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In his final game at the SIU Arena, Tony Boyle gave the SIU men’s basketball team the type of effort head coach Chris Lowery had been searching for all season.
The senior forward scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help lead the Salukis to a 72-68 Senior Night victory against Wichita State on Saturday. The win, coupled with losses by Evansville and Drake, helped SIU secure the No. 5 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The Salukis (13-17, 8-10 MVC) will face No. 4 seed Bradley (17-13, 10-8 MVC) at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
A finish in the top half of the conference seemed far-fetched not too long ago as SIU had dropped six of its last seven games before closing the season with back-to-back wins against Drake and Wichita State.
“Two weeks ago, we thought we were going to finish last, because we were a mess,” Lowery said. “We finished here hard, and I’m extremely proud of our seniors and the way that they acted.”
Boyle was the catalyst to the Salukis’ first half success as he poured in 10 points, pulled down seven rebounds and hit all eight of his free throw attempts. His solid play continued in the second half as he dominated the Shockers’ front court.
Even when he did not score from the field, Boyle made a steady track to the free-throw line where he finished shooting 14-for-15.
Boyle said winning Saturday’s game was important as the team looked to avoid playing in Thursday’s play-in round.
“I just gave it everything,” Boyle said. “It was like, basically, two games in one. We needed to win this game so that we didn’t have to play on Thursday, and everybody else took care of business. Without Bryan (Mullins) playing, we wanted to win, and it turned out good.”
While Boyle powered the outgoing senior class, freshman guard Kevin Dillard showed a glimpse of what could be coming over the next three years.
Dillard scored 21 points and dished six assists in 35 minutes. He shot 6-for-10 from the field and 3-for-5 from the 3-point line. However, Dillard’s accurate stroke nearly eluded him at the free-throw line.
With SIU leading 69-66 with 54 seconds remaining in the game, Dillard missed a pair of foul shots that could have extended the Salukis’ lead to five. But Shockers guard A.J. Hawkins failed to capitalize as he missed a 3-point attempt.
Dillard found redemption by stealing the ball from J.T. Durley, and after an embrace from Lowery, calmly connected on both attempts from the charity stripe to seal the win.
“The little fella was special again,” Lowery said of the team’s leading scorer. “Kevin is playing a lot of minutes and not being tired and giving into fatigue. He didn’t think he could do it, but now he’s starting to do it.”
Dillard logged heavy minutes in the place of senior guard Bryan Mullins, who was in full uniform, but did not play.
Mullins, Boyle and Wesley Clemmons were honored for their efforts at SIU during pre-game festivities celebrating their respective careers donning the maroon and white. Mullins, the Salukis’ all-time assist leader, said he and Lowery did not talk about playing time, but did request one final opportunity to suit up.
“I just told him I wanted to dress and go out there with my uniform on,” Mullins said. “We just wanted to win, really, the most important thing.”
Despite having missed the last eight games, Mullins has not completely ruled out returning for the MVC Tournament in St. Louis.
“I’m not sure yet, we’ll see,” Mullins said. “We’ll test out the foot a little bit next week and see how it goes. Obviously I’d love to be out there more than anything, if health permits, but we’ll see what happens.”
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