There's no such thing as magic

Over the past few seasons I've often mentioned "arena magic" on this blog. Tonight vs UNI, I realized there's no such thing as magic.

The truth is the Saluki teams over the past few seasons won home games because they played outstanding defense and finished off opponents with authority. This Saluki squad hasn't shown the ability to consistently accomplish either of those tasks, and that's why they're losing games.

Here are some notes as the Salukis fall to 0-2 in MVC play.

-Kevin Dillard was the lone bright spot vs UNI. 16 points, and 5 assists. The kid can flat out play.

-Carlton Fay had 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting. That's not a bad night, but I'd still like to see Fay take a bigger role in the offense. He has the potential to be a scoring machine.

-The Salukis beat the Panthers into bonus in the second half, then failed to get to the foul line and capitalize. Taking the ball to the basket and getting to the foul line would have given the team a great chance to win.

-UNI is not a great team, and they shot 48% vs the Salukis. This was a direct result of the Salukis not closing out the shooters on defense. The defensive rotations were slow and the Panthers got lots of good looks as a result.

-This was a game that the Salukis should have won. Improvements must be made if the Dawgs are to avoid playing a Thursday night game in the MVC Tournament.

MVC game #1- Salukis lose another road game

After losing to Bradley, the Salukis are now 1-6 away from SIU Arena. It's always difficult to win on the road, but this team isn't showing any signs of life away from SIU Arena.

Often times this year we've heard the word "patience" in reference to the youth movement on this Saluki team. However, the older players must help to bridge the gap by showing the young guys how to win. That didn't happen today.

The bright spots in this game were Bryan Mullins and Kevin Dillard. Those two guards combined to score 32 points, accouting for over 50% of the teams offense. That alone is great production from the guard spot but the Dawgs need the big guys to get into the act as well.

Carlton Fay has to fill that void by becoming a #1 type scoring option for SIU. Fay had his 3rd straight lackluster performance vs Bradley, scoring only 7 points in 19 minutes. We know he's capable of more, he started the season on a scoring spree, showing off a lighting quick trigger and range from deep.

The Salukis have won only one game (vs NIU) this season when Fay has failed to score double digits. Carlton has to be more involved in the offense if the Salukis are going to finish above .500 in the Valley.

Notes from SIU/Western Michigan

Kevin Dillard, Wesley Clemmons, and Bryan Mullins all got into a groove at the same time against Western Michigan, as the trio of guards were able to help the Salukis avoid another second half slump.

With the game tied at 29-29 in the second half, Wes hit back-to-back 3's (and just missed a 3rd one) then Dillard knocked down back-to-back 3's of his own on assists from Mullins.

Justin Bocot stepped up as well, playing 16 minutes and hitting 3 of 6 for 6 points while showing good progress on 'D'.

The increased faith in Bocot and Dillard allowed Lowery to play a lineup of all first year players during a stretch late in the second half.

Dillard, Bocot, Roundtree, Booker, and Evans composed the "first year five" that provided quality minutes while Mullins, Clemmons, and Boyle got a quick rest before returning for the stretch run.

So that wraps up the non-conference season (with the exception of bracket buster later this year) and the Salukis are 5-6 heading into conference play.

Somehow I think I'd feel much better if the team was 6-5, with the only difference being the home loss to Charlotte. Those are the types of games the Salukis will have to win at home to finish towards the top of the MVC. On the road in this conference, nothing comes easy. The Dawgs will face their first MVC road test vs Bradley on Sunday, in a game that will be a good indication of whether or not SIU can be a contender in the Valley.

Salukis Smacked Around By Gaels

The first twenty minutes of tonight's game were uniformly positive for the Salukis and it appeared that the heavily favored St. Mary's Gaels would be put to the test. SIU led by as many as 9 in the first half and carried a 31-27 lead into the intermission.

However, the second twenty minutes was an absolute mess. The Salukis came out flat and St. Mary's hit on all cylinders. The final deficit was thirteen points, 65-52, but the issue was never in doubt. The Gaels were up by as many as 22 in the second half.

As bad as that sounds, there were still some bright spots for the Salukis. Ryan Hare finished with 14 points and Kevin Dillard was en route to a big game until foul trouble landed him on the bench late in the first half.

The rest was middling at best. St. Mary's struggled from the field (39%), but they managed to rack up 22 points from the line. Patrick Mills was limited to 5 pts in the first half, but picked it up and finished with 16.

After an implosion of this magnitude, fingers could be pointed, but this was a team loss. Collectively, there was a 10 minute scoring drought in the second half and the Salukis shot just 27% from the floor. On the glass, SIU was outrebounded by 15 tonight.

The bottom line... St. Mary's was a superior basketball team and this was a comprehensive defeat. This team has got to play 40 minutes of basketball. Plenty of potential remains for this season and I am optimistic, but tonight was a very tough loss.

Notes from the SIU/NIU matchup

It was nice for Dillard, Hare, and Mullins to get to play a "home game" in the Chicago area.

For Bryan Mullins' family and friends it was just a short trip west on I-88 to see the senior from Downers Grove put on a ball handling clinic in DeKalb.

SIU has such a strong Alumni base in the northern part of the state, it only makes sense for the Dawgs to take their show on the road for the upstate fans at least once each year. While NIU isn't the best of opponents, the Salukis were in desperate need of any road win they could get.

In future seasons a matchup with DePaul might prove to be more beneficial, but for this year a game against less than stellar competition was just what the doctor ordered.

NIU Head Coach Ricardo Patton would like to get another crack at the Salukis even though he acknowledges that the two programs aren't on the same level competitively. "We saw where each of the programs stands at this point. My only wish is that we continue the series (against SIU)."

The Salukis were able to get out in transition against the Huskies, and for the first time in weeks, Kevin Dillard seemed to find his MoJo.

Pushing the ball and keeping the intensity was not a problem for Lowery, who shuffled all 11 guys into the rotation. Each time the Huskies tried to get back into the game someone stepped up and threw water on the fire by knocking down a jumper.

The Salukis were given easy looks at the basket all night and ended up shooing nearly 60% from the floor. While it's a positive sign that these young Dawgs are capable of lighting up the scoreboard its also important to remember that their Huskie counterparts just weren't very good.

photo credit- SIU sports information dept.