It was the same old story for the Salukis on Saturday night - not enough offense. Poor shooting did in the Salukis who fell to 3-3 with their third straight loss.
Charlotte is a good team, but the Salukis wouldn't have been able to beat even a lesser opponent, shooting only 32% from the field. Also frustrating for Saluki fans who watched the game online (don't forget to cancel your subscription) were the frequent outages and the home announcer constantly complaining about the Salukis' fouling, even though the 49ers shot 15 more free throws than the Dawgs.
Randal Falker was held in check by the 49ers. Falker failed to score a single point and fouled out of the game with 2 minutes remaining. I'm not sure if it's possible for SIU to win without any contribution from the big fella.
Matt Shaw answered the bell for SIU scoring 20 points while pulling down 6 boards. Josh Bone attempted to play a bigger role, but his 13 points came on an atrocious 4 of 19 shooting.
Leemire Goldwire got off for the niners, connecting for 24 points and leading Charlotte to 71 total points for the game. Giving up 70+ is not a Floorburn U trademark so the offense is not the only problem for the Dawgs right now.
The Salukis don't have much time to fix their shooting woes. The undefeated St. Mary Gaels come to the SIU Arena Tuesday and they will likely be ranked in the top 25. SIU needs to start building their NCAA Tournament resume and Tuesday's game will be a huge opportunity to get back on track.
