Unbeaten Salukis check off Indians early

The hope for Southeast Missouri State University was that Southern Illinois would come to the Show Me Center and not take the Indians seriously, leaving open the possibility of a major upset.

But the Salukis demonstrated in the opening minutes Saturday night that they came to Cape Girardeau to play intense basketball.

And that was bad news for the overmatched Indians.

SIU, looking like it hasn't missed a beat after reaching the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last year, built an early 20-point lead, held off one major Southeast charge and blistered the Indians 85-69.

A crowd of 5,520 -- which included about 1,000 SIU fans who made the drive from Carbondale -- saw the Salukis improve to 4-0 as they beat the Indians for the 10th time in the last 11 meetings. Southeast fell to 3-4.

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

The way the Salukis began the contest did not make Southeast coach Gary Garner that happy.

"We just got beat by a really good basketball team," Garner said. "I was hoping they'd come out really flat and not ready to play, but they were really ready to play right from the start.

"I thought we played hard, but not very smart at times. But SIU is just really talented. They are a great team."

Weber said the chances of the Salukis taking the Indians lightly were lessened because of what happened the last time SIU visited the Show Me Center -- a three-point Southeast victory two years ago.

"I think losing here two years ago really helped, especially with the older guys," Weber said. "They talked about it a lot. And me as a coach, I know how tough it is on the road."

Weber said in the days leading up to the game that it would begin to show just what the Salukis are made of, since their first three victories had been accomplished at home.

If Saturday's performance is any indication, the Salukis are made of hearty stock.

"Southern Illinois is really," Southeast sophomore guard Derek Winans said. "They have some really good players and I give them all the credit. But we should have hung with them better."

Kent Williams, SIU's four-year guard standout, burned the Indians for 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting from the field.

Sophomore guard Stetson Hairston added 17 points for the Salukis and senior forward Jermaine Dearman contributed 12.

Southeast got a big game from junior center Brandon Griffin, who battled his way to 22 points and 11 rebounds while also dishing out four assists. Griffin hit 11 of 16 shots from the field.

Senior swingman Demetrius King came off the bench and scored 17 points as he hit three of four 3-pointers.

Senior forward Tim Scheer added 15 points -- he hit four of seven 3-pointers -- and Winans had 11 points, although he was just 4-for-14 from the field, including 1-for-7 from 3-point range.

"Griffin is a handful," Weber said.

As much as the Indians scratched and clawed the rest of the way, Saturday's game was basically decided in the first 12 minutes, when SIU came out on fire on both ends of the court and built a 36-16 lead.

"We just had to keep our heads up and try to stay in the game," Griffin said.

Southeast made a big-time run, scoring 20 of the next 24 points and getting to within 40-36 on a King 3-pointer with 2:25 remaining before halftime.

Even though SIU closed the half with a 7-2 run, the Indians still weren't feeling all that bad at the intermission as they trailed 47-38.

"We were feeling really good at halftime," Griffin said. "Coach just said to come out and play harder."

But whatever hopes the Indians had of continuing their charge in the second half were quickly extinguished as SIU scored 13 of the first 15 points to go up 60-40 less than four minutes into the period. The Salukis soon led 68-44.

"They picked up their level and made their run on us, but then we had a great start again in the second half," Weber said. "I think the rest at halftime got our energy back."

Southeast cut the deficit to 15 points three times but never seriously threatened to make it interesting.

"We never gave up and kept playing hard," Winans said. "I think we can build on that."

SIU hit 33 of 64 shots (51.6 percent) compared to 26 of 58 (44.8 percent) for Southeast. The Salukis won the rebounding battle 38-31 despite trailing by one on the boards at halftime.

The Indians had 17 turnovers and the Salukis 13. Sophomore guard Kevin Roberts had six of Southeast's 16 assists.

mmishow@semissourian.com

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