Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Southern Illinois University
18-7, 7-5
Loyola
11-13, 4-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loyola Chicago | 30 | 43 | 73 |
| Southern Illinois | 26 | 33 | 59 |
Loyola hands Men's Basketball a 73-59 home loss
02/06/2016 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Five players scored in double figures to lead Loyola past Southern Illinois, 73-59, helping to create a logjam in the middle of the Missouri Valley Conference standings after a surprising day of basketball upsets on Saturday.
The Ramblers (11-13, 4-8) seized control of the game midway through the first half and cruised to a comfortable victory. With the game tied, 13-13, Loyola used a 7-0 run that was punctuated by a Montel James dunk off a nifty feed from Tyson Smith. The Ramblers never trailed again and led by double digits most of the second half.
James, who almost didn't play because of back spasms during warmups, had a team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
"When you look at our best games, it's when Montel really gets going," said Loyola head coach Porter Moser, who beat SIU for just the second time in 14 tries as a Valley head coach.
The Salukis (18-7, 7-5) lost their fourth-straight game, and a once potent offense has suddenly fallen into a rut, failing to reach 60 points for the third-straight outing. Senior guard Anthony Beane had his first-career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Sean O'Brien added 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting. The rest of the team combined to shoot 9-for-29 from the field.
"I knew at shoot-around today that I thought we were taking (Loyola) for granted," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "We looked like we were running in concrete."
Loyola used some unorthodox coaching moves to its advantage. Moser brought his four-best players (James, Milton Doyle, Devon Turk and Earl Peterson) off the bench, and the quartet combined to score 53 points. He also elected to double team Saluki center Bola Olaniyan in the post, something few teams have done this year, and it paid dividends. The league's second-best rebounder was held to one basket, six boards and committed four turnovers.
"We knew (the post trap) was coming, worked on it for the last two days, and just absolutely threw it away," Hinson lamented. "When you're not focused, juiced up and ready to play, those things happen. Silly mistakes creep into your game when you don't respect your opponent and you don't play hard."
The Salukis made one brief run midway through the second half. O'Brien converted a layup and Beane made a pair of free throws to cut to 48-39 with 8:32 to go. The Ramblers countered with 3-pointers by Peterson and Doyle to silence the crowd. They led by double figures the rest of the way.
"We just couldn't get them going, tried everything we could to get `em going -- timeouts, huddles, all that," Hinson said. "They shut me out tonight, they didn't want to listen to me. You should have seen the timeouts. This is one of the times where I wish we had reality TV where you could sit in my chair, and guys are just staring at you like zombies. Whatever you're saying, it ain't getting in there. It's an empty skull."
After being held to just three points in the first half, Beane put the team on his back in the second half -- scoring 15 points and making 7-of-10 free throws. It just wasn't enough as the Salukis could never find their shooting touch. They were 4-for-19 from 3-point.
"Anthony Beane is really, really hard to guard," Moser said. "He puts a lot of stress on you."
It was as day of upsets in the MVC. Illinois State pulled off the biggest shocker of the day, stunning Wichita State to move into a tie with Evansville for second place. Southern Illinois dropped into a tie for fourth place with Indiana State, which lost at Bradley. The Salukis and Sycamores, who square off in Terre Haute next Wednesday, are just one game ahead of surging Northern Iowa and Missouri State, who are both 6-6.
"We've hit a stretch here and we've got to get through it," Hinson said. "Thank goodness we're hitting it now and not at the end of the year."
