Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
8-6 (2-1)
Bradley
6-8 (0-3)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois | 35 | 37 | 72 |
| Bradley | 27 | 37 | 64 |
Men's Basketball wins second straight, tops Bradley, 72-64
01/04/2011 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2011
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
PEORIA, Ill. - Carlton Fay scored a season-high 19 points, and Southern Illinois gritted out another win without its leading scorer and rebounder, beating Bradley, 72-64, on Tuesday night.
The Salukis (8-6, 2-1) have won five of their last seven games and are above .500 in conference play for the first time since starting 2-1 a year ago. Most impressively, they've won two-straight without starting center Gene Teague, who remained sidelined with an ankle sprain.
The key to the win for Southern was holding Bradley guard Andrew Warren to 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field. He entered the game as the league's leading scorer -- averaging nearly 20 per contest.
"We were just going to dog Andrew Warren," said Lowery, whose team has shown a knack for taking away an opponent's top scorer this year.
Bradley head coach Jim Les dismissed questions about his team's offense. He pinned the loss squarely on the Braves' defense.
SIU shot 51 percent from the floor, including 62 percent in the first half.
"Defensively, I thought the first half was a ridiculous effort on that end of the floor," Les said. "No offense to Southern, but I thought a lot of that was due to our miscues defensively and lack of commitment on that end."
The Braves (6-8, 0-3) took an early 10-9 lead, but Southern used an 8-0 run to seize control of the game. Most of the first-half production came from Fay and Justin Bocot. Each player was 4-for-4 from the field in the half.
"Justin was the X-factor," Lowery said. "He did a great job of taking shots he can make. His composure was good."
The Salukis led by eight at halftime and pushed the lead to a dozen, 47-35, on a jumper by Mamadou Seck with 9:39 remaining. Seck finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Protecting its lead, Southern was efficient on offense, using up most of the shot clock and often coming up with a bucket with less than five seconds left. Lowery credited back-up point guard Mykel Cleveland, who had seven points, five assists and no turnovers, for his floor leadership.
"We got great point guard play from Mykel," Lowery said. "He made great plays on slips to Seck."
Lowery said the second-half offense ran primarily through Fay and Seck. Fay hit some clutch shots, including a jumper with 4:39 remaining after Bradley had cut the lead to 47-41.
"Carlton's seen where he's had failures earlier this year, and now he's stepped up and he's making those plays," Lowery said of his senior forward. "He's doing more than just scoring. He's doing a good job defending and being a helper, and talking and saying the right things in the locker room. That leadership in the locker room is more important than what he does on the floor."
Lowery's only disappointment was the way his team gave up 23 points in the final four minutes of play. To extend the game, Bradley was fouling on every possession, and Southern's defensive intensity slipped.
"We did a really good job up until the last 3:46," Lowery said. "Then it was relaxing and smiling and being happy when the game's not decided."
Lowery said the silver lining in Teague's injury is that his team is learning to play without him, and true freshman Davante Drinkard is getting valuable experience. Still, he'd like to see the big fella back on the court soon.
"Gene's itching to come back," Lowery said. "We're not holding him just to hold him. He's not ready."
Bradley has its own injury problems. The Braves have played most of the season without starters Sam Maniscalco and Taylor Brown, who are both out for the year.
"They're a depleted team," Lowery said. "We have to keep that in perspective. They have some very good players out."
Southern returns home for two key games against Creighton (Friday) and Illinois State (Sunday).
"It's too early to say we've arrived or anything like that," said Lowery of his team's recent improvement. "It shows that, hopefully, we have a level of consistency that we're starting to build with the kids. Them believing in the system and how we play."
