Salukis, Braves ready for the rematch

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SIU?s men?s basketball team went at Bradley forward Tyshon Pickett early in the first meeting between the two teams back on Jan. 2.

Pickett, the Braves? top rebounder and third-leading scorer, turned into a non-factor, battling foul trouble as he finished with six points in 11 minutes. In tonight?s new-look rematch, Pickett gets former starting center Will Egolf back in the lineup, while the Salukis take the suspended shirt off junior guard Diamond Taylor and get sophomore forward Dantiel Daniels back for a second game.

?Pickett gives them a lot of athleticism around the basket, and then we?ve got to figure out what to do with Egolf coming in,? said SIU coach Barry Hinson. ?When we played them (at SIU Arena), they had (Jordan) Prosser and (Jake) Eastman step out, or specifically, Eastman step out. Egolf coming back gives them a whole different look.?

Egolf, a 6-foot-9, 230-pound senior center, started 12 of 13 games before getting suspended after he was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. He is averaging 8.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and gives the Braves (10-7, 2-3 Missouri Valley Conference) dramatically more physicality inside, even off the bench.

Daniels, SIU?s 6-5, 230-pound starter, missed three games after spraining his right ankle at Missouri State in the Salukis? league opener. The team?s leading shot blocker last season, he gives the Salukis not only a defensive presence, but an offensive one that changes how teams attempt to guard them. Daniels played 22 minutes off the bench in Saturday?s 77-71 win over Indiana State and didn?t miss a shot in three attempts.

Hinson said he didn?t expect to start Daniels, and may not be able to play him as much as Saturday considering Bradley?s athleticism.

?He?s still so gingerly on his ankle right now, he?s not moving very well and we don?t anticipate playing him very much against Bradley,? Hinson said. ?We played him 22 minutes against Indiana State, but it was more of a half-court game. Bradley is more of a transition-oriented team, and they?re so athletic, we?ll still have to be small against these guys.?

SIU (8-8, 1-4 MVC) is just fine playing small, as long as it includes 6-5 guard Desmar Jackson. Jackson responded to Hinson?s public challenge about his behavior on and off the floor with two of his best games of the season.

The junior transfer from Wyoming who sat out last season per NCAA regulations tied his season high with 29 points in the win over the Sycamores, which snapped SIU?s five-game losing streak and a nine-game skid in league play. Jackson made 8-of-15 from the field, 12-of-13 at the free-throw line, grabbed eight rebounds and scored 29 in 28 minutes. Jackson scored 15 in SIU?s six-point loss to Bradley, but enters Carver Arena in a groove not seen in Carbondale in a long time.

Jackson is the first Saluki to score 25 points or more in consecutive games since Hall of Famer Kent Williams in February 2001. His 29 points tied his season high set against Utah State in the last game of the World Vision Classic and was two short of tying his career high set at Utah when he was a freshman at Wyoming.

Bradley has dropped a season-high three straight games and hasn?t swept a Valley opponent since the 2009-10 season.

?They?re kind of in an upswing, and we?ve got to figure out how to combat that a little bit, and obviously, Desmar Jackson is one of the top five players in this league, and the best offensive guy in the building (tonight),? said Bradley coach Geno Ford. ?So any time you?re going against a guy that has that much ability, offensively, you have to, A, attempt to game plan for him, but B, have a way to impact him so he doesn?t go off against you.?

 

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Live scoring at Salukimania (thesouthern.com/sports/college/salukimania)

 

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Egolf returns to play SIU, which also gets a big man back



It?s been only 13 days since the men?s basketball teams at Bradley and Southern Illinois met in Carbondale. But much has changed on both sides during the brief stretch.

For the Braves, who won that first matchup 66-60, the four-game suspension of senior center Will Egolf, in which Bradley went 1-3, has exposed BU in a myriad of ways. Tuesday at Carver Arena vs. the Salukis is his first game back.

?It?ll make a huge difference,? said BU forward Jake Eastman. ?Will?s energy, the way he talks on defense, his ability to hedge ball screens, take a charge, block a shot, we haven?t had those things the last few games. On offense, he can stretch the other team?s defense (with 3-pointers), which gives Walt (Lemon) and Ric (Simms-Edwards) more room to operate.?

In the four games Egolf missed, opponents shot 56 percent from two-point range. In the 13 contests he played, teams shot just 43 percent on 2s vs. the Braves.

For the Salukis, center Dantiel Daniels ? the team?s best low-post threat ? is back after missing three games with a sprained ankle. Daniels played 22 minutes Saturday at Indiana State, scoring seven points.

?He?s still walking gingerly on that ankle,? said SIU coach Barry Hinson. ?He?s not moving well. We don?t anticipate playing him very much against Bradley. Bradley is more of a transition team than Indiana State.?

Said BU coach Geno Ford: ?Daniels is a big, strong post presence who changes their team drastically.?

Add the rejuvenated play of sharpshooting guard Desmar Jackson to better grasp how SIU knocked off the Sycamores and gave Wichita State all it wanted at home the game before. Jackson scored 28 and 29 points, respectively, in those contests.

?Jackson is a hard guy to defend because you can?t limit his touches,? Ford said. ?He?s an all-league player (for Wyoming in the Mountain West Conference) who knows how to score. He?s really good, probably the most complete offensive guard in the league.?

Nonetheless, Jackson was as good as gone from the program a week ago because of a mounting list of disciplinary issues. Hinson had told his staff he was going to dismiss the 6-foot-5 standout.

?I had a heart-to-heart with Desmar and basically told him he needed to go home,? Hinson said. ?We gave him a week to convince us (otherwise). We did not want him starting class in the second semester and going through what we went through with him in the first semester.

?We gave him a road map of everything we expected of him in the next week. He did everything we asked of him and consequently he played better. I could care less about the points. We have bigger issues than him scoring points right now. We need him to grow up and be responsible. He?s done that for seven days. I?m hoping 2013 can be a new year for him.?

The Braves (10-7, 2-3) are wishing for the same belated resolution for the new year.

?We have two definitely winnable games at home this week (Missouri State on Saturday),? Eastman said. ?If we can find a way to get these two, we can take some confidence on the road next week.?

The affable and diminutive Hinson, Missouri State?s coach from 1999-2008, obviously is no stranger to Bradley fans.

?I?ve been in that arena nine times and there?s a lot of barley and hops being served two hours prior to the game,? Hinson said about Carver. ?I expect the Bradley Braves? crowd to be rocking and rolling. And I know I?ll hear all the short jokes you can possibly hear.?