Southern Illinois University
15-14, 6-12
Wichita St.
23-8, 12-6
Shockers down Men's Basketball, 76-55
02/27/2010 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2010
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State breezed to a 76-55 win over Southern Illinois on Saturday, sending SIU to its seventh loss in the last 10 games.
The Salukis (15-14, 6-12) entered the contest locked into the No. 9 seed in next week's Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Louis, and they appeared to buckle under the strain of so many close losses this season. The 21-point defeat equaled the total margin of the team's last five losses combined.
"You have to put this behind you," said head coach Chris Lowery. "This was a good, old-fashioned butt beat. That's what happens when you don't come ready to play."
The Shockers (23-8, 12-6), meanwhile, kept their hopes alive of claiming the coveted No. 2 seed in the tourney. Energized by a sold-out crowd, the team honored senior guard Clevin Hannah with a dominating performance in all phases of the game.
Wichita State jumped out to a 10-0 lead, shot 65 percent in the first half, 58 percent in the game and never trailed.
"They had a lot of energy," Lowery said. "They used the building."
Hannah was the catalyst, nearly posting a double-double with 13 points and nine assists. He routinely broke through Southern's defense and set up easy looks for big men JT Durley and Garrett Stutz. The front court duo finished with 21 and 10 points, respectively.
"They played as good as they've played all year, as far as making shots and doing the team side of it -- moving the ball and getting what they wanted," Lowery said. "You have to give them credit for that."
Too often, Southern's defense broke down, resulting in the bigs being saddled with foul trouble. Center Gene Teague fouled out with one point in just 13 minutes of play.
Trailing by a dozen at halftime, the closest the Salukis came to challenging in the second half was eight points, 40-32, on a driving layup by Fay. The Shockers quickly extinguished any comeback hopes with a 13-2 run.
"That was our chance right there to really close the gap and make it a game," Lowery said.
Instead, Wichita State ran away with the game, leading by as many as 26 points before pulling their starters with nine minutes to go in the game.
The Salukis had their worst shooting performance in the last 12 games, converting 39 percent from the field. They also had 14 turnovers and just eight assists.
"They were very physical and tough with us on the perimeter," Lowery said. "They made it tough, and we panicked, and that's why we had a negative assist to turnover ratio. We couldn't get things going on the team side of it. Everything we did offensively was one-on-one."
One bright spot for Southern was the play of freshman point guard Kendal Brown-Surles, who scored a career-high 15 points to go with three assists and two steals.
"He's a freshman, he's playing the toughest position and he's growing up," Lowery said.
Brown-Surles replaced Kevin Dillard, the team's leading scorer, several minutes into the game. Dillard is still nursing an ankle sprain.
"He was feeling good in warmups, and then he tweaked it," Lowery explained. "Instead of making it worse, we just decided to not play him."
The Salukis will play No. 8 seed Drake at 6 p.m. on Thursday night in the opening round of the tournament.
