Southern Illinois University
Missouri-St. Louis
Men's Basketball runs past Missouri-St. Louis, 89-64
11/06/2005 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 6, 2005
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
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CARBONDALE, Ill. - If Sunday night's exhibition game is any indication, the Southern Illinois men's basketball team may be quicker and more explosive than ever before.
The Salukis whipped Division II Missouri-St. Louis, 89-64, but the 25-point victory could have been much larger had Southern not played the final 10 minutes of the game with three true freshmen and two walk-ons on the floor.
At one point in the second half, SIU led 66-33. That's when head coach Chris Lowery gave his front-line troops the rest of the night off.
But for the first 30 minutes of the game, the Salukis pushed the ball with determination, led by junior guard Jamaal Tatum, who finished with 12 points and five of Southern's 22 assists.
"This year is different, because this team is streamline," head coach Chris Lowery said. "They can really run. We will be able to get up and down."
True freshman point guard Bryan Mullins was equally adept at running the offense. The lefthander dished out seven assists and had no turnovers.
"He is going to make a lot of people happy in this arena," Lowery said. "Guys are getting layups because of Bryan."
SIU's big men were the benefactors of the unselfish, high-octane offense, as forwards Matt Shaw and Randal Falker scored 15 and 10 points, respectively.
"A big emphasis is making sure you have a big guy run the lane on every possession," Shaw said. "Just really try to concentrate on running the floor and getting easy buckets."
Mullins certainly did not look like a true freshman playing in his first game. He ran the offense crisply and demonstrated a knack for staying under control while pushing the basketball on the fast break.
"Coach says this is one of the most athletic teams we've had," Mullins said. "Our big guys can get down the floor as fast as our guards, so that is what makes us be able to push the ball. Coach keeps telling us to push it until the defense stops us."
Missouri-St. Louis never did stop the Salukis, and SIU's trademark pressure defense turned up the heat early.
After falling behind 6-2 just minutes into the game, Southern held UMSL without a field goal for a seven-minute span.
At halftime, the Salukis led comfortably, 44-24.
"It was fun," Tatum said. "Now we kind of have a guage of where we are. It is a good measuring stick for us, and now we are anxious to play another game."
All 13 players who dressed for Southern played at least 10 minutes. Lowery said he has three benchmarks for determining playing time.
"We want to see if they can guard, run and share the basketball," he said.
Forward Mike Dale did not dress for SIU. Lowery said he was serving a one-game suspension for a violation of team rules.
