Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
7-8, 0-2MVC
Bradley
6-9, 1-1MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois | 19 | 25 | 44 |
| Bradley | 33 | 30 | 63 |
Bradley coasts by cold-shooting Men's Basketball, 63-44
01/03/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley bolted to a 24-point lead early in the second half and coasted to a 63-44 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday night at Carver Arena.
The Braves (6-9, 1-1) looked nothing like a team that had beaten only one Division I opponent during the previous month. They entered the game as the Missouri Valley Conference's lowest-scoring team, but six minutes into the second half, had doubled up SIU on the scoreboard, 48-24.
Leading just 17-15 with six minutes remaining in the first half, Bradley took off like a rocket, outscoring Southern, 31-9 during the next 12 minutes of game clock. Starting forwards Austin Barnes, Josh Cunningham and Mike Shaw combined for 26 points and 19 rebounds in the game, while Omari Greer sparked the back court with 14 points to lead the Braves.
"That was a high-end performance both ends of the floor for us," said Bradley head coach Geno Ford. "We weren't going to play a lot better than that."
The Salukis (7-8, 0-2) lost their fourth-straight game, as the team's offense continues to misfire. After scoring just 15 points in the first half on Wednesday, they could muster only 19 this evening.
For the game, Southern shot 33 percent from the field including a goose egg from 3-point, where the team was 0-for-14. That snapped a string of 118-straight games with at least one made 3-pointer. It marked the first time Bradley held an opponent without a 3-ball since Chicago State in 2005. No player scored in double figures for Southern.
"I wish Tinker Bell would come in with some fairy dust, I wish we had a magic wand -- we don't have that," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "We have freshmen. Four of them are playing. Our sophomores that we were counting on, we're just not getting anything out of those guys right now."
The team's best player, Anthony Beane, has been in a shooting funk lately and that continued with a 2-for-15 performance against the Braves.
"You're talking about an elite scorer, which is what he is," said Ford. "He had a little bit of an off shooting night. He may be the best one-on-one offensive guys in our league based on the tapes I've watched. It wasn't there tonight for him. I'm sure he's going to get a hot hand on Wednesday. I'm glad we got this one out of the way when we did."
Hinson cast the blame on Beane's teammates, who were unable to pick up the scoring slack.
"He's pretty easy to guard right now because you have nobody else who can shoot the basketball," Hinson observed. "I really feel for him. Certainly, he's got to play better. Tonight, he didn't shoot the ball well in the first half, and he's certainly going to shoot it better."
Southern's third-year head coach shook up the starting lineup by benching veteran guards Jalen Pendleton and Tyler Smithpeters, in favor of freshmen K.C Goodwin and Deion Lavender. The move met with little success, as the freshman duo contributed five points and six turnovers in 60 minutes between them.
"When you start a game with three freshmen and a sophomore, you really don't have a lot of margin for error," Hinson said. "We're juggling trying to find a group of guards that can not only play and not turn the ball over, but also try to play and make shots."
Southern entered the game with a negative assist-to-turnover ratio and the trend continued with six assists and 16 more turnovers. Nine of the miscues came in the first half.
"At halftime, I just sat down right in front of (the team) and said `can you just try your best not to turn the ball over in the second half? Can you do that for me?'" Hinson related. "I didn't rant and rave at them. We're far past that. We're just a bunch of whipped dogs."
The four-game skid matches last year's longest losing streak, and the task gets no easier for a Saluki team that plays at No. 23 Northern Iowa on Wednesday.
"I have two choices -- quit or fight," Hinson stated. "I think you guys know me well enough by now that one of them ain't even an option. I'm just going to keep fighting, and we're going to get better."
