Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
17-5, 8-2
Bradley
11-8, 4-7
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois Salukis | 43 | 46 | 89 |
| Bradley Braves | 34 | 39 | 73 |
Men's Basketball Routs Bradley, 89-73
02/02/2005 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 2, 2005
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
PEORIA, Ill. - Funny how quickly things can change in college basketball.
One week ago, internet chat rooms were burying the Southern Illinois men's basketball team, predicting its reign of three-straight Missouri Valley Conference championships was coming to an end after back-to-back road losses to Wichita State and SMS.
The Salukis (17-5, 8-2) looked like anything but a beaten team on Wednesday night as they dismantled Bradley, 89-73, for their biggest road win at Peoria in school history.
The win was Southern's second convincing victory in a row and narrowed the gap in the MVC standings to a half game behind league-leading Wichita State, which lost at Creighton Tuesday. The teams are tied in the loss column.
It's hard to describe, but something about this Saluki squad has changed. Against the Braves (11-8, 4-7), they moved with a purpose on offense, dishing out a season-high 24 assists and scoring a season-best 89 points.
"Our heads are up," Saluki head coach Chris Lowery said. "We've got our mojo back."
Senior guard Darren Brooks scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the decisive second half. What's been the key to the improvement, Darren?
"Have fun," Brooks said. "That's been our motto lately. Have fun, play hard and be aggressive."
Open shots were plentiful for SIU, which shot 58 percent from the field, including a sizzling 9-of-14 from 3-point range. Guard Tony Young scored a career-high 16 points for Southern and made 4-of-5 from outside the arc. How do you explain the turnaround, Tony?
"We just feel like a new team," Young said. "Like we're rejuvenated."
Lowery had a more scientific explanation for the Salukis' offensive outburst against the Braves.
"We have begun to attack zones better," he said. "We're not just standing around with a deer-in-the-headlights look when people put a zone on us. At least we're getting some movement and passing and cutting."
That crisp offense was on display late in the first half when SIU went on a 14-4 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 43-34 halftime lead.
Brooks, Stetson Hairston and Matt Shaw each scored easy layups during the run off of pretty passing by the Saluki offense.
"We showed a consistent level of teamwork on the offensive end," Lowery said. "Defense is our forte, and we understand that, but we haven't done a very good job of really moving the ball when we needed to, and I think tonight we found our rhythm and really got some things going offensively."
Lowery wasn't about to let his team let up in the second half. SIU has displayed a tendency to come out flat to start the second half of games this year.
"We've been obviously awful," Lowery said. "Unemotional, very slow and lethargic.
"I changed what I did (at halftime) and went in there and screamed at them," he continued. "It kind of startled them. I wanted them to wake up and not let that happen again."
"It's easy to come out and relax when you have a lead and think everything is going to be peaches and cream," Brooks said. "He told us to go out and play like the score is 0-0, and that's what we did."
SIU started the second half with a 14-5 that featured 3-pointers by Brooks and Jamaal Tatum and a two-hand slam by Randal Falker. Tatum and Falker finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
The Salukis led by double-digits the rest of the game.
The Braves were led by Marcellus Sommerville's 20 points, but he was held to just one field goal in the second half on 1-of-4 shooting.
Afterward, Lowery sounded like a coach who has figured out his players' tendencies.
About Brooks he said, "Darren's a guy who needs to make his first shot to really feel good about his offense, and once he hit a couple right away, we started going to him and doing some motion things with him, and that allowed him to get other people going."
On the stellar bench play of Young, he commented, "Tony's our sixth starter. He's not afraid of anybody. That's why he's as good as he is. He can guard, he can make an open three. He's fearless. Darren is our leader, no question, but when you look out there, Tony Young is barking orders."
And finally, he remarked on his recent decision to insert freshman forward Matt Shaw in the starting lineup.
"It took us 21 games to figure out that Matt Shaw is our starter, and LaMar Owen is our spark off the bench," Lowery said. "That's just a part of going through a season and finding out about yourself as a head coach in my first year and about your team."
About the only discouraging news to come out of the game was a first-half injury to backup guard Mike Dale, who sprained his right ankle and did not return. His status for the upcoming two-game road swing to Northern Iowa and Drake is uncertain.
