Salukis try to build on weekend win against damaged Braves

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Southern Illinois University's 57-55 win against Northern Iowa Saturday only counts once in the standings, but could be a taking-off point for the Salukis' men's basketball team.

SIU (7-6, 1-1 Missouri Valley Conference) fought through big-league adversity to knock off the two-time defending conference champs at SIU Arena. Center Gene Teague, the Salukis' leading scorer and rebounder, sat out his second straight game with a sprained right ankle and will be a game-time decision tonight against Bradley (6-7, 0-2 MVC).
SIU also fell behind 17-4 in the opening eight minutes and got only five points from Mamadou Seck before rallying to win on Carlton Fay's fadeaway jumper with 2.2 seconds to play.

"It was good for us to be able to finish that, and to get the crowd behind us, and see what that feels like," said SIU coach Chris Lowery. "The big thing was, we went out and earned it. They didn't give us the victory."

Lowery said Teague would likely not play tonight at Carver Arena in Peoria, but SIU proved it may have the tools to win without him.

Seck, a 6-7 junior forward who is expected to start his seventh straight game tonight, had scored at least 10 in his previous seven games before encountering foul trouble against the Panthers (9-5, 0-2 MVC). SIU's two starting guards, John Freeman and Justin Bocot, combined for only two points against UNI.

SIU got 14 points from Kendal Brown-Surles and a season-high 10 from backup point guard Mykel Cleveland off the bench, as the Salukis' reserves outscored UNI's backups 29-10. Bradley, which lost two preseason all-conference players, point guard Sam Maniscalco and forward Taylor Brown, to season-ending injuries prior to MVC play, has been outscored 67-21 by its two Valley foes this season.

Indiana State's reserves outscored Bradley's 25-17, while Wichita State's backups put up 42 points against the Braves' four Saturday in Peoria.

Starting guard Andrew Warren, the MVC's leading scorer, has done his best to put the Braves on his back this season. The 6-6 righty leads BU in scoring (19.4 points per game), minutes (35.9), 3-pointers (34), free-throws (made and percentage-wise), rebounds (76) and steals (17). In MVC play, he has upped his average to 23 per game, and will likely be SIU's biggest target tonight.

"Their strength is in their guards," Lowery said. "Their guys are tough, and can really get going, offensively. We have to make sure they don't get in the lane, and don't let Warren get going."

After tonight's contest, SIU returns home for two games in three days. The Salukis host Creighton (10-4, 2-0 MVC) Friday night and face Illinois State (8-5, 0-2 MVC) Sunday at SIU Arena.

 

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A slower, steadier Saluki at SIU

But Southern Illinois will visit Bradley without the services of its big star


Chris Lowery vowed in the preseason that the top priority for his beleaguered Southern Illinois basketball program this season was getting back to the defensive, disciplined mindset that defined SIU success.

From 2001-07, the Salukis ? who visit Carver Arena on Tuesday (7:05 p.m.) to meet Bradley ? were NCAA tournament qualifiers all six years, reached the Sweet 16 twice and captured five Missouri Valley Conference regular-season titles.

They were coached by Bruce Weber, Matt Painter and Lowery. But the system?s emphasis didn?t vary much from a tough-nosed, defense-first approach.

While this year?s Salukis are 7-6 and 1-1 in the league and best could be described as a work in progress, Lowery is mostly pleased with what he?s seen in those victories, especially Saturday?s 57-55 home win over Northern Iowa.

?We defended them and didn?t turn the ball over,? he said. ?In most of our wins, we?ve really guarded. But you can?t guard that long when you give the other team more than 20 extra possessions (because of turnovers). It?s something we?ve got to get better at.?

The Salukis? average of 16.6 turnovers per game is by far the worst in the league. Considering SIU is not an uptempo team, the giveaways become more problematic.

?Some of it is we have new people in our program and some of it is rushing,? Lowery said. ?But most of it is trying to hit home runs. We need to try to be a little more patient. Getting to the end of the shot clock is something we have to continue to do.?

A big reason why the Salukis have been a halfcourt team is the presence of 6-foot-9, 290-pound center Gene Teague. The huge sophomore leads SIU in scoring (11.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.6), but hasn?t played the past two games because of a badly sprained ankle.

Lowery said he isn?t expecting Teague to be available for Bradley.

?At this point, we?re not going to play him,? Lowery said Monday. ?He?s a big guy and when big guys have foot injuries, you don?t want to rush them back because (the injury will) linger.?

Teague?s absence caused big trouble for SIU at Drake, a 69-55 loss. So Lowery adjusted the lineup against the Panthers.

He moved sub Davante Drinkard into the post, shifted forwards Mamadou Seck and Carlton Fay back to their natural positions at the three and four, respectively, and replaced point guard Kendal Brown-Surles with shooting guard John Freeman.

It worked well, particularly for Brown-Surles, who changed to the shooting guard spot and scored 14 points off the bench.

?It enabled him to relax and play,? Lowery said.

Although Fay scored 16 against the Panthers, none came from 3-point land, where the Hennepin native, has been effective throughout his career.

Last year, Fay hit 38 percent of his 3s (43-for-113). This year, he?s at a meager 16 percent (7-for-43).

?He?s open and there is no reason (he?s missing),? Lowery said. ?We?ve told him, ?Don?t settle for 3s. Do other things and try to get to the free-throw line.? When he has good games, he has five or more free throws a game.?

Lowery is hoping his charges defend the Braves as well as they did the Panthers.

?When they play well, Andrew Warren scores and their two bigs (Will Egolf and Jordan Prosser) get a lot done for them, too,? he said. ?We can?t let Warren go off or allow the other guys to have career nights. We know who their best player is and we have to make everybody else stay in their roles.?

For Bradley (6-7, 0-2), this game is a big one with a tough road swing to Drake and Northern Iowa this weekend.

?We need to continue to build confidence in each other and in what we?re doing,? said BU coach Jim Les. ?We?ve done it in spurts ? for 20 minutes at Indiana State and 25 or 30 against Wichita. We have to be able to put together that 40-minute game.?