Southern Illinois University
26-7
Missouri St.
18-11
SMS Rallies to Upset Men's Basketball, 65-61
03/06/2005 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2005
By Scott Mees
www.SIUSalukis.com
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Salukis had a 23-point first-half lead and a 16-point advantage at halftime, but it was not meant to be, as Southwest Missouri State hit 20-of-23 free throws in the second half for an upset victory.
Darren Brooks scored a game-high 25 points Sunday, but the fifth-seeded Bears defeated the Southern Illinois University men's basketball team, 65-61, in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
"We should have won this basketball game, and we let it get away," said SIU head coach Chris Lowery. "That's what's so disappointing. That's why our kids are upset in the locker room because they know we let one get away."
Brooks and the top-seeded Salukis - No. 25 in the ESPN/USA Today poll - have lost at the MVC Tournament for the past four years.
"Players do what coaches tell them, and I didn't get them in the right positions, in the second half, to make plays," Lowery said. "I totally take responsibility for that."
SIU (26-7) scored only 19 points in the second half, and was in early foul trouble as well. SMS (18-11) was in the bonus just six minutes into the second half. Southern also shot poorly from 3-point-range (2-of-11) in the final 20 minutes.
The Salukis simply could not contain the Bears' Tamarr Maclin, who scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Brooks converted a three-point play to put the Salukis up 55-46 - with 10:46 left in the game - but SIU would not score another point for almost six minutes.
Maclin followed with a dunk for the Bears, and they scored the next seven points. Randal Falker made a shot over Maclin to put SIU up 57-53 with 4:55 left in the contest.
The Salukis could not get a shot off -- while holding on to a 59-57 lead -- with only 2:39 to play. Things continued to get worse for SIU as the Bears' Nathan Bilyeu snatched an offensive rebound and scored to knot the game at 59-59. Jamaal Tatum was fouled with 47 seconds left but missed the front end of a one-and-one at the foul line. Bilyeu sank a pair of free throws to give SMS a 61-59 edge with 46 seconds remaining.
"That's - that's one of the greatest games I've ever been a part of," said SMS head coach Barry Hinson. "Southern Illinois was just phenomenal in the first half. I told my guys they were so hot you could have fried an egg on their backside."
Brooks was called for an offensive foul with 30 seconds left, and SMS hit two more free throws to hang on for the win.
"This does hurt the most having a big lead in the first half and being up 16 at halftime," Brooks said. "We just wanted to win this MVC Tournament just to be 100-percent sure (of an NCAA bid) so we could sit back and relax."
Tatum nailed a 3-pointer at the beginning of the second half, but Brooks did most of the scoring for the Salukis the rest of the way.
"I don't think there was any sense of desperation," Tatum said. "We just weren't knocking the shots down. We weren't in panic mode or anything like that."
Stetson Hairston dished to Brooks on a fast break for a layup, but it was rough for SIU after that.
"We had a lot of mental breakdowns," Hairston said. "It was not physical, it was mental. We have to go out and finish teams. Do not take anything away from SMS, they played great."
SMS slowly chipped away at the SIU lead and shot 23 free throws - after halftime - to just two for the Salukis.
SIU played its best basketball of the season in the first half - at one point building a 23-point advantage - before the Bears cut the edge to 16 points at halftime.
The Saluki offense was on fire, and Brooks scored 10 of his 15 first-half points in the first six minutes of the game. The senior buried two 3-pointers, drove the baseline for a layup, and even got a friendly bounce on jump shot.
Tatum scored 11 points in the first half, and he also got a nice bounce - on a 3-pointer. Mike Dale hit a 3-pointer and a pair of foul shots for five points in the first half as well.
Josh Warren hit a jump shot - with seven minutes left in the first half - to put SIU up by 20 points. Brooks drove through traffic for a layup just four minutes before halftime - and Southern had its biggest lead of the game at 42-19. SMS went on a 7-0 run to end the half and keep the game within reach.
Tatum finished with 18 points on 5-of-15 shooting, and Brooks added eight rebounds to go along with his 25 points - on 10-of-13 from the field. Hairston scored two points and dished out four assists. Warren added two points and four rebounds in 30 minutes of action - most of it spent guarding Maclin.
Matt Shaw, Brooks and Falker each had three fouls at just over eight minutes into the second half.
SMS collected 33 rebounds to just 25 for SIU. The Bears were 27-of-31 from the free-throw line, and SIU shot 8-of-10 from the charity stripe.
"We were up 23 at one point, and then we let them get back in it, and they cut it to 16 (at the half)," Lowery said. "That was the difference in the game."
SMS will play Creighton - which defeated Wichita State in Sunday's second game - in the championship game on Monday at 8 p.m.
The Salukis will now just have to wait for the NCAA Selection Show next Sunday, March 13, and see where they will be seeded - if indeed that happens - for the NCAA Tournament.
