The Southern Illinois Salukis were coming off a two-point road loss Wednesday in their previous outing and were red-hot. The Missouri State Bears were coming off a 52-point home win Tuesday in their last game and were not.
The result was a 76-56 SIU victory over the Bears in Missouri Valley Conference action Saturday at SIU Arena in Carbondale, Ill., in front of 8,747 fans. The result left both teams 4-2 in Valley play and 13-4 for the season.
The Salukis hit 50 percent from the field in building a nine-point halftime lead and then zoned in to 68 percent accuracy the second half. The resulting .581 (25/43) was the best shooting percentage against Missouri State this season.
Center Randal Falker and swingman Jamaal Tatum triggered the assault for SIU. Falker hit 9-of-12 from the floor to dump in 23 points while Tatum connected on all four of his three-point tries and finished with 19.
The three was the SIU weapon of choice when the Salukis need to extend their lead to a new wider margin. The Bears were down 16-14 when Joshua Bone and Tony Young cranked in treys to make it 22-14. A trey by Matt Shaw sent the Saluki lead to 11 at 29-18 and SIU held a 33-24 margin at the half.
The Bears got within five points on two occasions early in the second half but could get no closer. With the score 51-40, SIU’s Tatum and Blake Ahearn of Missouri State traded threes on two successive possessions for each team, but Bone drilled another long one to start an 8-0 SIU run and it was 65-46 with 5:22 remaining. The Saluki lead reached 20 in the last two minutes.
Ahearn was the only Bear to score in double figures as he finished with 18 points, hitting four threes and all four of his free throw tries. The senior guard pushed his Missouri State career point total to 1,444 to move into ninth place on the all-time Bears’ point list. His four treys were the only long ones the Bears had in 17 tries beyond the arc.
The Bears shot just 33 percent the first half and finished the game at .400 (20/50). Drew Richards hauled down nine rebounds to give the Bears a 28-26 rebound advantage for the contest.
Missouri State stays on the road for its next league encounter, a visit to Normal, Ill., Monday (Jan. 15) to take on the Illinois State Redbirds. Tipoff is 7:05 p.m. The game will be televised on Mediacom (Cable Channel 14 in Springfield).
