Southern Illinois University
13-9 (5-7MVC)
Missouri St.
15-8 (5-7MVC)
Men's Basketball overpowers Missouri State, 73-67
02/03/2010 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2010
By Tom Weber
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Salukis are a fast-break team no longer.
The transition from run-and-gun, to pound it inside, continued Wednesday night as freshman center Gene Teague powered Southern Illinois to a 73-67 win over Missouri State.
Teague scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Salukis (13-9, 5-7) snapped a two-game losing skid.
The last seven games have seen a remarkable transformation for both Teague and his team. Prior to that time, Teague played sparingly and in relative obscurity, averaging a couple points per game.
"He wasn't ready then," noted Saluki head coach Chris Lowery.
He's clearly ready now. In his last seven outings, the Brooklyn native has scored in double figures six times. Never was his readiness more apparent than when SIU needed a bucket late in the game.
With Southern clinging to a 66-64 lead and less than a minute to play, Teague was surrounded on the block by three Bears players. No problem -- Teague took one dribble, dipped his left shoulder and shed the trio of defenders on his way to a lay-in.
"The big man gives us a chance every possession, either with a basket or a foul," Lowery said.
Missouri State head coach Cuonzo Martin said his team threw a variety of defenses at Teague to no avail.
"We tried to make him take and make tough shots, be physical with him, double here and there," Martin explained. "But he did a good job of getting low tonight."
Teague's play had ramifications for his teammates as well. The Salukis attempted a season-low dozen 3-points shots, but made half of them -- their best shooting performance from outside the arc since Dec. 9, at SEMO.
"We didn't shoot a lot of threes, and bad shots were never an issue today," Lowery said. "We didn't push the ball in transition, and we made sure all of our bigs got touches."
When Teague wasn't doing damage inside, teammate Anthony Booker picked up the slack. The sophomore forward scored all 10 of his points in the second half. The duo gives Southern an imposing inside tandem.
The Bears (15-8, 5-7) led, 37-33, at halftime, thanks mainly to the torrid shooting of Adam Leonard, who had 20 in the half, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
"That was a great shooting display by Leonard," Lowery said. "That was unbelievable."
SIU switched defenders on Leonard in the second half, giving Tony Freeman the assignment. He held Leonard to nine more points on 3-of-11 shooting.
"Free did a great job of guarding him in the second half," Lowery said. "We were pretty fearful of (Jermaine) Mallet as a rebounder in the first half, and we had Free on him. But once Leonard got 20 at the half, we needed to switch, and he did a great job."
The biggest lead for both teams during the game was seven points. The Bears held their last lead at the 6:25 mark on a pair of free throws by Will Creekmore. SIU countered with a 3-pointer by Carlton Fay that he banked home from the right wing.
In the final five minutes of play, Lowery subbed frequently and sometimes frantically, between his best offensive and defensive combinations. New to the late-game rotation were guards John Freeman and Kendal Brown-Surles.
"We just started going offense for defense," Lowery said. "We had some guys struggling to guard, but John and Kendal weren't."
The Salukis have six conference games remaining, including four on the road. They play at No. 22 ranked Northern Iowa on Saturday and then play a rematch with Missouri State in Springfield next Wednesday.
