Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
3-1
Minnesota
2-3
Men's Basketball thumps Minnesota, 69-53
11/24/2006 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2006
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
ORLANDO, Fla. - It's not often that a Missouri Valley Conference team takes a Big Ten squad to school.
But Southern Illinois taught Minnesota a lesson in defense on Friday, pinning a 69-53 loss on the Golden Gophers.
The margin could have been much greater had Saluki head coach Chris Lowery not pulled his regulars with five minutes remaining in the game and SIU ahead, 58-34.
Minnesota head coach Dan Monson said Southern's defensive pressure was so intense that his team couldn't run its normal plays.
"They're not going to let you run sets," Monson said. "You're going to watch 30 games this year, and I don't think anybody is going to run a lot of sets against Southern Illinois."
The Salukis (3-1) trailed only briefly in the game, 21-20, after Minnesota's Brandon Smith made three free throws at the 4:11 mark of the first half.
However, Southern answered with an 8-0 run to finish the half, including a 25-foot bomb by Jamaal Tatum at the buzzer.
The second half was easily SIU's best of the season. It was 20 minutes of relentless Saluki defense -- hands in the passing lanes, players fighting through screens and tremendous ball pressure.
The Golden Gophers (2-3) made just two field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half as SIU's defense swarmed to the ball like a pack of wolves.
"Mentally, we were not ready for that punch to come out the second half," Monson said. "They really broke our will, which they're so good at."
Minnesota had 22 turnovers on the day and the majority of its shots were taken under duress.
"We really got after them and made them make tough shots," Lowrey said. "The ones they made were all tough."
Monson said he was surprised that SIU could maintain its defensive intensity for so long.
"Usually, that kind of pressure will subside a little bit as the game wears on," he said.
Meanwhile, Matt Shaw emerged as an offensive force for the Salukis. The junior forward scored 16 of his career-high 26 points in the second half and was equally deadly from inside or out.
A Shaw 3-pointer put the Salukis ahead 50-29 with 9:01 remaining. He knocked down three triples in the contest, but also took the ball to the goal with authority and made 11-of-12 free throw attempts.
"We've been trying to get him to shoot the ball for three years, because he is skilled," Lowery said. "He is good enough to make plays from the perimeter."
Shaw missed a couple of 3-pointers early, but unlike his first two years in the program, he kept firing away against Minnesota.
"That's just growing up and having experience," he said. "I've been playing for a long time here. What helps you in big games is having experience and confidence."
The win helped ease the pain of yesterday's bitter overtime loss to Arkansas, in which SIU could not hold a five-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation.
An added bonus was beating a Big Ten team with a solid reputation as an NCAA Tournament contender.
"That's a good team we played," Lowery said. "They're physical, and they're big."
Monson said the Salukis and West Virginia were the two team he feared most heading into the tournament.
"They're obviously a better basketball team than we are right now," he observed. "I think we all could see that."
SIU advances to play Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
