Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
11-14, 5-9
Wichita St.
20-5, 11-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois | 26 | 30 | 56 |
| Wichita State | 27 | 26 | 53 |
Men's Basketball stuns league-leading Wichita State, 56-53
02/08/2011 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2011
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Left for dead in some quarters, Southern Illinois went in to Wichita State's sold-out Charles Koch Arena and stunned the league-leading Shockers, 56-53, on Tuesday night.
Essentially playing with seven viable bodies, the Salukis (11-14, 5-9) showed more guts and resiliency than they have at any time this season, battling and scrapping for a victory that no one foresaw.
Head coach Chris Lowery was coming off the worst week of his seven-season tenure -- his team had lost its fifth-straight game, and he was forced to suspend three players, including two starters.
"We had every reason to come in here and quit and make excuses, complain, feel sorry for ourselves," Lowery said. "But we didn't play that way."
At first, it looked like the Shockers (20-5, 11-3) might put the Salukis away early, extend their win streak to six games and tighten their grip on first place in the MVC.
They established big man J.T. Durley on the low block, where he scored eight of the team's first 11 points. With seven minutes remaining in the first half, Wichita held its biggest lead, 21-11.
That's when senior forward Carlton Fay, who led all scorers with 21 points, started to catch fire for SIU. He scored 11 during a 13-4 Saluki run, as Southern drew to within a point at halftime.
"We let him get loose a couple times and he makes contested shots," said Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall. "He's one of those guys who can just put the ball in the basket. He's an all-conference guy."
A 3-pointer by Fay with 17:14 remaining in the game gave SIU its first lead, 33-31, and the battle was on.
There were five lead changes and three ties in the second half before Southern grabbed the lead for good, 48-47, on a driving layup by Kendal Brown-Surles with 5:30 remaining.
You could feel tension building within the arena, which was not quite filled to capacity due to a winter storm raging outside.
"It was a different pressure for them than it was for us," Lowery observed. "As they watched the clock wind down, I think they kind of tensed up a little bit."
Saluki forward Mamadou Seck, who played all 40 minutes and scored 14 points, was the team's go-to guy down the stretch. Southern spread the floor and let the wiry junior weave his way past defenders to score three-straight buckets. The last one put SIU ahead, 54-49, with 51 seconds remaining.
"Maybe we're better playing with this many people and not having an inside presence?" wondered Lowery. "It lets Carlton and Mamadou play and our guards can space out."
Wichita State had three-consecutive tries at the basket before Ben Smith's layup cut the deficit to 54-51 with 23 seconds to go. The Shox used full-court pressure to force a travel by Carlton Fay and sliced the lead to 54-53 on a pair of free throws by Durley with 10 seconds left. Those were his first points since scoring eight quick ones early.
Southern put the finishing touches on the win when Carlton Fay made both free throws with six seconds to go and a desperation 3-pointer by Smith was off the mark.
The Salukis were able to dictate a half-court, grind-it-out tempo, in which they held the MVC's top offense to 35 percent shooting from the field a season-low in scoring.
"They played us well for at least a half at their place, and tonight they played a complete game," said Marshall. "Chris had his team very well prepared."
Though it out-rebounded Southern, 39-30, Wichita State never fully exploited its size advantage inside.
"They're still the best team in the league -- the deepest and the toughest and the most capable of making an MVC Tournament championship run," Lowery said. "But today was our day."
Each member of SIU's abbreviated playing rotation made key contributions to the victory.
Brown-Surles shook off early foul trouble to score eight points and dish three assists. He frequently broke down Wichita's defense with his quickness. Senior guard Jack Crowder, playing in his hometown, scored 11 points off the bench and matched his career high with eight rebounds. Guard John Freeman had four assists and two blocks before leaving late in the game with a hand injury.
Lowery also praised freshman guard Diamond Taylor, who played 35 minutes in just his second-career start.
"He didn't score, but he did tremendous things defensively, and maybe we found a defensive stopper for the future," Lowery said.
Even the injured Justin Bocot made a brief, but important appearance.
"We didn't want to play him, but we had to out of necessity, and he makes a great play on an in-bound play," Lowery said. "He played a minute and a half and was gimpy, but he didn't get scored on."
The victory marked only the second time the Salukis have come back to win this season after trailing at halftime.
"We're still growing," Lowery said. "We've had so many different lineups. We've had injuries. We've had suspensions. We've had everything that could go wrong in a season. We haven't complained. We haven't made excuses. We took our lumps. Now it seems we found a different focus, and I'm just proud of our guys."
