Southern Illinois University
8-2
Central Michigan
4-6
Men's Basketball manhandles Central Michigan, 74-61
12/20/2006 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2006
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
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CARBONDALE, Ill. - Behind a swarming defense and a 25-point scoring night by forward Matt Shaw, Southern Illinois manhandled Central Michigan Wednesday night, 74-61.
The Salukis (8-2) trapped and pressured the Chippewas into 24 turnovers. SIU head coach Chris Lowery said his team had strayed slightly from its tenacious defensive philosophy in last Sunday's loss to Indiana, a game in which his team forced just 11 turnovers.
"I said tonight we just had to go all out and don't worry about fouls," he said. "You've just got to play and compete and play smashmouth basketball, and we did."
Southern never trailed in the game and led by as many as 22 points over the Mid-American Conference Chippewas (4-6).
In the first 10 minutes of play, the Salukis forced 10 turnovers, and Central Michigan head coach Ernie Zeigler knew it would be a long night for his ballclub.
"This is a program that prides itself on its defensive pressure and its ability to be physical on the perimeter," Zeigler said. "That's what we saw and witnessed right away. Our inability to handle that pressure was to our detriment."
The Salukis finished with 11 steals, including three each by Shaw and Jamaal Tatum, who added 18 points for Southern.
"Jamaal came out and played about as hard as he's ever played in the Saluki uniform," Lowery said. "(He was) just everywhere. Just a nuisance on defense, on both sides of the ball."
Shaw was an unstoppable force on offense. In the paint, he barrelled his way to the basket for easy buckets early, and when left open on the perimeter, he made 4-of-5 shots from outside the arc.
"He was making shots, and I was riding him until he missed," Lowery said. "He missed that one 3-pointer in the corner, and I told I was going to sit him out, and he said `no, one more.'"
Zeigler said his team's gameplan was to double-team Saluki forward Randal Falker inside. They were able to hold Falker to five points, but CMU had no answer for Shaw, SIU's other burly forward.
"His aggressiveness, for us, was really difficult to match," Zeigler said. "He kind of man-handled our matchup there."
"Matt was phenomenal," Lowery added. "He made plays inside and out. He was aggressive. In the first half, he benefitted from Randal so much. He said that he was open because of Randal."
The Salukis shot nearly 40 percent from 3-point range, a stat not lost on Lowery, who admitted his team struggled against Indiana's zone defense. When the Chippewas threw a 1-3-1 and a 2-3 zone at the Salukis, though, they didn't flinch.
"This biggest thing that I said was to take open shots," said Lowery. "When we take open shots, we make them."
Zeigler said his scouting report on SIU was that it struggled against a zone defense. Just not their zone.
"They did a really good job of spacing and putting themselves in position to knock down and get the shots, and hopefully for them that's going to continue," he said. "But for us, we tried to do some different things defensively, and unfortunately we couldn't handle the pressure. Those first 20 minutes settled the game."
He said they wanted to force Bryan Mullins to take perimeter shots, and the Saluki point guard didn't disappoint, making 2-of-4 from 3-point range. Mullins finished with eight points and eight assists.
The game marked the debut of Saluki freshman guard Joshua Bone, who sat out the first nine games after breaking a bone in his foot. Bone missed all four shots from the field and had two points in 11 minutes.
"He's not bashful -- that's obvious," Lowery said. "We need him to be aggressive. He's good player and he's smart. It was a little fast for him today...He'll dial it in, and he'll get better."
The Salukis depart Thursday morning for San Francisco to prepare for a Saturday morning game against Saint Mary's.
