Southern Illinois University
22-6
Kent State
16-10
Men's Basketball Wins Wild One at Kent State
02/19/2005 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2005
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
KENT, Ohio - Southern Illinois weathered a 25-8 Kent State run to start the second half and rallied to beat the Golden Flashes, 65-54, in a wild Bracket Buster game Saturday between titans of the Missouri Valley and Mid-American conferences.
The Salukis (22-6) watched their 12-point halftime lead become a 45-40 deficit during the first nine and a half minutes of the second half.
The task looked daunting. Shots weren't falling for SIU. A crowd of 6,023 partisans, packed tight into the tiny M.A.C. Center, was whipped more and more into a fever pitch with each Kent State basket.
But the Salukis didn't wilt under the pressure. Instead, Southern Illinois showed everyone, including a national television audience on ESPN2, why it is one of the winningest basketball programs in the country for four years running, as they won their 99th game since the start of the 2001-02 season.
"The tougher team won the basketball game," Kent State coach Jim Christian said. "When the game had to be won, (Southern Illinois) got the toughness points."
Trailing by five, Matt Shaw started a Saluki rally with a power move to the hoop for a lay-in. Since becoming a starter eight games ago, Shaw has given SIU the inside presence it was lacking. He made 7-of-8 field goals in the game and had 14 points.
After Kent's Jay Youngblood missed a 3-pointer, Joshua Warren scored a layup for Southern off a nice feed from Darren Brooks. Then, Jamaal Tatum made a superb defensive play for SIU, stripping the ball from Marcus Crenshaw in the backcourt and converting a layup to put Southern ahead, 46-45, with 9:12 to go.
The Salukis never trailed, thereafter.
During the next four minutes, Brooks hit a pair of 3-pointers and Shaw scored on a jumper and a post-up move to push the Salukis' lead to 56-47 with 4:18 left.
"Darren was shooting really well from the perimeter and missing the normal stuff he makes -- layups and runners in the lane," Saluki head coach Chris Lowery said of the league's defending player-of-the-year, who finished with 14 points.
Kent State came as close as six, 60-54, on a 3-pointer by Crenshaw with 1:09 remaining, but Southern made five of its last six free throws to seal the victory.
The Golden Flashes (16-10) started the game in a zone defense, but Southern shot them out of it by nailing 6-of-12 3-pointers in the first half. Kent switched to a man-to-man in the second half, and Southern's guards responded to the defensive tactic by running pick-and-rolls and getting dribble penetration for kick-outs and open shots.
"I thought our motion down the stretch really forced their big guys to move around," Lowery said. "We got some slips, and we got some plays we wanted."
Tatum was the offensive star for SIU, making 7-of-8 shots from the field and finishing with 22 points. He made 4-of-5 triples in the first half, including a dazzling, crossover dribble and pull-up jumper just before the half ended, giving SIU a 32-20 advantage.
"(Tatum) was very special," Lowery said. "We tried to do some things to isolate him. He just jumped up and made shots."
The Golden Flashes entered the game shooting 37 percent from 3-point range, but they were 0-for-10 from behind the arc in the first half and made just 2-of-18 overall.
Still, they managed to claw their way back into the game by holding Southern to just one field goal, a jumper by LaMar Owen, in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
"We just started talking to each other and saying `we have to get this thing going again,'" Brooks said. "We just stayed poised and made plays."
The most impressive aspect of Southern's win was its ability to weather the storm of Kent's comeback and the sea of noise in the gym.
"I think the crowd really motivated (Kent State)," Brooks said. "Their adrenaline got going, and they played with a lot more confidence during (the 25-8 run). Once we made a few shots, we kind of settled back down."
"That was a heckuva environment," Lowery said. "During that run, that's as loud as any place we've been all year. That was a fun basketball game."
The Salukis have won five games in a row, including three in a row on the road.
"I knew we had a chance to be good, but we had to find ourselves," Lowery said. "In a season, you're going to have peaks and valleys. Right now, we're headed in the right direction."
Kent State's coach summarized his opinion of the Salukis.
"They're a great basketball team," Christian said. "They understand what it takes to win. They don't get rattled, they make big plays, they don't miss open shots, and they defend. That's why they're 22-6."
