end of the court.
A Kamarr Davis jumper broke MU's scoreless streak, but a Jamaal Tatum jumper -- followed by a Tatum steal and basket by Stetson Hairston -- gave SIU its biggest lead, 61-33, with 11:45 remaining.
The Salukis took advantage of six Montana turnovers during the run, resulting in nine points.
"We had a good run there in the second half, and I was glad to see us come out with some intensity and defensive pressure," Painter said. "We got after them and built that big lead."
But Montana suddenly stopped coughing the ball up. And, subsequently, the Grizzlies responded with a 14-0 run of their own, nearly nullifying SIU's run.
But unlike the Murray Sate game, a temporay collapse did not do the Salukis in. The Grizzlies were only able to cut SIU's lead to 10 points two times late in the game before simply running out of time.
"I think guys get relaxed," Brooks said. "That's one thing you can't do in college basketball is relax. A lead can be gone just like that.
"We tried to focus (on holding a lead) tonight after what happened at Murray State in the second half. Unfortunately it happened again, but hopefully we can correct it when we come back from the break.
"Today we had to grind it out a little bit," Painter said. "But we also put ourselves in a great position being up 28. I was happy we got to that point. I'm very pleased with our effort and very pleased to be in the position we're in at Christmas."
Steve Horne led the Grizzlies (3-7) with 25 points -- 20 coming in the second half -- while Brent Cummings finished with 15 points.
The Salukis will look to extend their home-court winning streak to 31 games next Sunday at 2 p.m. against Illinois State. SIU trails only Duke (32) for the nation's longest home court winning streak. The Salukis also won 30 in a row at SIU Arena from March 5, 1965 to Dec. 9, 1968.
