Illinois State squeaks by Saluki Men’s Basketball, 50-46

Tom Weber- SIU Media Services

NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State continues to live on the edge in its quest for a conference championship, squeaking by Southern Illinois on Wednesday night, 50-46, after trailing by three points with 6:37 to go.

The Redbirds (24-5, 16-1), who remained tied with Wichita State for first place with one game remaining, have won their last three games by a combined margin of seven points. They did it with defense tonight, holding Southern to 39 percent shooting, including 2-of-11 from 3-point, and closing the game on a 14-7 run.

ISU opened the second half with a 9-1 burst to build a 36-26 advantage, and seemed on the verge of taking control of the game. Wrong. Their offense went into hibernation for the next 11 minutes, converting just one field goal as SIU switched defenses and pieced together a 15-2 run. Forward Sean O’Brien scored six of his 11 points during the stretch, and the pressure kept building on the home team to make a shot — any shot.

They finally did. The game turned when Tony Wills and Deontae Hawkins hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give Illinois State a 46-41 lead with 4:21 remaining that brought a Senior Night crowd of 6,545 to its feet.

“We are getting good at making big plays in close games,” said ISU head coach Dan Muller, who won his 100th career game in five seasons with the Redbirds and was mobbed on the floor by his team after the game.

Wills was the unlikely offensive hero for ISU with 16 points. He made 4-of-9 from long range.

“That was by design,” said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. “We gave up 16 points to a guy that we didn’t feel like we needed to guard, but Senior Night and he made shots.”

Front-court stars Hawkins (5 points) and MiKyle McIntosh (0 points) were mostly silent. Hawkins played only 21 minutes due to foul trouble, while McIntosh is only three weeks removed from knee surgery, and his minutes have been limited in both games and practice.

“Clearly, our two best scorers didn’t have their best nights,” Muller acknowledged.

The Salukis (15-15, 8-9) turned in their best defensive performance of the season, holding ISU to 34 percent shooting. They played the first seven minutes of the game in zone, and switched to man-to-man and matchup zone thereafter. Illinois State never found a rhythm to its offense.

“I thought Southern Illinois played their hearts out,” Muller said. “Their defense was terrific.”

SIU’s offense just couldn’t connect on a perimeter shot down the stretch. Southern had opportunities. Wills twice missed the front end of the 1-and-1 in the final minute, leaving the door cracked open for the Salukis, but Armon Fletcher missed a deep 3-pointer, Mike Rodriguez missed a pull-up jumper, and the final possession ended with a turnover.

“People are going to come out of here and say we didn’t shoot the ball well — but we didn’t shoot the ball well because of Illinois State,” Hinson said. “I think Illinois State didn’t shoot the ball well because of SIU. I just think it was a good, Missouri Valley, February, end-of-the-season type game.”

Illinois State completed a perfect 16-0 mark at home and have one game left at Northern Iowa.

“I played here and Redbird Arena means a lot to me,” Muller said. “It bothers me that when I was a player we never went undefeated at home. If you’re going to be a great program you have to protect your home court. Period.”

The Salukis are locked into the 4-5 game at the conference tournament next week. They will play either Loyola or Northern Iowa on March 2, at 2:30 p.m. The opponent will likely hinge on the outcome of Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Ramblers at SIU Arena.

Hinson was already looking forward to Arch Madness.

“We need to beat a Wichita or Illinois State so people understand we’re starting to turn the corner at SIU,” he said. “I know we’re turning the corner. It’s just the guys in the basement eating Cheetos in their underwear that just drive me nuts, that make all the anonymous postings. I hate those guys.”

http://siusalukis.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=7647