Southern Illinois University
10-3, 3-0
Indiana St.
8-4, 1-3
Men's Basketball rallies to beat Indiana State, 55-49
01/05/2006 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2006
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Southern Illinois held Indiana State to one point in the final seven minutes of the game Thursday, rallying to beat the Sycamores, 55-49.
The Salukis (10-3, 3-0) trailed 48-44 after ISU's Jeremiah Wise hit a 3-pointer with 7:25 remaining.
But as Southern has done throughout its current eight-game winning streak, it turned the defensive pressure up a notch and forced the Sycamores to miss their final eight shots of the contest.
SIU closed out the game with an 11-1 run and remained the only unbeaten team in Missouri Valley Conference play.
"There's just something about our kids that, at the end of the basketball game, they really get cut-in," Saluki head coach Chris Lowery said. "They really finish it off."
Key shots in the final, seven-minute blitz included a 3-pointer by Jamaal Tatum that pulled SIU within one, 48-47, with 5:12 to go, and a jumper by Matt Shaw from the top of the key that gave SIU a four-point cushion, 53-49, with 31 seconds left.
"We call it winning time -- the last five minutes of the game," Lowery said. "The things we say on the scouting report seem to be more clear to them. We seem to make all of our free throws down the stretch."
"We made the shots when we needed to," said Shaw, who scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Indiana State head coach Royce Waltman was pleased with his team's effort, especially considering it played without its best player, David Moss. The senior forward missed his second-straight game with a hamstring injury.
"The first half, we shot 50 percent against (SIU)," Waltman said. "But in the second-half, we just couldn't complete plays nearly as well.
"(Southern Illinois) played 40 minutes, we played 35," added Wise.
If you're a basketball purist, this low-scoring affair was a thing of beauty. Both teams played tenacious man-to-man defense.
"This was an old-fashioned, old-school, grind-out basketball game," Lowery said.
Waltman described it as a "possession-by-possession slug it out thing."
The Salukis had their biggest lead of the game, 35-29, early in the second half.
But Indiana State (8-4, 1-3) reeled off five-straight points, and it was a see-saw game the rest of the way.
Lowery said that although his team held Indiana State to 37 percent shooting, he was impressed by the number of open looks the Sycamores created out of their motion offense.
"We learned what real motion is," he said. "That's what (Indiana State) ran against us. We learned that when you cut hard, you get open. They got us on stuff all night."
Southern's chief nemesis was Tyson Schnitker, who may be one of the most improved players in the MVC this season. He scored 15 points and displayed a wide variety in his shooting repertoire.
"(Indiana State) played as if that was the team that beat Indiana," said Lowery, referring to the Sycamores' win over the Hoosiers earlier this season. "They didn't play like they were missing their best player."
The Salukis were led in scoring by Tony Young, who had 15 points. He also played a tremendous defensive game with three steals. Young's intensity seemed to rub off on his teammates.
"We work on our toughness," Lowery said. "We work on our endurance. We work on physically trying to guard people out of what they're trying to do."
The Salukis have now held eight-straight opponents below 55 points. The last SIU team to do that was, remarkably, the 1946-47 squad.
The only downside to the victory was a groin injury suffered by walk-on, backup guard Austin Brooks. With two players redshirting, the Salukis have just eight scholarship players on the active roster.
