Southern Illinois University
16-4, 11-1
Missouri St.
13-7, 9-2
Williams Rallies Men's Basketball to Dramatic, 76-75 Win
02/08/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2003
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Kent Williams drove the lane and sank a layup in traffic with 1.9 seconds left to lift Southern Illinois to a 76-75 win over SMS, stunning a packed house at the Hammons Center.
After an SMS timeout, Monwell Randle caught a long in-bounds pass at the top of the key and had a chance to win the game for the Bears, but his jumper hit the rim and backboard before rolling out as the final horn sounded.
Williams, who led the Salukis with 19 points, capped a late rally that saw the Salukis wipe out a five-point deficit in the last minute of the game.
Tamarr Maclin hit a jump shot at 1:11 to put SMS ahead, 74-69. He was fouled on the play by Brad Korn, but missed the free throw. Randle pulled down the rebound for the Bears, and SMS looked to protect its five-point lead and seal the victory.
The Salukis were not ready to concede the game, however, and have developed a knack for rallying to win close contests on the road this season.
Darren Brooks stripped the ball from Maclin and drove the length of the court for a layup and was fouled by Kellen Easley. Brooks made the free throw to pull the Salukis within 74-72 with 53 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, the Bears ran the game clock down to 20 seconds before Terrance McGee pulled up for a jumper. He missed, but Randle grabbed another, big offensive rebound and was fouled by Williams with 17 seconds left. Randle missed the first and made the second, giving SMS a 75-72 lead.
Needing a 3-pointer to tie, Williams shook free off a screen by Korn and was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Travis Walk with seven seconds left. Williams, with the standing-room-only crowd whipped to a fever pitch, calmly made the first two free throws, but he missed the third attempt. In the ensuing battle for control of the rebound, Sylvester Willis tipped the ball to keep it alive for the Salukis, and the ball eventually went out of bounds and back to Southern with five seconds.
Trailing 75-74, the Salukis used their final timeout to set up the game-winning shot. Williams took the in-bounds pass outside the 3-point arc and squirted through an opening in the defense, hitting a short jumper in traffic with 1.9 seconds left.
The game was a see-saw battle, with the raucous crowd providing energy for the Bears. Southern led by as many as nine points in the first half, but their lead was cut to 35-32 at halftime.
SMS (13-7, 9-2) scored the first two baskets of the second half, and neither team led by more than six points the rest of the way.
Southern Illinois (16-4, 11-1) won its sixth-straight game, the longest winning streak since the 1999-2000 season. It also remained tied for first place in the Missouri Valley Conferece with Creighton with six games remaining for each team. Creighton still has to play at SIU on March 1. That game is already sold out.
It was Weber's first win at Southwest and the Salukis' first win there since 1998. SMS (13-7, 9-2) was led by McGee, who scored 22 points.
Head coach Bruce Weber:
On Williams' winning basket:
"It's a play we ran today at the end of shoot-around. I walk (around town) on the day of games and try to visualize some things. This sounds crazy, but I actually visualized us having a close game, celebrating at the end, and that's why at shoot-around, we ran that play. It's a play we ran for Glenn Robinson (at Purdue). We get a lot of guys cutting and flatten it out, and get the ball to our guy, then everybody's flat. Kent got it and just ripped and went. I kept thinking, get a jumper, get a jumper. He kept going, and it was like the parting of the Red Sea."
"We actually practiced that play in practice today, and it didn't work, but it worked in the game. We always talk about him making big shots. He made big plays down the stretch that helped us win."
"We still have a lot of things to do, but right now, we have ourselves in a position to challenge Creighton. Our goal since the Creighton game has been to make that March 1st game at our place really mean something. We're hanging in there right now, as far as that goes."
"I think (SMS) is for real. They guard, they're athletic, they know their roles. We're just lucky to get out of here with a victory."
"I was just happy that when Kent made the (winning) bucket and our kids went out on the court, the refs, it puts them in a bind. It's good that they didn't call a technical, because it would be a shame to lose a game like that."
"I was disappointed that we gave (SMS) an open shot at the end. We were just lucky it didn't go in."
"The thing I was disappointed with most was our 18 turnovers. The crowd got to us several times, and we lost our composure and took bad shots."
"At the timeout with two minutes left, I looked them in the eye and said 'you've got to believe, you've got to make some plays, you've got to keep your composure and act like you've been here.' We have been here, and we made the plays and the ball bounced our way, and things worked out in our favor."
On the 3-point shot in which Williams was fouled:
"I told them to push it up. We were going to call a time out if we didn't have anything, but Kent gets the ball and shot fakes and (Travis Walk) goes up and fouls him."
"Now the kids have some hunger in them, some belief. We've finally won six in a row. We didn't do that last year. It's a big hurdle to get over."
"We took them out of their sets (in the first half), but then they just said 'heck with you guys,' we're just taking you (to the basket). They got angles on us, McGee played big. We were helping on McGee, and he'd shoot up a shot, now we didn't have inside position because we came over and helped, and they killed us on the offensive boards."
Kent Williams:
"I went off Brad Korn's screen, and they switched. McGee was guarding me for a while, but when I saw Walk came out on me, I knew I could take it to the hole or at least take it in and create for somebody else. The last thing Coach Weber said to me was get a good shot, so I just kept driving and saw the back of everybody's heads and took it all the way to the hole."
"I'm just reacting to what I see. I felt pretty calm on the last play. When I got it, I didn't panic. When I drove, I just saw that everything was open, and I had the best shot. I'm a senior, and I haven't won here, and I was going to leave here with a victory."
On the 3-point shot in which he was fouled:
"After I forced that last, stupid shot at the half, I realized (Walk) was right in my face, and I probably could have shot-faked him. So when I saw everybody clear out and I had Walk on me, I knew I could get him up in the air and maybe get some free throws."
Jermaine Dearman
"We just had a close game with Drake (on Wednesday). We're a veteran team that has been in these situations many a time. Last year we played in more big games than (SMS) did. They have a lot of young guys on their team. We just stepped up with confidence at the end, not rushing anything and making plays."
"This just shows that our team has maturity. We have to make a push for the MVC championship. They may be the only way we can get into the NCAA Tournament, if we run the league (regular season.) But we'll take it one game at a time.
