Southern Illinois earns third shot at Wichita State
Southern Illinois got a full 10 minutes to celebrate Thursday night’s 55-48 win over Missouri State in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
That’s what happens when you’ve got to wake up the next morning and play No. 8 Wichita State.
“We celebrated in the locker room, but that’s it,” Southern Illinois guard Anthony Beane said. “We know what’s waiting for us tomorrow. Once we get back to the hotel, it’s all business. Listen to coach and he’ll get us ready for the game tomorrow.”
“We’re happy we got this win but we can’t be satisfied,” Southern Illinois guard Jalen Pendleton said. “We’ve got a great team.”
The ninth-seeded Salukis found themselves in a battle against eighth-seeded Missouri State, not getting separation until a late three-pointer by Sean O’Brien put the Salukis up 50-43 with 47 seconds left.
Deion Lavender led Southern Illinois (12-20) with 12 points. Beane and O’Brien added 10 each.
“I felt like the team that really wanted to be here today, that really had the most enthusiasm would have the opportunity to win this game,” Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson said. “It was unusual for a play-in game because usually one team doesn’t play very hard. That wasn’t the case today.”
Friday’s game against WSU (27-3) starts at noon.
The Shockers won both games against Southern Illinois in the regular season — 67-55 on Jan. 14 in Wichita and 84-62 on Feb. 17 in Carbondale, Ill.
“Quite frankly, the first game was close because (WSU coach) Gregg (Marshall) substituted a lot, he allowed it to be close,” Hinson said. “The second game, we lost by almost 25 and I thought we played better.
“(WSU) is playing, in my opinion, as good as anybody in the country right now. They’re the hottest team in the country right now ... we know what our task is, we know what our chore is, but doggone it at least we’ve got the opportunity.”
Hinson said that his team has started to have more fun lately — including his players watching him get pulled over by police in a snowy parking lot as he did donuts in his car to entertain them before they left on the bus to come to St. Louis.
“They liked that,” Hinson said, laughing. “I wasn’t in charge anymore.”
The Shockers are a different kind of monster, though.
“You got two different choices when you play a game like we did today,” Hinson said. “You can lose, and get yourself a good chicken-fried steak on the way home. You win, and you get to play the No. 8 team in the country.
“Now I love chicken-fried steak, but I’d rather play the No. 8 team in the country. That’s a privilege and a heck of an opportunity.”
S. ILLINOIS (12-20): Lavender 3-6 6-6 12, Caroline 2-9 3-4 7, Olaniyan 3-6 0-1 6, Beane 4-11 0-0 10, O’Brien 4-9 1-2 10, Pendleton 2-5 2-3 6, Djimde 2-5 0-0 4, Smithpeters 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 12-16 55.
MISSOURI ST. (11-20): Ruder 4-11 5-5 17, Williams 1-7 2-2 4, Boone 3-8 5-7 11, Kendrix 0-3 1-2 1, Kirk 3-3 2-5 8, Gerring 0-0 0-0 0, Thurman 2-5 0-0 4, Roundtree Jr. 1-3 1-2 3, McCullough 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 16-23 48.
Halftime—S. Illinois 25-19. 3-Point Goals—S. Illinois 3-11 (Beane 2-3, O’Brien 1-2, Lavender 0-2, Smithpeters 0-2, Pendleton 0-2), Missouri St. 4-13 (Ruder 4-10, Roundtree Jr. 0-1, Williams 0-1, Thurman 0-1). Fouled Out—Kendrix. Rebounds—S. Illinois 32 (Beane, O’Brien, Olaniyan 6), Missouri St. 33 (Kirk 11). Assists—S. Illinois 7 (Beane, O’Brien, Pendleton 2), Missouri St. 12 (Williams 4). Total Fouls—S. Illinois 19, Missouri St. 17. Technical—Williams. A—NA.
This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 9:15 PM with the headline "Southern Illinois earns third shot at Wichita State."