Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
12-11
Indiana State
10-12
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana State | 35 | 34 | 69 |
| Southern Illinois | 33 | 47 | 80 |
Men's Basketball overcomes storms, Sycamores
02/05/2008 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2008
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Even a tornado couldn't stop Randal Falker and Bryan Mullins.
While storms raged outside SIU Arena, the Saluki duo calmed its fans' fears with stellar performances, lifting Southern Illinois to an 80-69 win over a pesky Indiana State team on Tuesday night.
Falker played his best game of the season, making 8-of-10 shots from the field to finish with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Mullins was lethal from the outside, converting 4-of-5 shots from 3-point range and posting 22 points.
Play was halted with 7:39 remaining in the first half when tornado sirens blared throughout Carbondale. The crowd of 4,311 was told to move to the lower level of the arena as a precaution. Play resumed after a 25-minute delay.
The only problem for the Salukis (12-11, 7-5) was that their 21-16 lead quickly evaporated. The Sycamores (10-12, 5-7) rallied to take a 35-33 halftime advantage behind the strength of its guard play as Marico Stinson scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the first half.
SIU seized control with a 10-0 run to start the second half, however. The run featured both a 3-pointer and conventional three-point play by Mullins. The junior guard was able to free himself from Sycamore defenders, because they were so intent on stopping Falker in the post. Every time Falker touched the ball, he was swarmed by ISU players.
"I think Randall Falker showed tonight why he's a pre-season player of the year," said Indiana State coach Kevin McKenna.
Although Falker and Mullins posted big numbers for SIU, it was Tyrone Green who provided the emotional spark for SIU in the second half. He scored seven of his 11 points during a three-minute span that gave the Salukis a 52-41 lead with 12:02 to go. After one basket, in which he was fouled by Harry Marshall, Green sat up from the floor and screamed with excitement.
"Tyrone Green was the spark plug when we were dead in the water," said head coach Chris Lowery.
Afterward, Lowery said Green will take the place of Joshua Bone in SIU's starting lineup. Green has been one of the team's most productive players in the last eight games, making more than 60 percent of his shots, though the guard rarely takes one more than a few feet from the basket.
McKenna said his team's strategy was to lay off Green on the perimeter.
"We tried to play off of him and help in the post a lot," he said. "He get some angles to the basket. If you notice, he didn't take a perimeter shot. Everything was at the basket. He's a tough kid, aggressive player and we didn't have an answer for him."
Lowery said his team may have been a little rusty due to circumstances beyond its control. On Monday, the team had to cancel practice when a power outage on campus dimmed the lights in the arena. And today, several starters could not attend shoot-around due to class conflicts.
"We were kind of cold-turkey," Lowery said. "We did our scouting report in the dark, because the power was out in the arena...it was crazy."
The Salukis, who are now tied for third place with Creighton, have five days before they play the Bluejays in Omaha on Sunday.
