Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
9-6, 2-2
Creighton
11-5, 3-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT 1 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creighton | 18 | 39 | 15 | 72 |
| Southern Illinois | 25 | 32 | 9 | 66 |
Creighton rallies to beat Men's Basketball in overtime
01/07/2011 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2011
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Salukis still can't figure out how to beat the Bluejays, losing on Friday night in yet another heartbreaker to the gang from Omaha.
In this one, Creighton rallied from seven points down in the final five minutes of regulation to send it to overtime and then pulled away from Southern Illinois for a 72-66 win. The Bluejays (11-5, 3-1) have beaten the Salukis (8-7, 2-2) six-straight times, including three overtime victories.
"This one hurts, but it always hurts when you lose one and you care," said Saluki head coach Chris Lowery, whose team was on the cusp of improving to 3-1 in the league for the first time since 2007. "The good thing about it is that they really care now, so we have them in the right space."
Southern led for almost all of regulation and was in control, 50-43, after a Jack Crowder layup with 5:32 remaining. That's when Creighton mounted its comeback, using a 12-2 run to pull ahead, 55-52. Doug McDermott and Kaleb Korver each hit clutch 3-pointers during the run.
"We had mental collapses at the wrong time, but other than, that you can't fault how hard we played," Lowery said. "We dominated them on the boards by 10 and took care of the basketball."
Trailing by three, the Salukis rallied right back to take the lead, as Mykel Cleveland and Mamadou Seck each hit jumpers to give SIU a 56-55 advantage with 1:19 to go.
After Darryl Ashford made a pair of free throws to put Creighton up by one, Southern had a chance to win it on its final possession of regulation. However, Carlton Fay -- an 89 percent free throw shooter -- split a pair of charity tosses with 22 seconds remaining, sending then game to overtime.
Gregory Echenique, a transfer from Rutgers, was a major factor in his first-career start. The 6-foot-9, 270-pound sophomore led Creighton with 16 points -- a dozen of them coming in the second half. He also led the team with three assists.
Echenique's biggest assist came in OT, when he kicked the ball out from a double-team to a wide open Korver, who nailed a 3-pointer to give the Bluejays a five-point lead with 2:40 remaining, their biggest of the game. Korver finished with 14 points and made 4-of-7 from outside the arc.
"Our offensive execution late in the game and in overtime was as good as it's been all year," said Creighton coach Greg McDermott. "We stayed with our offense, even late in the shot clock, and that's a credit to our guys. They really made some plays as the shot clock was winding down."
Saluki center Gene Teague, who missed the last three games with an ankle sprain, logged 17 minutes off the bench. Southern's leading scorer and rebounder is still not at full strength. That left Carlton Fay and Davante Drinkard to guard Echenique, and they struggled to contain him.
Statistically, there were stark contrasts in the game. The Salukis had 21 more field goal attempts than the Bluejays (68 to 47), but Creighton had 20 more free throw attempts (31 to 11). SIU dominated the board, 42-32, and had 17 offensive rebounds to Creighton's five. But Southern was whistled for 24 fouls, compared to just 13 for the Bluejays. That allowed McDermott to stick mainly with a six-man rotation. Lowery used 11 players and substituted freely.
Seck was Southern's go-to player with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
"He is coming into his own," Lowery said. "Mamadou made some tough shots with people hanging on him."
The game was played in front of Southern's largest crowd of the season -- 5,897.
"Any time you can come in to a place like this, with fans like this, and get a win, it's a feather in your cap," McDermott said. "Even though we love to beat Southern Illinois, we have tremendous respect for their program, and the way they do things."
