Southern Illinoise University Athletics
No. 16 Southern Illinois 68, Creighton 60
02/24/2004 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb 24, 2004
By JASON STRAIT
AP Sports Writer
CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) - Darren Brooks had 14 points and hit a late jumper to lead No. 16 Southern Illinois to its 15th straight victory, 68-60 Tuesday night over Creighton.
Southern Illinois (23-2, 16-0 Missouri Valley) has already won the conference title, its third straight. The Salukis are two wins away from finishing with a perfect record in the league for the first time in school history.
The Salukis nearly blew a 17-point lead in the second half.
Creighton (19-6, 11-5) had cut the deficit to 61-58 when Brooks made a long jumper with 1:36 remaining. After a steal by Stetson Hairston, Brooks made a free throw to extend the lead back to six points with a minute left.
LaMar Owen had 12 points for Southern Illinois, and Brad Korn and Hairston 10 apiece.
The winning streak is the school's best a Walt Frazier-led team won 19 in a row in 1966-67 and the NIT title.
Southern Illinois led 18-15 when a 13-2 run extended the margin to 14. Bryan Turner started the spurt with a 3-pointer, and Owen scored eight straight points during the run.
Hairston hit a 3 from the corner with 5 seconds left to give the Salukis a 40-25 halftime lead. Southern Illinois forced 12 turnovers in the first half and held the Bluejays to 39-percent shooting.
The Bluejays got the lead down to 48-44. Reserve Kellen Miliner hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Nate Funk nailed another 3 to cap a 19-6 run for Creighton to open the second half.
The Bluejays kept it close down the stretch, but hurt themselves with 20 turnovers and never were able to take the lead.
After starting the season 12-0, Creighton has lost three of its last four.
Funk led the Bluejays with 15 points, and Brody Deren had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The loss likely ended any hope of Creighton receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Creighton had made the NCAA tourney each of the past five seasons, a streak matched by only one other team in the conference's history.
Creighton has lost its last 21 road games against ranked opponents.
