Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Wednesday, January 11
Carbondale, Ill.
7:00 PM
Southern Illinois University
10-8, (3-2)
53
vs
60
Illinois St.
13-4, (5-0)
1st half1
2nd half2
FinalF
Illinois State
29
31
60
Southern Illinois
33
20
53
Photo by: Madison Case
Illinois State's defense turns back Men's Basketball, 60-53
01/11/2017 | 10:49:00 | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Illinois State held Southern Illinois to 18 percent shooting in the second half to grind out a 60-53 win at SIU Arena on Wednesday night.
The Redbirds (13-4, 5-0) trailed by four at halftime, 33-29. They allowed SIU to convert 52 percent from the field, and had trouble containing the inside-outside duo of Sean O'Brien and Armon Fletcher, who scored 11 and 10 points respectively in the half.
Everything changed in the second half. Illinois State erected an impenetrable wall around the basket, thanks to three starters who stand 6-foot-7 or taller across the front line, and a 7-foot reserve who helped challenge shots.
How difficult did the Redbirds make it for Southern? The Salukis (10-8, 3-2) made only two field goals during the first 15 minutes of the second half — 3-pointers by Leo Vincent and Rudy Stradnieks. Southern did not make a two-point basket until Mike Rodriguez slipped by the defense for a driving layup with 5:16 remaining, that trimmed SIU's deficit to 52-46.
Illinois State head coach Dan Muller, whose team won its sixth-straight game, said he didn't overly critique his club's performance at halftime.
"These guys have earned enough trust and the right to have a bad game, a bad half," he said. "I just reminded them (at halftime) how good they are. We talked about our undisciplined play and what we were doing poorly, which costs us baskets. It was mostly them kind of remembering why we're so good defensively."
Southern executed its plan perfectly in the first half, running long possessions and converting late in the shot clock. They got an added boost in the return of Fletcher, who missed the previous three games. He drilled a 3-ball to start the game and finished with 12 points. The Salukis led by as many as seven points in the first half, and the offense was clicking.
It was the exact opposite in the second half for SIU, as the 5-for-27 shooting numbers will attest.
"We kind of got into that mode where we didn't go Whitey Herzog, we went Mark McGuire," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "We tried to hit home runs all the time. You have to play small ball, especially against good teams."
Illinois State shot 47 percent from the field for the game, compared to 34 percent for SIU. The Salukis did a good job, though, containing ISU's explosive starting lineup. They mostly limited the big three — Deontae Hawkins (13), Paris Lee (10) and Mikyle McIntosh (7). The players who really hurt them were DJ Clayton, who had 13 points off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting, and Keyshawn Evans, who had nine points and hit a couple of big threes. In fact, his trey with 2:56 to go was the final dagger, putting ISU up, 55-48.
"It comes down to the moment — in big games you have to have big plays, and we just didn't have that tonight," said Hinson. "Our gameplan was make somebody else beat you, and they did."
After going 5-for-5 in the first half, O'Brien was held to 1-for-7 shooting in the second and finished with a team-high 15 points.
"(O'Brien's) so good because he's a really good passer, he's so physical, he's similar to Mikyle McIntosh in he can back down in similar areas on the court," Muller observed. "We wanted to limit his touches. I thought our physicality affected him in the second half."
The Redbirds mostly held Rodriguez — SIU's dynamic point guard — in check, limiting him to seven points on 2-of-8 shooting. All of his points came in the final five minutes when ISU had established a comfortable lead.
"I thought our defensive effort on Rodriguez was unbelievable," Muller said. "I thought Mikyle and Deontae's defensive effort on O'Brien, who killed us in the first half, was key."
Hinson also praised ISU's defensive performance.
"Their defensive numbers don't lie — we expected this," he said. "I would have thought we'd have handled it better. My disappointment in my team is I felt like we were apprehensive offensively."
Five games into the league season, the Missouri Valley Conference standings are starting to look like a two-horse race, with Wichita State and Illinois State both unbeaten. They square off in Normal, Ill. in this weekend's marquee matchup.
Four teams (SIU, Missouri State, Drake and Bradley) are tied for third place at 3-2. Two teams (Indiana State and Northern Iowa) are still winless.
The Redbirds (13-4, 5-0) trailed by four at halftime, 33-29. They allowed SIU to convert 52 percent from the field, and had trouble containing the inside-outside duo of Sean O'Brien and Armon Fletcher, who scored 11 and 10 points respectively in the half.
Everything changed in the second half. Illinois State erected an impenetrable wall around the basket, thanks to three starters who stand 6-foot-7 or taller across the front line, and a 7-foot reserve who helped challenge shots.
How difficult did the Redbirds make it for Southern? The Salukis (10-8, 3-2) made only two field goals during the first 15 minutes of the second half — 3-pointers by Leo Vincent and Rudy Stradnieks. Southern did not make a two-point basket until Mike Rodriguez slipped by the defense for a driving layup with 5:16 remaining, that trimmed SIU's deficit to 52-46.
Illinois State head coach Dan Muller, whose team won its sixth-straight game, said he didn't overly critique his club's performance at halftime.
"These guys have earned enough trust and the right to have a bad game, a bad half," he said. "I just reminded them (at halftime) how good they are. We talked about our undisciplined play and what we were doing poorly, which costs us baskets. It was mostly them kind of remembering why we're so good defensively."
Southern executed its plan perfectly in the first half, running long possessions and converting late in the shot clock. They got an added boost in the return of Fletcher, who missed the previous three games. He drilled a 3-ball to start the game and finished with 12 points. The Salukis led by as many as seven points in the first half, and the offense was clicking.
It was the exact opposite in the second half for SIU, as the 5-for-27 shooting numbers will attest.
"We kind of got into that mode where we didn't go Whitey Herzog, we went Mark McGuire," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "We tried to hit home runs all the time. You have to play small ball, especially against good teams."
Illinois State shot 47 percent from the field for the game, compared to 34 percent for SIU. The Salukis did a good job, though, containing ISU's explosive starting lineup. They mostly limited the big three — Deontae Hawkins (13), Paris Lee (10) and Mikyle McIntosh (7). The players who really hurt them were DJ Clayton, who had 13 points off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting, and Keyshawn Evans, who had nine points and hit a couple of big threes. In fact, his trey with 2:56 to go was the final dagger, putting ISU up, 55-48.
"It comes down to the moment — in big games you have to have big plays, and we just didn't have that tonight," said Hinson. "Our gameplan was make somebody else beat you, and they did."
After going 5-for-5 in the first half, O'Brien was held to 1-for-7 shooting in the second and finished with a team-high 15 points.
"(O'Brien's) so good because he's a really good passer, he's so physical, he's similar to Mikyle McIntosh in he can back down in similar areas on the court," Muller observed. "We wanted to limit his touches. I thought our physicality affected him in the second half."
The Redbirds mostly held Rodriguez — SIU's dynamic point guard — in check, limiting him to seven points on 2-of-8 shooting. All of his points came in the final five minutes when ISU had established a comfortable lead.
"I thought our defensive effort on Rodriguez was unbelievable," Muller said. "I thought Mikyle and Deontae's defensive effort on O'Brien, who killed us in the first half, was key."
Hinson also praised ISU's defensive performance.
"Their defensive numbers don't lie — we expected this," he said. "I would have thought we'd have handled it better. My disappointment in my team is I felt like we were apprehensive offensively."
Five games into the league season, the Missouri Valley Conference standings are starting to look like a two-horse race, with Wichita State and Illinois State both unbeaten. They square off in Normal, Ill. in this weekend's marquee matchup.
Four teams (SIU, Missouri State, Drake and Bradley) are tied for third place at 3-2. Two teams (Indiana State and Northern Iowa) are still winless.
Team Stats
ILS
SIU
FG%
.469
.340
3FG%
.278
.313
FT%
.643
.778
RB
35
28
TO
14
11
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
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