Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
12-12, 7-6MVC
Creighton
17-6, 8-5MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois | 26 | 27 | 53 |
| Creighton | 45 | 27 | 72 |
Creighton hands Men's Basketball a 19-point loss
02/10/2008 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2008
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
OMAHA, Neb. - What a difference two weeks and a change of scenery made for Creighton.
A few weeks ago, the Bluejays could muster only 44 points and went nearly 13 minutes without making a field goal at SIU Arena in Carbondale.
On Sunday, Creighton scored almost at will in the first half and coasted to a 72-53 win over Southern Illinois at the Qwest Center. CU shot 60 percent from the field and scored more points in the first half than it scored in the entire game in the previous meeting, as the Bluejays staked out a 45-26 lead at halftime.
"We didn't guard them this game," Saluki head coach Chris Lowery said flatly. "We did a good job of keeping them at bay at our place and really not allowing them to have open shots."
Open shots were plentiful on this night for Creighton's guards, which scored 50 of the Bluejays' points, including 20 off the bench by Booker Woodfox.
With the victory, the Bluejays (17-6, 8-5) snapped a four-game home losing streak to Southern and moved into sole possession of third place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.
The Salukis (12-12, 7-6) lost for the ninth time in 10 tries on the road this season and dropped a game behind Creighton into a tie for fourth with Bradley. Unlike past years, Southern has been unable to impose its trademark grind-it-out style of play on the road.
"Our struggles are all mental on the road," said Lowery, who proceeded to reel off a list of things his team does not do very well away from home. "We don't rebound the ball very well on the road. We give up offensive rebounds, like we did early in the first half, which allowed them to get out and get away from us. We can't guard the dribble on the road at all, and that's pretty clear. We even tried pushing back and picking them up half court, going away from our full-court pressure, and that didn't even help."
Creighton ensured from the onset that this would be a fast-tempo game. The strategy to nullify Southern's bruising post player -- Randal Falker -- by making him run the floor without getting many touches on offense worked to perfection.
"From the get-go, we didn't establish any toughness," Lowery said. "It was a very finesse game, and we allowed them to dictate tempo, which was pushing the ball."
Coming off a 21-point, 15-rebound performance on Wednesday against Indiana State, Falker made just 3-of-4 shots against the Bluejays, finishing with seven points and one rebound.
"We didn't get him the ball enough, but the other thing is he got one rebound," Lowery said. "He got caught up in the crowd. He let that affect him. They were really on him, but they've always been on him. Those things can't affect him. I just thought he didn't have a great energy level as far as chasing the ball as he has in previous games."
The Bluejays led 10-2 after four minutes, and that was before Woodfox even entered the game. When the junior guard stepped on the floor, it was like striking a match that quickly turned into a roaring fire. Woodfox made 5-of-6 shots and scored 16 of his game-high 20 in the half, as Creighton led by as many as 20 points.
"He was the X factor," Lowery said. "He basically single-handedly got them to where they needed to be. He always kept us at bay with big shots."
The Salukis had frequent breakdowns on defense, leaving shooters like Woodfox wide open.
"We allowed dribble penetration that hurt us all night," Lowery said. "That's what allowed those guys to get open. That's what allowed those guys to have quick reversals and drop downs in the post to their bigs and kick outs."
Although the Salukis came as close as 14 points on two occasions in the second half, turnovers snuffed out each rally. In fact, SIU committed a season-high 23 turnovers. Oddly, most of the miscues occurred in the half court, not against Creighton's press.
"They were in a zone, and we had a lot of turnovers passing and a lot of turnovers on traveling," Lowery noted. "We should have just caught it and shot the ball or caught it and reversed it."
The only Saluki in double figures on the night was Bryan Mullins with 11. He and backcourt mate Tyrone Green each committed seven turnovers, however.
Creighton, which had lost nine of the last 10 meetings with the Salukis, won its first regular-season game over the Salukis since the 2002-03 season and beat SIU for the first time at the Qwest Center in five tries.
"They got us, and they beat us good," Lowery said. "The crowd got behind them. This was one of the few times we let the crowd be a major factor in a game here."
