Southern Illinois University
6-4
Lamar
8-2
Defense keys Men's Basketball's 71-61 win over Lamar
12/17/2017 | 6:07:00 | Men's Basketball
Salukis held Cardinals scoreless for a stretch of seven-and-a-half minutes during first half.
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois used a suffocating man-to-man defense to build an early cushion and held on late for a 71-61 win over Lamar on Sunday afternoon at SIU Arena. Junior guard Sean Lloyd scored a career-high 21 points and added five assists and two steals to lead SIU.
The Salukis (6-4) held the Cardinals (8-2) to 8-of-27 shooting from the field in the first half, including a seven-and-a-half minute scoreless stretch. They did it with a small lineup of four guards and a 6-foot-7, 200-pound forward in Jonathan Wiley. Not only did Lamar miss 19 first-half shots, it had 10 more empty possessions due to turnovers.
"When I refer to the old days, I go back to the days of Bruce (Weber) and Matt (Painter) and Chris (Lowery)," said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. "We talk about how those guys used to guard. I hope our fans appreciate what's going on right now, because this is the best defensive club we've had since I've been here."
Offensively, Southern was much better from inside the arc (65 percent) than outside (33 percent), as Lloyd and fellow guards Aaron Cook (13 points) and Armon Fletcher (12 points) aggressively attacked the basket.
The game's most decisive run took place after Lamar jumped out to a 4-0 lead. From the 17:41 mark until 10:07, Lamar's offense went scoreless — totaling seven missed shots, two missed free throws and six turnovers. The Salukis capitalized with a 12-0 run that featured three driving layups by Fletcher.
"We just talk about in the locker room before we hit the wood, isn't it fun when you just get out there and guard, lose yourself in the game defensively?" Hinson said.
The Cardinals came as close as nine points, 29-20, with 3:52 to go in the half, but SIU's bench came through with a 3-pointer by Tyler Smithpeters, a layup by Jonathan Wiley and a jumper by Rudy Stradnieks for a 7-2 run to end the half.
Lloyd, who had the best offensive performance of his Saluki career ran off five-straight points to start the second half. He was 9-of-11 shooting from the field.
The Salukis seemed to have the game well in hand after Fletcher threw down a two-hand slam to give Southern its biggest lead of the night, 50-30, with 15:25 to go. Lamar made one final push, however, to cut the deficit to eight, 62-54, with 4:47 remaining.
"We got tired in the second half," Hinson said. "You're going to get tired when you play as hard as we're playing."
Trailing by eight with the ball and a chance to cut even deeper into Southern's lead, Wiley made a series of big plays for SIU. First, he altered an interior shot by Josh Nzeakor, then finished with a layup on the other end. Wiley then stole the ball in the backcourt for an easy dunk to push the lead back to a dozen.
"Once again, our defense came to the rescue," Hinson said.
SIU shot 54 percent from the field compared to Lamar's 38 percent. Both teams struggled from the perimeter, converting 33 percent. That's an area where Hinson hopes to see improvement going forward.
"There will be a given night — I don't know when it's going to happen — but we're going to have a break-out night (from 3-point)," he said. "When that happens I think we'll start from that point climbing."
The Salukis wrap up a four-game homestand on Tuesday when they host North Carolina A&T at 7 p.m.
