Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
10-19, 3-13MVC
Indiana St.
14-14, 10-6MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois | 23 | 35 | 58 |
| Indiana State | 37 | 41 | 78 |
Indiana State coasts by Men's Basketball, 78-58
02/21/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
By Tom Weber
SIUSalukis.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Indiana State built a big first-half lead and coasted to a 78-58 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday at the Hulman Center. Forward Justin Gant provided the inside scoring punch with 17 points, while freshman guard Brenton Scott was on fire from the perimeter, also pouring in 17, including 3-of-4 from 3-point.
With two conference games remaining, the Sycamores (14-14, 10-6) are still in the hunt for the No. 3 seed with Evansville and Illinois State. They also swept the season series from SIU.
"Now's the time you want to keep getting better and I think we are," said ISU head coach Greg Lansing, whose team was coming off a disappointing loss to Missouri State on Wednesday night.
The Salukis (10-19, 3-13) have lost 15 of their last 18 games, their worst stretch since dropping 16-of-18 in 1981. They are tied for last with Bradley and can finish no better than eighth in the standings. Anthony Beane was the lone offensive bright spot for SIU with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
Indiana State dominated every aspect of the contest and led by 14 at halftime and by as many 26 points in the second half. The Sycamores shot 50 percent from 3-point, out-rebounded Southern by a dozen, and had a a whopping 18-6 advantage in assists. After watching his team get blown out for the second-straight game, coach Barry Hinson had sharp words for his team.
"We had quite a few players today that didn't want to compete and that quit," he said.
Hinson said he will demand better effort from his team and vowed lineup changes, if necessary.
"I'm embarrassed as a head coach," he said. "That's a reflection on me. I'm disappointed and I'm tired of it. Regardless of what your status is, whether you're on scholarship or not, no matter what your classification is, no matter what your position is -- we might start five guards at Illinois State -- but I'm going to play the five guys that will play the hardest, will compete and won't quit."
When asked which players might see their playing time diminish, Hinson was non-committal.
"I got in trouble last year for calling out names -- you'll be able to figure it out Wednesday by who we play," he remarked.
After making their first five shots of the game, not much went right for the Salukis. Midway through the first half, backup center Bola Olaniyan was ejected for flagrantly elbowing Gant in the head. Southern trailed by only five at the time, but ISU finished the half on a 17-8 run. All but three of Gant's points came in the first half, as he easily posted up SIU's smaller front court.
With the outcome already decided, the second half resembled an exhibition, as both sides experimented with their lineups. For the Salukis, 7-foot center Deng Leek saw his first extended playing time and had two points and four blocked shots.
"There's an asterisk there -- he can't remember what we want to do on the offensive end, bless his heart," Hinson said. "Sometimes he can't remember who he's guarding, but he gave us a little spark today on the interior defensively."
Freshman Chaz Glotta (2 points) and K.C Goodwin (2 points) also saw rare court time for Southern, which began the day short-handed with back-up guard Jalen Pendleton sidelined by a concussion he sustained on Wednesday.
Lansing rested his starters much of the second half, except for Scott, who was so hot he couldn't take him off the floor. The sharpshooting guard made 6-of-8 shots in the second half.
"What he's done for this team -- carried us at times -- I think he should be the Freshman of the Year," Lansing said.
The Salukis have two more opportunities to right the ship before the conference tournament. They play at Illinois State on Wednesday and finish the regular season at home against Drake on Saturday.
"I promise our fans -- not based on lineups, not based on positions -- I'll play the five guys that are going to play the hardest," Hinson said. "It will be unorthodox, but that's what we're going to do. It will be really curious for me to see what we do Wednesday at Illinois State."
