Missouri Valley Tournament Salukis meet UNI tonight in MVC semifinals
After beating super-rival Illinois State last Saturday (72-63), the SIU men's basketball team starts its journey in the MVC Tournament against the University of Northern Iowa tonight in St. Louis (8:30 p.m. on the MVC network).
The win against ISU on Senior Night not only avenged a 59-58 loss to the Redbirds in Normal a few weeks ago, but gave the Salukis a first-round opponent they've already swept (two wins against UNI) during the regular season.
It was a hard-fought affair at an electric SIU Arena last weekend as the two teams battled to a near standstill until about the the three minute mark of the second period. There were 19 lead changes up to that point, and the game was tied 11 times.
SIU trailed at half 31-29 mainly because of poor free-throw shooting (1-6). Actually, the Salukis had two more first-half field goals than ISU.
But that poor shooting disappeared in the second 20 minutes, with the Dawgs hitting 10 of 13 from the charity stripe. Since SIU only had one more field goal than ISU during the first half, the Salukis' free-throw shooting down the stretch was very important.
Yet even with enhanced free-throw shooting, it was also key three-point shooting that brought home the victory. Saluki assistant coach Brad Autry is fond of saying that if SIU is leading over a team with three minutes to go in a game, chances are they will win the contest. Autry was right. After ISU star Phil Fayne (21 points in the game) hit two free throws to give the Redbirds a 61-59 lead in the second half, SIU's Sean Lloyd (20 points) started the Redbirds' demise by canning a three-pointer from the right wing to give the Dawgs the lead for good (62-61).
After a second defensive stop in a row by the Dawgs, Armon Fletcher canned one of his five three point tries from the left wing to basically seal the game. Fletcher had 26 points and nine rebounds to help lead Southern to victory, but he was not alone. SIU's 6-foot-10 center, Kavion Pippen, made his uncle, former Chicago Bull Scottie Pippen, proud by having a great all-around performance. Pippen had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Pippen also had three blocked shots and a pretty decent defensive game, too.
ISU coach Dan Muller believed it was the Dawgs' toughness that made the difference.
"This is where we deserve to be (seventh seed in the MVC Tournament)," Muller said about his team getting out-fought down the stretch in their game with SIU. "SIU made plays down the stretch, and we didn't."
Hopefully some of the Dawgs' Senior Day toughness will carry over to tonight's game against the UNI Panthers. Beating a team three times is a hard task, but our Salukis seem in a groove to win three in the MVC Tournament and go to the NCAAs. It's hard-nosed play that will get them there.