Defense powers Southern to 61-44 victory

The Salukis played 40 minutes of high energy basketball tonight holding Henderson State to 44 points (13 for 41, 32%) including just 1 for 10 from 3 point range. The intensity showed in the foul column as well with SIU committing 28 personal fouls in the game. The referees called the game pretty tight and a few of those fouls would have never been called in a MVC game but you can’t fault the salukis for being aggressive and it was a big improvement from the last game.

Brian Mullins put a lot of pressure on the Henderson St guards and forced quite a few turnovers and bad decisions. Early on Mullins set the tone by tipping a ball away to Tony Young, then ran the floor as Young passed the ball back to him on the fast break. One defender got back to cover and Mullins threw a no look pass from his hip to a wide open Wesley Clemmons for the finish.

Southern played good man to man defense all night long and I don’t think they will play very much (if any) zone defense this season. It took Henderson St almost 10 minutes to score their first points of the evening and they really never threatened to take the lead all night long.

Tyrone Green got the start in the place of Wesley Clemmons but neither player stepped up to play significantly well. Matt Shaw, Tony Young, and Brian Mullins were the leaders for SIU tonight. Young and Mullins did a good job of feeding the down low to Falker and Shaw. Shaw, who rebounded extremely well, put up 16 points and 14 boards to earn Saluki Hoops Player of the Game honors.

Southern broke the game open late in the second half with a full court press that was way too much for Henderson St to handle. It was good to see Coach Lowery test out the press in a game type situation. It was also good to see Brian Mullins find his stroke from three point land, knocking down 3 of 4 from downtown in the second half. Mullins struggled with his outside shot last year and if he can pop some open three balls that’s just one more weapon for SIU this year.

Check back later this week and we’ll look ahead to Friday nights home opener, tell you about 7 foot 1 Kobby Acquah’s free throw stroke, and we’ll tell you why Jordan Armstrong has a chance to help this team win. Until then feel free to comment below (you don’t have to sign up for an account or anything) and let us know your thoughts on the Salukis!