- In the stands... The announced attendance figure for tonight's game was only 6500, but this was the rowdiest crowd of the year. I was sitting in Section PP and the folks around me were generating the same kind of localized field of electricity that you feel just before a street fight breaks out.
- On the court... It was a physical contest, but I don't feel that the Braves were playing all that dirty. I think the refs missed a couple of calls in the second half and the game kind of came unraveled at times as a result, but calling for a whistle on every infraction in this kind of game would be like barking for a flag on every hold in a high school football game. It looked like there was a foul on nearly every possession tonight and the Salukis were getting to the line more than the Braves before the final 90 seconds of desperation fouls exaggerated the free-throw figures.
- Speaking of free-throw statistics... excluding the California (Penn) and UMass games to start the year, the Salukis have won every game in which they have outscored their opponent from the stripe and lost every game in which they have been outscored from the stripe. Tonight, the Salukis won the game by 6, were +14 at the free throw line for the night and were +5 before the final 90 seconds. The trend continues.
- SIU closed the first half on a 20-5 run to open up a 32-17 lead at the break. The 17 pts. scored by Bradley in the first half was the second lowest point total allowed by the Salukis in a half this season.
- On defense... the Salukis forced 20 turnovers, including 12 steals.
- All five starters ended up in double figures for SIU. Tony Boyle was a perfect 5 of 5 from the field. Bryan Mullins had 7 assists and 0 turnovers.
- Carlton Fay (back), Bryan Mullins (ankle), and Nick Evans (torso?) all had play stopped while they shook off injuries.
- Anthony Booker had a couple of early career highlights, a screen-roll dunk and an acrobatic blocked shot, before leaving the game with an apparent knee injury.
- After Bryan Mullins hit a jumper from the head of the key to put SIU up 57-43 with 2:00 left, I turned to the perfect stranger next to me and told her that it would take an act of God to stop the Salukis from winning this one. She didn't believe me. To her credit, things did get a little closer.
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1 comment:
good thing they did make those shots at the end or it could have been bad. this them has really shown me somthing over the last few games. Dillard is the man! go dawgs!
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