Southern Illinois sent the NIU Huskies yelping out the door Saturday night, on the short end of an 88-68 scalding at the SIU Arena. From the jump, coach Chris Lowery's Salukis tore into NIU on both ends of the court.
The SIU defense was so searingly effective that the stunned Huskies were held scoreless for the first 9:48 of the contest. In the meantime the Salukis built a 17 point advantage. SIU was sailing along with a 43-21 lead at intermission, and Northern had to can 11 free throws to get that close.
After starting an all-veteran lineup of Falker, Shaw, Boyle, Green, and Mullins, Lowery rotated a total of 11 men, and ten of them scored. Starved for offense from the bench last year, the SIU non-starters racked up 40 points Saturday. Freshman guard Brandon Wood contributed 15, including two treys, logging 27 minutes of court time.
The 22 point SIU lead at the half eased the crowd at SIU Arena, but NIU emerged from the locker room and outscored Southern 47-45 in the last 20 minutes.
With most of the Saluki starters on the bench, the Huskies made some headway with their slash and kickout style. In the final ten minutes they began to overwhelm the SIU reserves- which set off alarm bells on the SIU bench. Lowery scrambled to hustle his regulars out there once again. They didn't have to save the game, but their mission was to demonstrate that defensive intensity must be maintained.
Shaw and Mullins paced Southern's scoring with 16 each, while Northern's Jarvis Nichols led all scorers with 18, including 4 threes. Tony Boyle's 10 rebounds led SIU to a 35-33 edge on the boards.
The 20 point opening night Saluki win was gratifying, but Coach Lowery must have felt like a man driving an eight horse hitch at full gallop over a rocky road. His rambunctious rookies dozed on defense, and the team committed 20 turnovers. With the Anaheim Hoops Classic Tournament just ahead, adjustments will have to be made. SIU faces a very athletic Chattanooga squad in the opening round on Thanksgiving afternoon, with potential match-ups against Mississippi State and USC if the Dawgs keep winning.
