Southern Illinois University
6-2
Wright St.
4-5
Men's Basketball Tops Wright State, 54-42
12/14/2004 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2004
By Scott Mees
www.SIUSalukis.com
Listen to Postgame Press Conferences
Chris Lowery | Dale/Brooks | Tatum
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Darren Brooks and Jamaal Tatum carried the scoring load for SIU as it pulled away from Wright State - in the second half - for a victory Tuesday night.
Brooks delivered his second consecutive double-double with 14 points and 10 boards as the Salukis beat Wright State 54-42 at SIU Arena.
"We came off a four-game road trip with two tough losses," Brooks said. "We just had to regain our focus, and it started in practice."
SIU (6-2) led by only four points at halftime, 21-17, but the Salukis began the second half with a 24-8 run, which was capped off by a Mike Dale 3-pointer with 10 minutes remaining in the game. SIU led 45-25 at that point in the contest.
"In the first half, we were very tentative and had too many turnovers," said SIU head coach Chris Lowery. "We hadn't seen a zone (defense) in a while."
Brooks added, "Coach Lowery really stressed to get them down and step on them, so we didn't let them back in the game."
Dale came off the bench and scored seven points in a season-high 18 minutes of action.
"He's been in and out of my doghouse," Lowery said. "I think he's learning how to deal with me on a daily basis. Hopefully, he sees how he has to be to play within our family."
Moments after Dale's 3-pointer, Stetson Hairston fired a bullet underneath the basket to Matt Shaw, who delivered a two-handed dunk with authority. Shaw finished with six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field.
"It took me a while to get in the flow of things," Dale said. "When I first played I didn't realize how fast the game was. Now I know what I have to do to continue my playing time."
During the run, Tatum hit three 3-point goals and scored 13 of his game-high 16 points as the Salukis put away the Raiders (4-5).
"I didn't shoot very well in the first half," Tatum said. "I came out and put up a shot and hit it, and that got me into a flow.
"I got my momentum going, and after that, my shots just fell real smooth."
WSU shot only 29-percent in the first half, and the Salukis jumped all over the Raiders at the start of the second half.
"They (SIU) have a defense that could play well in any conference," said Wright State head coach Paul Biancardi. "They pressure the ball well without making dumb fouls. I thought we played pretty well in the first half.
"If you told me we'd only be down 21-17 at halftime, I would love that score."
Southern's pressure defense held DaShaun Wood - WSU's best player who averages nearly 19 points per game - to just eight points on 3-of-9 shooting. Wood also committed a game-high seven turnovers for the Raiders.
"He's had huge games this year," Lowery said. "We knew if we cut the head off that the body couldn't function. We threw a lot of different people at him and really frustrated him.
"It was a great defensive effort, as a whole, by our group."
The well-balanced Saluki attack featured nine players with at least 14 minutes of playing time. Lowery had an all-underclassmen squad on the court in the game's final moments.
"I told those guys they were going to play because of how they practiced yesterday," Lowery said. "When they got in the game, they had so much intensity, and they played hard.
"If those guys continue to play hard and get better, then we're going to sub quite a bit."
Coach Lowery pointed out that his team's veteran leadership is rubbing off on the younger Salukis.
"What's being taught at the top is starting to trickle down to the younger guys," Lowery said. "It's been hard because they are immature, but we've just tried to teach them how to focus on the team concept.
"When you do that, you get the individual rewards."
In the first half, SIU led 19-9 with just over three minutes left, but Wright State went on an 8-2 run to finish the half.
"We really wanted to make a conscious effort on showing people that we can guard," Lowery said. "People say that we're not really dominant defensively anymore, and we wanted to step up and show how we could really guard."
The Salukis travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Saturday for an 8:05 p.m. game with rival Southeast Missouri State. Lowery is former assistant coach at SEMO.
