Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
10-2, 4-0MVC
Wichita St.
9-5, 2-2MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wichita State | 32 | 32 | 64 |
| Southern Illinois | 38 | 35 | 73 |
Men's Basketball Tops Wichita State, 73-64
01/11/2004 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2004
By Seth Whitehead
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE - With just over seven minutes remaining in the first half, it seemed the prognosticators may of been right about Wichita State all along.
The preseason Missouri Valley favorites were flat-out taking it to two-time defending champion SIU -- and doing so on the Salukis' home court -- leading 25-13.
Could it be that the Salukis -- picked to finish fifth in the Valley -- have just been playing over their heads? Maybe they really were the so-so team experts expected them to be.
But just when it appeared there might be a changing of the guard, the Salukis not only proved the latter thought to be ridiculous, but gave every indication that they are going to contend for the conference title once again.
The Salukis used a blitzkrieg-esque 14-0 run late in the first half to recover from a dismal start.
They then put the game away with a 12-2 run midway through the second half, going on to knock off the Shockers, 73-64, Sunday to improve to 4-0 in league play and 10-2 overall.
SIU is now alone in first place in the Valley -- a half game ahead of Creighton, which is playing Drake tonight.
Wichita State is now two games back of SIU at 2-2 in the MVC. And the Saluki faithful let the Shockers know it. Chants of "Over-Rated" rained down from the student section at the close of the game.
"Everybody's been thinking about how they we're ranked preseason number one," SIU junior forward LaMar Owen said. "Us being ranked fifth was a little letdown, also. We wanted to come out and show our fans and everybody around the world that we should be at the top of the list."
"We've won this league two years in a row, and we're going to keep winning the league until someone knocks us off," said senior forward Brad Korn. "We just have to have that edge and play like we're champions."
SIU certainly played like champions, but the edge was missing early on.
WSU came out with a zone defense that had the Salukis confounded, much like the recent Charlotte game. Wichita State reeled off the games first eight points, and SIU didn't hit its first field goal until the 14:07 mark.
"When people zone us, sometimes our guys don't get in a good flow," SIU head coach Matt Painter said. "They stand instead of cutting through the defense, moving, getting the ball to the high post or the short corner. It just takes an adjustment. It's something we've worked on in practice, but we're still in a little bit of funk early in the game."
The Salukis trailed by 12 after a Jamar Howard basket at the 7:13 mark of the first half, but finally started heating up after hitting just 5-for-17 from the field and committing six turnovers up to that point.
SIU slowly started cutting into Wichita's lead late in the second half before absolutely exploding with about four minutes remaining.
Korn started things with a 3-pointer at the 3:51 mark. Jammaal Tatum then came up with a steal and fast-break lay-up.
Wichita's Paul Miller then missed an easy lay-up -- and Owen made him pay -- making a strong move to the basket for a hoop and a foul that gave SIU its first lead, 31-30.
Owen missed his free throw, but the Salukis kept pouring it on. Korn hit another 3-pointer after a WSU miss, and Owen followed that up with a steal and fast-break lay-up.
Darren Brooks then came up with a steal in the backcourt, finding Stetson Hairston for an easy lay-up.
With a crowd of 6,238 at the point of delirium, WSU coach Mark Turgeon called a time out to assess the damage.
All told --in two minutes, 15 seconds: 14 points for SIU, zero points for Wichita -- including three costly turnovers and a sudden 38-30 deficit.
"Our guys battled back," SIU head coach Matt Painter said. "They got the crowd into it. I thought our pressure was key. I thought LaMar Owen and Jamaal Tatum showed a lot of energy in the first half to kind of get us going. It was a definite plus for us getting back in the game and taking the lead (in the first half), especially when the run was with Stetson and Darren on the bench."
The Shockers finally stopped the madness with a Randy Burns jumper just before intermission, but they were never able to recover from SIU's remarkable turnaround.
The Shockers were able to cut SIU's lead to just one point early in the second half, but another Saluki explosion ended any thoughts of another ridiculous momentum swing.
Korn started a 12-2 SIU run with a pair of free-throws at the 13:12 mark, and Tatum capped it with back-to-back 3-pointers that gave SIU a commanding 57-45 lead with just over nine minutes remaining.
Tatum's 3-pointers were made possible by a Turner steal and a key offensive rebound by Owen.
"LaMar Owen was the difference," said WSU head coach Mark Turgeon of the run. "He had two huge offensive rebounds."
SIU extended to an 18-point lead with a Sylvester Willis basket at the 5:20 mark, and were never seriously threatened the rest of the way.
Five SIU players finished in double figures. Korn led the way with 14.
Turner had his second straight good shooting night -- helping bust WSU's zone defense -- as he finished with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.
"He was pretty much the zone-buster out there," Turgeon said. "We came in feeling they only had two or three guys that could really shoot the ball."
Turner was coming off a career-high 17 point effort at Indiana State. He has now hit 9 of his last 14 shots from 3-point range after a 5-for-31 slump from long range.
"To get out of slump, you can't just have a good shooting night, you have to have back-to-back shooting nights," Painter said. " And that's what he just did tonight. He has stepped up, and now they defense has to worry about him. He has stepped up exactly when we needed it, very similar to last year."
"I'm feeling good right now," Turner said. "I'm looking to score more, and I have real good confidence in my shot right now."
Tatum was also efficient from beyond the arc, hitting 3-of-4 trifectas and finishing with 11 points off the bench. Owen was once again a sparkplug, scoring 10 points, grabbing eight rebounds and coming up with three steals.
Brooks chipped in 10 points and four assists. The junior guard has scored in double figures in every game this season.
Jamar Howard scored a game-high 19 points for WSU, while Rob Kampman added 13.
SIU will look to move to 5-0 in MVC play when it hosts Evansville (1-10) Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. Painter is pleased with SIU's start, but knows that there is a long way to go.
"The league is very wide open," Painter said. "We've only played four games so far. You have 14 games left, a lot of basketball left to played. We like the position we're in at 4-0, but Wichita State can still win this league. They have the players. (Mark Turgeon) is a great coach. I think they're in a little bit of a funk right now, very similar to where we were last year in late December. Those guys are going to be there at the end."
