Southern Illinois University
6-3
Little Rock
6-4
Men's Basketball cruises past Arkansas-Little Rock, 67-42
12/22/2005 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2005
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
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CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois played its best all-around game of the season Thursday night, suffocating Arkansas-Little Rock with its defense and knocking down 10 3-pointers on offense en route to a 67-42 win.
The Salukis (6-3), who won their fourth-straight game, were paced by Jamaal Tatum's 18 points. The Missouri Valley Conference's second-leading scorer hit 4-of-7 shots from 3-point range and also led the team with five assists.
SIU head coach Chris Lowery said he's noticed a subtle change in Tatum's game.
"He's relaxed. He's let things happen," Lowery said. "He hasn't had a high volume of shots. He's let his teammates work for him and set him up. He's not trying to dribble, dribble, dribble every time he has it."
SIU entered the game shooting just 39.2 percent from the field on the season, but shot a season-best 47.3 percent against the Trojans (6-4).
"I really feel good about the way we played as a team," said Tatum. "I don't think there could have been any better chemistry tonight."
Six different players made field goals from beyond the arc for SIU as the Salukis led by double digits most of the game.
Trojans' head coach Steve Shields said he was more impressed by Southern's defense, which limited his club to 37.5 percent from the field and forced 19 turnovers.
"They do a great job of getting out and pressuring the wings and pressuring the basketball," Shields said. "They apply great man pressure. They always have."
The pressure seemed to wear UALR down in the second half. Trailing by 14 at the break, the Trojans closed the gap to 43-35 with 12:13 left in the contest. However, SIU went on a 13-0 run during the next six minutes to stifle any hopes of a comeback.
"The bottom line is we got out-coached tonight, we got out-toughed and we got out-played," Shields said. "We expected a very hungry team tonight, and a team that had a great edge to them."
Saluki head coach Chris Lowery said his team has gotten back to the basics.
"We're getting back to playing smash-mouth," he said. "When we guard like that, we get transition stuff, we get easier looks, because we wear people down on defense."
Point guard Bryan Mullins, who took over the team lead in steals after swiping the ball four times against UALR, said the Salukis have their priorities in order.
"Defense is always first in this program," he said. "Offense is going to come and go, but as long as we play defense, we'll win games."
Lowery said his squad has a better understanding of what the staff wants it to accomplish on the defensive end.
"Being aware of where the ball is was our glaring weakness early on (this season)," he said. "We've always been great on the ball, but we were getting back-doored and getting lay ups on us and wide-open threes because we never knew who we were guarding.
"We've been getting back to the blue collar aspect of the team in practice," Lowery continued. "More defensive stuff and less offensive stuff. Mentally, they need to know that we're going to be a defensive-minded team."
Southern out-rebounded UALR 31-27, and Randal Falker led the team with five boards.
"I thought we got whipped on the glass, especially in the second half," Shields said. "Falker did a great job on the glass and broke our backs with some offensive rebounds."
Falker also scored 10 points for SIU, and Lowery said he could have scored more if Southern's guards had looked for him more often.
"He's getting double-teamed almost every time in the post," Lowery said. "That's a sign of respect that teams think he's getting better."
The Salukis will have two days off and return to practice on Christmas night as they prepare for a Dec. 28 game at Murray State.
