Southern Illinois University
21-5, 15-2MVC
Creighton
25-4, 14-3MVC
Salukis Soar Past Creighton
03/01/2003 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2003
CARBONDALE, Ill. - It was a magical night for Southern Illinois.
In a battle of the two titans of the Missouri Valley Conference, the Salukis came out on top, clinching the regular season title by beating 17th-ranked Creighton, 70-62, in front of a delirious home crowd.
There were plots and subplots.
It was senior night at SIU, and seniors Kent Williams and Jermaine Dearman did the big damage by scoring 24 points and 17 points respectively. When the game was on the line, they made the shots that counted most.
"We laid it all on the table," Williams said. "It's been clicking. We're truly a team in every aspect."
And the Saluki defense rose to the occasion, holding Creighton phenom Kyle Korver to 10 points, including just two in the first half. Korver, who was blanketed by guard Darren Brooks, did not get off a field goal attempt in the first eight minutes of the game.
"Anyone who was going to guard Korver had to come in and watch film clips," said Saluki head coach Bruce Weber, who celebrated his 100th career win. "We couldn't let him have a run like he did at their place when he hit three 3s in 38 seconds. You can't relax on him."
"I thought Darren did a tremendous job on Korver," Weber said. "He's done it all year quietly. He's been tremendous for us all year. I told Darren at halftime I didn't care if he scored another bucket - your job is to keep Korver in single digits. He almost did it, too."
Perhaps the most surprising development of the game was the play of SIU's Sylvester Willis. The junior center was averaging just four points per game, but scored eight points, grabbed 10 rebounds and threw down two monster dunks in the second half that whipped the crowd into a frenzy.
When the final horn sounded, it was mayhem on the hardwood as the student section poured onto the floor.
In the lockerroom after the game, the Salukis doused Weber with a water cooler.
The win clinched the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and a share of the league championship for Southern Illinois (21-5, 15-2 Missouri Valley Conference). Both SIU and Creighton (25-4, 14-3) have one game remaining on Monday night.
It was the first win for the Salukis over a team ranked as high as No. 17 since Nov. 26, 1988, when Southern Illinois defeated No. 11 Villanova.
It was the first win over a ranked conference team for the Salukis since Jan. 19, 1978, when Southern Illinois topped Indiana State and Larry Bird.
The win was the Salukis' 27th consecutive home victory, the fourth-longest active streak in Division I. Southern Illinois finished 14-0 at home this season.
A 3-pointer by Williams gave Southern Illinois a 41-33 lead with 16:26 left. But the Blue Jays went on a 7-0 run to pull within a point with 12:54 remaining.
Southern Illinois then answered with a 13-4 run to take a 54-44 lead with 7:21 to go. The Salukis' biggest lead was 11 at 61-50 with 4:09 showing.
Creighton came back with a 10-1 run to trail by two, 62-60, with 1:36 left. Dearman scored at the 1:05 mark and an intentional foul by Lindeman on Williams, who sank both free throws with 37.4 seconds left sealed the win for the Salukis.
"We got it close to 62-60, but they got some offensive rebounds and that was that," Korver said. "We felt like we had momentum, but that changed pretty fast."
The Blue Jays opened by scoring the first seven points. Back-to-back baskets by Dearman gave Southern Illinois the lead at 12-11 and began an 11-0 run, giving the Salukis a 19-11 lead. Creighton was held scoreless for 5:42 before Lindeman scored with 8:18 left in the half.
"I told our kids, 'Don't panic,"' Weber said. "It's a long game. We needed to play 40 minutes of solid basketball. We didn't need to be perfect."
A jumper and a free throw by Dearman gave the Salukis their biggest lead of the half at 22-13. Creighton cut the gap to four points at 25-21, but Southern Illinois outscored the Bluejays 7-2 in the final 2:59 of the half to take a 32-23 halftime lead.
