Southern Illinois University
12-3, 5-0MVC
Evansville
5-8, 1-4MVC
Men's Basketball cruises past Evansville, 66-38
01/11/2006 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 11, 2006
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
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CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois overwhelmed Evansville Wednesday night, 66-38, turning in its most well-balanced performance of the season.
The Salukis (12-3, 5-0) won their 10th-straight game overall and have the nation's longest home-court winning streak at 31.
Renowned for its tenacious defense and intermittent offense, SIU played a gem on both ends of the floor against an overmatched Evansville team.
The Salukis held the Purple Aces (5-8, 1-4) to a meager 23 percent shooting from the field. The 38-point output was the fewest points allowed by a Saluki team since holding Illinois-Chicago to 37 on Dec. 21, 1998.
"That's Southern Illinois basketball at its finest," Evansville head coach Steve Merfeld said. "That's what they do. They certainly took us out of any offense in the first half."
SIU had its best shooting performance of the season, converting 51 percent from the field. Forward Matt Shaw made 6-of-7 shots in limited playing time and led all scorers with 17 points. He was 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point line.
Southern led 32-15 at halftime and quickly increased its advantage to 48-18 early in the second half. The huge lead allowed head coach Chris Lowery to rest his starters and to experiment with his lineup -- he used three big men on the floor together much of the second half.
"We needed to take a look at some other people," Lowery said. "Austin (Brooks) is out, and we may need to play Matt (Shaw) and Randal (Falker) out there as a `3'. Defensively, that's what I wanted to look at, to see if they could do it. I think they are very capable."
One of the benefactors of the blowout was freshman forward Tony Boyle, who recorded career highs in points (10) and minutes played (25). Eight of his points came in the first half, when he uncharacteristically made several aggressive moves to the basket.
"Tony Boyle came in right away and challenged (Evansville forward) Matt Webster physically," Lowery said.
Saluki point guard Bryan Mullins scored only one point for Southern, but he had a terrific floor game with a career-high nine assists and six steals.
"He plays hard and wants to make people happy," Lowery said. "You see when he gets steals and pushes, those guys will run, because they know he will give them the ball."
Southern never let Evansville believe it could win the game, holding the Purple Aces to three baskets in the first eight minutes.
"Their defense is different in that they have the athletes and the ability to get on you one-on-one," Merfeld said. "Other teams pressure through different schemes. They are very good at what they do and have been good at it for five or six years."
Lowery said he was worried before the game, because he didn't sense his team was up for the contest.
"They weren't emotional, which really scared me in the locker room, but they were very business-like on the court," he said. "I think they are growing up and mature. We told them, `don't get bored with winning.'"
The Salukis won their 40th-straight Missouri Valley Conference home game, one shy of the conference record. They also tied the school record for consecutive home wins at 31.
Although Southern leads the league by two games in the loss column, it is about to embark on a three-game road swing that takes it to Drake, Northern Iowa and Missouri State. Of the three opponents, SIU beat only Drake on the road last season.
"We talked about how hard it's going to be going on the road," said Saluki guard Tony Young, who continued to have a hot hand for SIU with three 3-pointers and 13 points on the night. "The whole thing is to just continue to jump the hurdles one game at a time."
