Matt Shaw came out hot and never cooled off hitting 8 of 9 shots including a perfect 4 of 4 from 3 point land en route to a 23 point 9 rebound performance. Southern parlayed Shaw's huge night and Bryan Mullins 13 points and 7 assists into a 20 point victory.
Shaw's hot shooting seemed to be contagious as the team shot 55% from the field. Shaw looked confident from the jump and after the game he acknowledged it. "Everybody felt like any shot they took was going to fall," said Shaw.
Randal Falker did a nice job in this game but it didn't necessarily show in the his stat line. Falker had just 6 points due to constant double teams by the Panthers. Passing out of those double teams allowed the Salukis to get better shots on the perimeter and the Dawgs cashed in - hitting an impressive 12 of 20 (60%) shots from downtown. After the game UNI head coach Ben Jacobson responded to the Salukis success on offense. "We tried to make it tough for them down low, but Shaw and Mullins made us pay," said Jacobson.
Southern also played smart defensively, holding UNI to 47 points and the Panthers only got to the free throw line 3 times all night. Southern's defense in the post was air tight and they held Eric Coleman to an anemic 2 points and 3 rebounds.
Local product Lucas O'Rear played 23 minutes and chipped in 8 points for the Panthers. O'Rear played with an aggressive, physical style and he was whistled for 4 fouls in his homecoming to Southern Illinois. Jacobson was pleased with the play of the freshman from Nashville. "He's going to have a great career. He's been injured but now he's as healthy as he's been all year," said Jacobson.
Overall, it was a nice win for the Salukis but the upcoming schedule presents its fair share of challenges. After the home BracketBuster game on Saturday the Salukis play a red-hot Bradley team on the road and then draw second place Illinois State to finish off the Valley regular season.
It's no secret that the Salukis are playing better of late and the next 3 games will be key for the Dawgs heading into Arch Madness.
