Southeast must contend with Salukis' stifling `D'

Southern Illinois University appears to once again be getting its defense cranked up.

And that doesn't seem to bode well for Southeast Missouri State University (3-4), which welcomes the Salukis (6-2) to the Show Me Center for an 8 p.m. tipoff tonight.

The Salukis have basically hung their hat on defense during the past three seasons that have featured three Missouri Valley Conference titles and a like number of NCAA Tournament berths.

But, after starting out this year strong defensively, SIU was scorched for 60 percent shooting during a surprisingly lopsided 70-53 loss at Arkansas-Little Rock. Then came an 80-71 home win over Murray State in which the Racers shot a solid 48.1 percent.

Tuesday night, however, SIU's defense was back at its suffocating best, limiting visiting Wright State to a paltry 34.1 percent shooting during a 54-42 victory.

"People say that we're not very dominant defensively anymore. And we wanted to step up and show how we can really guard," SIU coach Chris Lowery told the Southern Illinoisan following the Wright State game.

For the season, SIU is allowing the opposition to shoot 43.5 percent while forcing an average of 19 turnovers.

Southeast coach Gary Garner doesn't have to be reminded just how stifling the Salukis' pressure defense can be.

"They just play outstanding defense. Garner said. "They're going to get after you for 40 minutes with those great athletes, and it really presents a big challenge."

With the likes of 6-foot-3 senior guard Darren Brooks, 6-3 senior guard Stetson Hairston, 6-2 sophomore guard Jamal Tatum and 6-5 senior forward LaMar Owen providing much of the pressure, opponents often have trouble even getting into their offense.

"They just put so much pressure on you with their athleticism," Garner said.

Lowery, a former SIU star player and assistant coach who spent the 2000-2001 season at Southeast as an assistant under Garner, is in his first year as the Salukis' head man. He took over the program after Matt Painter left for Purdue. At 32, Lowery is one of the nation's youngest Division I head coaches.

SIU went 25-5 last season and returned most of its key players. Save for a couple of hiccups -- the other loss was a two-pointer at unbeaten Hawaii -- the Salukis have continued to roll, including capturing the title at the Las Vegas Tournament in which they beat 2003-2004 NCAA tourney teams Vanderbilt and Texas-El Paso.

"They have the potential to be even better than last year, because all those guys are back," Garner said.

Brooks, the reigning MVC player of the year and defensive player of the year, leads SIU in scoring with 15.9 points per game and he is first in the MVC with 30 steals. Tatum (11.8) and Hairston (11.3) also average in double figures, and Tatum is shooting 47 percent from 3-point range.

"They've got a great team, and we know it's going to be a really big test for us," Southeast senior guard Derek Winans said. "But we're looking forward to playing them."

Garner knows his squad -- which has lost 10 of the past 11 meetings with SIU, Southeast's last victory coming in the 2000-01 season -- will be a significant underdog tonight. And if Southeast can't take care of the ball, things have the potential to get ugly.

But Garner also knows that in the world of college basketball, upsets happen all the time.

"If we can take care of the ball, we'll have a chance to be in the game," he said. "We don't have to beat them in a series, we just have to beat them one time. On a given night, we can beat them."

Noteworthy

* Garner said that MRI results on injured center Ketshner Guerrier revealed a small tear of his knee's medial collateral ligament, but not a complete tear as had been feared.

Guerrier, hurt in the shootaround prior to last Saturday's game against Central Methodist, will not have surgery. He will begin rehabilitation and will be reevaluated in three weeks. Garner said best-case scenario would have Guerrier returning to practice in four or five weeks, but there is also a chance he could miss the rest of the season.