siuDE.com

Media Credit: Stephen Rickerl Senior guard Tyrone Green is recognized during senior night at the SIU Arena. The Salukis lost to Illinois State 57-49 in their final home game of the season.

When it came to scoring points in the Salukis' final regular season game, it was a matter of quality over quantity.

SIU attempted 17 more shots than the Redbirds Saturday night but it was all for naught as the Salukis fell 57-49 to Illinois State. The loss marked the second time in seven years that a conference foe defeated the Salukis at home.

Early indications showed it would be a slow offensive night for both teams with the first five possessions resulting in turnovers and the first field goal not coming until nearly three minutes into the contest.

With 10 minutes left in the first half both teams established offensive identities as the Redbirds (22-8, 13-5) attacked off the dribble with their guards and the Salukis (17-13, 11-7) looked for catch-and-shoot opportunities late in the shot clock.

Illinois State guard Osiris Eldridge thrived in the offensive set as he continuously took his man off the dribble and hit fade-away jump shots from the baseline. Eldridge finished with 27 points and seven rebounds.

Redbird coach Tim Jankovich said the best way to counter SIU's aggressiveness was to let Eldridge create his own offense.

"We don't run many plays," Jankovich said. "I'm just not a play guy, so a good deal of that was just (Eldridge) making some great individual plays."

SIU attempted to counter with its own catch-and-shoot approach that was effective during the team's five-game winning streak. The Salukis were 46 percent from behind the arc during the streak, but went only 4-for-24 against Illinois State.

After struggling from the outside, the Salukis looked to get the ball into the post. Senior forward Randal Falker wasn't established until five minutes remaining in the first half and struggled to get the ball consistently throughout the game despite scoring 18 points and ripping down 14 rebounds.

Coach Chris Lowery said Falker played hard but the team was unable to get him the ball when it needed to.

"Randal was really the only one who had some life," Lowery said. "He was playing with a lot of energy and emotion and wanted to win that game."

The Salukis' penetration to set up kick-out passes also failed. Falker often left the paint to spread out the floor, leaving guard Bryan Mullins in an isolation situation. But when Mullins drove the lane, the Redbird defense collapsed and Mullins' passes were either picked off or off-the-mark.

When the Salukis did get shots off it was usually not the shot that Lowery said he was looking for. Lowery said the team passed up too many good shots and didn't attack with the necessary energy.

"We tried everything, but when you're lifeless it doesn't matter what you do," Lowery said. "On a night when you should have so much emotion, we were emotionless. We didn't compete and that's what happens."

Joshua Bone and Matt Shaw were the main victims of getting caught in tough shooting situations. Bone went 2-for-12 from the field while Shaw went 2-for-11. Most of their misses came from outside jump shots.

The Redbirds finished at 40 percent from the field while the Salukis ended at 31.6 percent.

The Salukis will return to action 8:35 p.m. Friday against Northern Iowa at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis where Lowery said the team will look to refocus and get back to attacking the defense off the dribble.

The game will be the start of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for SIU as it will play from the No. 3 seed while Northern Iowa comes in as the No. 6 seed.

Jeff Engelhardt can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 269 or jengel@siu.edu.

Article Tools