SIU coach says Tribe has some potential

As outclassed as his team made Southeast Missouri State University look Saturday night, Southern Illinois coach Bruce Weber said there is no doubt the Indians are much improved over last season.

And, although Weber didn't come right out and say it, he knows that the potent Salukis already have and will continue to make plenty of overmatched squads look bad this season.

"SEMO is much better than they were last year," said Weber following the Salukis' 85-69 romp at the Show Me Center. "I think if they get some depth and get some other guys to do things, in their league, they can be decent."

It was clear from the outset Saturday that the Indians (3-4) would have trouble keeping up with the Salukis (4-0) as SIU came out firing on all cylinders and then appeared to be able to elevate its game to ward off Southeast whenever it wanted to.

"I was really pleased with the start, our energy at the beginning of the game," Weber said.

Coming off Tuesday's 85-56 rout of Ohio Valley Conference favorite Murray State, some people might have thought SIU would not be properly motivated for a Southeast team that went 6-22 last year and is still very much in a rebuilding mode.

But that wasn't the case as the Salukis -- fueled by more than 1,000 SIU fans who made up the announced crowd of 5,520 -- were noticeably intense on both ends of the court. They built a 36-16 lead less than 12 minutes into the game and Southeast had to fight an uphill battle the rest of the way.

"I was hoping they'd come out flat, but they were ready to play right from the start," Southeast coach Gary Garner said.

And when that happened, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it would probably be a long night for the Indians, who did actually make things semi-interesting with a 20-4 first-half run to get within four points, although SIU was never threatened after that.

"SIU is really a good basketball team, probably even better than I thought they were," Garner said. "They are very talented at every position."

The Indians don't figure to let themselves get down about a loss to a team as strong as SIU. They appear to agree with Weber in that Southeast can make some waves in the OVC.

"SIU is really good, but I still think we've got a good team," sophomore guard Derek Winans said. "We won't let this game get us down."

Noteworthy

Forward Reggie Golson, who saw his first action of the season Wednesday against Oakland City, did not play Saturday because his surgically repaired knee was especially sore, although he has not re-injured the knee and should be able to play Saturday when the Indians visit Missouri-Kansas City.