Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
6-4
Chicago St.
2-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago State | 21 | 29 | 50 |
| Southern Illinois | 27 | 38 | 65 |
Men's Basketball drops Chicago State, 65-50
12/14/2014 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois overcame a sloppy first half to easily put away Chicago State, 65-50, on Sunday afternoon at SIU Arena.
The Salukis (6-4) led by only six at halftime after committing a dozen first-half turnovers, but they righted the ship in the second half with just seven more miscues. Anthony Beane led all scorers with 19 points, while Jordan Caroline chipped in a career-high 14 for Southern.
"I've never once witnessed or been a part of a bad win," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "One of the things that's important for a young team to encounter is how to win when you're playing bad."
The Cougars (2-8) remain in search of their first victory against a Division I opponent, yet they were surprisingly competitive for a team that lost its previous three games by a combined margin of 100 points. They held SIU without a field goal during the final five minutes of the first half and closed the half on an 8-3 run.
Hinson said he wasn't surprised by the ragged first-half performance of his team.
"Not once have I ever had a team play very well the day after finals," he noted. "They're just so mentally beat down from studying all week."
The only player to break through the first-half malaise was Anthony Beane, who had 12 points and three steals -- but he also had four turnovers.
After Chicago State cut the deficit to four points early in the second half, SIU went on a 10-3 run to create some breathing room. Caroline had five of his points during the run. The 6-foot-7, 235-pound freshman frequently over-powered the smaller front line of CSU, scoring all of his points after intermission.
"I think they let me coach them at halftime," Hinson said. "I said, `gentlemen, we're not playing very good. This is what we're not doing, and if you'll do this, we'll be fine.'"
The Salukis made 26 trips to the free throw line in the second half and piled up a huge overall advantage at the charity stripe, converting 26-of-36 attempts in the game. Beane made 11-of-12 on the day.
"Free throws or layups -- that's all we wanted to look at," Hinson explained. "I said, if you get in there and getting fouled is not an option, and a layup is covered, throw it out and we'll shoot an uncontested three."
After going 0-for-3 from outside the arc in the first half, the Salukis made 3-of-6 3-pointers in the second half, including a pair by freshman Deion Lavender, who scored 11 of Southern's 13 bench points.
"He's a bigger guard and he has more athleticism," Hinson said. "We need him to play. We're really searching right now for that other guard to come off the bench."
Beginning today, Southern plays four games in eight days -- all at home -- and Hinson said he will try to spread playing time around to keep the team fresh.
"We tried to back our minutes down off of Sean (O'Brien) and Anthony," he said. "Sean has no legs right now, and you see with the exception of Anthony, the minutes were pretty well backed down."
The Salukis improved to 11-1 all-time against the Cougars. They host Tennessee State on Tuesday night -- a team they beat by 17 points on the road last month.
