Southern Illinois University
10-2
Wyoming
6-5
Men's Basketball Knocks Off Wyoming
12/30/2004 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2004
By Scott Mees
www.SIUSalukis.com
Listen to Postgame Press Conferences
Coach Lowery | Brooks/Falker | Warren
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Salukis nearly ran the Cowboys out of the building, but it turned into a good old-fashioned shootout in the end.
Darren Brooks scored 17 points and Josh Warren added 14 Thursday as the Southern Illinois University men's basketball team held off Wyoming 81-69 at SIU Arena. The win marked the Salukis' sixth in a row.
"I think in the six-game winning streak Josh has been very good," said SIU head coach Chris Lowery. "Josh is 250 pounds, and he's out there trapping guys and making life miserable for people."
Warren scored 10 points in the second half - including 4-for-4 from the foul line - as SIU (10-2) almost let a 20-point lead, with 10 minutes to play, disappear.
"We had too many turnovers," Lowery said. "We had four at the half, and I think we had eleven in the second.
"That was the difference in the game, in the second half."
Randal Falker's layup put the Salukis up 63-43 with 9:58 left in the game, but the Cowboys (6-5) proceeded to go on an 18-6 run to chop the lead down to eight points, 69-61.
Jay Straight was responsible for a large chunk of the damage as he tallied seven points during the run. Kevin Lewis, a 6-6 forward, hit three 3-point goals during the stretch as well.
"Jay Straight is very good," Lowery said. "We tried to trap him, and we tried everything we could to get him to give the ball up.
"Somebody finally came in here and got us."
However, the Salukis had an answer, and it was Warren, who stepped up in the clutch.
Warren put back his own miss to put SIU up 71-61 with 2:32 to play. After a Wyoming basket, Warren nailed a pair of free throws, but Straight followed with a 3-pointer, which made it a 73-66 Saluki advantage.
Tony Young and Warren each hit a pair of free throws - in the waning moments of the contest - to secure an SIU victory.
SIU won the battle of the boards by a stunning margin of 37-23.
"The ball happened to come my way, and it worked out perfect for me tonight," Warren said. "I feel like I outweigh people and can use angles and my mass to body them."
The Salukis played under control and shot 3-of-8 from downtown.
"We talked this year about not taking bad three-point attempts just because you're open," Lowery said.
The Cowboys had a 7-footer and a 6-foot-10 forward in their starting lineup, but that did not seem to bother Warren, who played with a fiery intensity. The 6-foot-8, 265-pound Saluki center pounded the Cowboy post players on offense and defense.
Brooks shot 7-of-12 from the field with four steals and four assists. The Salukis shot 12-of-13 from the free-throw line in the second half and forced 20 turnovers - including 13 in the opening half.
"Free throws decide games," Lowery said. "We really focus (in practice) on just concentrating and imagining it's a game situation."
Falker tallied 12 points and seven rebounds for SIU. The redshirt freshman executed a beautiful give-and-go with Mike Dale, which resulted in a layup and the Salukis' 20-point lead.
"Twelve and seven from a freshman, against a huge front line," Lowery said. "I'll take that any day."
Jamaal Tatum scored 12 points and Stetson Hairston added nine for SIU. Almost 7,000 fans (6,958) were treated to a whale of an exciting basketball game.
In the first half, Wyoming shot out to an 8-1 edge - less than three minutes into the contest - before SIU went on a remarkable 34-11 run over the next 13 minutes.
"He (Lowery) told us we need to pick up our intensity," Brooks said. "He said this is a good team, and they can beat you at home. If you think you can continue to play like this and win then you're crazy."
The Saluki defense wreaked havoc on the Wyoming players - especially Alex Dunn, a 7-foot, 240-pound center - who had four turnovers.
"We really wanted to take their big guys out of it," Lowery said. "With the emergence of Josh, he's played well of late, and he is probably in the best shape of his life.
"He's trying to make a play for us every single time down the floor on the defensive end."
DB showed why he's the reigning Missouri Valley Conference MVP during one 70-second span, with SIU ahead 23-17.
The senior guard zipped a pass to LaMar Owen - who finished with a layup. Then, Brooks caught a long touchdown throw from Young and scored another easy two. Moments later, Brooks drove through the lane and hit Owen with a bounce pass, for a layup, to put the Salukis up 29-19.
Straight led all scorers with 26 points, but he committed eight turnovers as well. Dion Sherrell added 15 points for Wyoming.
SIU returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Drake at 1:05 p.m.
