Salukis strangle Redhawks

The good news for Southeast Missouri State was that the Redhawks outscored Southern Illinois 24-9 over the final seven-plus minutes.

The bad news was that Southeast trailed by 36 points before Wednesday night's finishing burst.

It added up to more bad news for the Redhawks as the visitors from Carbondale, Ill., romped 86-65 in the renewal of the longest series in Southeast men's basketball history.

"They're very aggressive on defense and they have some good scorers on offense," Southeast junior guard Anthony Allison said. "They have a well-rounded team."

A season-high crowd of 3,550 at the Show Me Center saw one of the nation's perennial mid-major powers display its superiority in virtually every area against the rebuilding Redhawks.

Southeast Missouri State's Cameron Butler puts up a shot over Southern Illinois defender Nick Evans during the first half.

SIU improved to 4-2 while Southeast fell to 3-7 as the teams met for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Salukis have won five straight and 12 of the last 13 in the series.

"They're tough," Southeast junior forward Eric McCrary said. "We just didn't execute enough and run our stuff."

Southeast coach Dickey Nutt came away impressed with SIU but also disappointed with the Redhawks' early effort.

"No. 1, my hat's off to them. They're a very impressive basketball team. They have all the pieces," Nutt said. "I was very disappointed in our team tonight. The first 10, 12 minutes, we have played a lot harder ... more energy, more passion.

"But again, they're an outstanding basketball team. They were on all cylinders. Everything we did the first 10, 12 minutes didn't seem to work. But you have to credit them."

Southeast got the opening basket of the game, a 3-pointer by junior guard Sam Pearson. That was among the Redhawks' few first-half highlights.

The Redhawks never held a lead besides that 3-0 advantage. SIU used several early dunks and 3-pointers by senior guard Tony Freeman to quickly turn the contest into a blowout.

A fast-break jam by junior guard Justin Bocot put SIU ahead 21-10 barely eight minutes into the game for the night's first double-figure lead. The margin never dipped under 10 points, and it was only that close for a few seconds.

SIU shot 60 percent in the opening period -- many of the baskets were dunks or layups -- while Southeast shot 35 percent and had 13 turnovers. SIU led 44-21 at the break.

"Overall we didn't come out to play the first half," Allison said. "I feel like we could have got back in transition. They had way too many fast-break baskets."

The Salukis continued to roll in the second half, increasing their lead to 77-41 with under eight minutes remaining. Southeast then outscored SIU by 15 points the rest of the way but it was far too little, too late.

"We did a good job of just playing hard," SIU coach Chris Lowery said. "We had a special offensive night."

Lowery thought SIU's distinct size advantage -- four players ranging from 6 foot 8 to 6-11 see regular minutes for the Salukis -- took its toll.

"Our size hurt them because our bigs are active," Lowery said.

Freeman, an Iowa transfer who was third-team all-Big Ten two years ago, hit 6 of 11 from 3-point range and scored a game-high 26 points. He had 15 first-half points.

"No. 11 shot the lights out," Allison said of Freeman.

Nick Evans, a 6-11, 245-pound sophomore center, added 15 points for the Salukis, who shot 56.1 percent for the game and featured five players who scored in double figures.

Allison led Southeast with 15 points. McCrary scored a career-high 13 points off the bench, eight in the second half, as he made 6 of 7 field-goal attempts. Senior forward LaMont Russell grabbed 10 rebounds.

"Just staying active," said McCrary of the key to his offensive outburst. "It clicked a little bit better tonight."

Southeast's offense as a whole clicked better in the second half as the Redhawks shot 55.9 percent to finish at 48.1 percent for the game.

The Redhawks struggled from the free-throw line all night, making just 9 of 24 (37.5 percent), and they finished with 20 turnovers in addition to having seven shots blocked.

"I'm disappointed because we've taken a couple of steps forward and this was a step back," Nutt said. "I feel like we're better than that."

Southeast will try to win its first home game of the season Saturday night when NAIA Williams Baptist comes to town.

The Eagles, from Walnut Ridge, Ark., are 6-6 after Tuesday's 104-60 loss to Division II Christian Brothers.

"I know tomorrow we're going to get back to work and work on getting that first home win," McCrary said.