CARBONDALE, Ill. Loyola led from start to finish in a dominating 75-56 win over Southern Illinois on Wednesday night, securing its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference championship in front of a season-high crowd of 6,036 at SIU Arena.
Harrisburg’s Tyler Smithpeters in his last start in the SIU Arena, drives around league MVP candidate Clayton Custer in last nights loss to Loyola.
The Ramblers (24-5, 14-3) made 14 of their first 18 shots and never looked back in an impressive show of marksmanship and unselfish play. Junior guard Clayton Custer, the favorite to win Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year honors, had 16 points, five assists and five steals. Back-court mate Ben Richardson added nine points, eight assists and no turnovers. Loyola shot 60 percent from the field in the first half and 57 percent for the game.
“As a coach, you don’t want to lose ballgames, but you can certainly appreciate when you see good teams,” said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. “I’m comfortable enough in my own skin to tell people when they do well. I told Porter (Moser) and each one of those individuals when I shook their hands — congratulations on a championship. It’s a great feat.”
The game was a missed opportunity for Southern to pick up a Top 50 win and strengthen its resume for a potential at-large slot in the National Invitational Tournament, but the separation between the teams was clear.
“I’m disappointed and also shocked,” Hinson said. “We were extremely selfish tonight and it really affected how we played on defense. We were un-coachable tonight. They would not listen to me. They would not listen to the assistants. At the eight-minute mark, I turned and told my staff, ‘we’re done — they won’t listen.'”
Five different players made 3-point shots for the Ramblers in the first half as they sprinted to a 36-19 lead. SIU responded with a flurry of three-straight 3-point shots — two by Marcus Bartley and one by Sean Lloyd — to trim the deficit to 36-28, but Loyola countered with an 8-2 run.
“The worst thing we did was hit those threes back-to-back, then everybody started jacking threes,” Hinson said. The Salukis finished 6-of-19 from long range, including 1-of-8 in the second half.
Southern cut the deficit to eight again at halftime, but that only seemed to motivate Loyola’s defense, which held SIU to 30 percent shooting in the second half.
“Instead of celebrating that we had an eight-point lead at half, it was all about we’re not guarding,” said Loyola head coach Porter Moser, who won his first league title in his ninth year as an MVC head coach. “We didn’t want a tight game because they’ve done so well in them.”
After Armon Fletcher hit a three for Southern to make it 47-39 with 18:23 to go, the Ramblers answered in a big way, reeling off nine-straight points to make it 56-39. SIU never threatened thereafter.
The Salukis (19-11, 11-6) had out-scored their last seven opponents in Points in the Paint, but Loyola turned the tables with a 42-22 advantage inside. Loyola freshman center Cameron Krutwig had 14 points and was 6-of-7 from the field. It was an even battle down low versus SIU’s Kavion Pippen, who had 16 points and made 7-of-10 shots. Hinson would have liked to have seen his big man get even more attempts.
“We had times tonight where we wouldn’t even throw him the ball and we’re yelling at our guys to throw it to him,” Hinson said. “And when we tell them on the bench, they’re rolling their eyes at me.”
Several streaks ended tonight for SIU. Hinson lost on Senior Night for the first time in his career as a head coach in 17 tries. Southern also had its seven-game home-winning streak snapped. The Salukis can still secure the No. 2 seed at next week’s MVC Tournament with a win at Evansville on Saturday or an Illinois State loss at Loyola.
Hinson was asked afterward if he thought Loyola could earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament if it fails to win the conference tournament next week.
“You’re talking to the wrong guy — 21, 34 and 36 — those are the three RPIs I had as a coach (and did not get in),” he said. “But I will campaign my ass off for them, hopefully after we beat them in the championship game.”
Box Score
http://siusalukis.com/boxscore.aspx?id=8041&path=mbball
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