Dawgs Drop 91 In Opener? Who Are These Guys?

For those of you who are unaware, the Saluki is a breed of Egyptian hunting dog.  Hah.  Tell that to the University of Tennessee-Martin men's basketball team. 

For 40 minutes, Southern Illinois University's men's basketball team played like attack dogs as it scored 90 points for the first time since the 2003-04 season as the Salukis beat the Skyhawks 91-63.

Matt Painter's Salukis (who went 17-1 vs. MVC foes in his lone year at the helm) hung 93 in a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament game against Evansville.  The last time Southern had put at least 90 on the scoreboard in a regular season game was against Drake earlier that season as the Dawgs dominated Drake, 96-76.

I don't expect the Salukis to score 90 every night, neither does head coach Chris Lowery, however, Southern's offense should be much improved from last season.  In fact, it might be the most talented offensive unit Lowery has had since taking over at his alma mater following Painter.

SIU showed its depth as eight different players scratched the scoring column, and five players hit the double-figure scoring mark.  Southern's starting guards (Kevin Dillard, Tony Freeman and Justin Bocot) combined to score 33 points.  Dillard had 14, Freeman added 10 and Bocot finished with nine.  Off the bench, the guards were aided by 12 points off the bench by freshman Kendal Brown-Surles, and seven more each from Jack Crowder and swingman John Freeman.

Because of their abundance of guards, Southern should be significantly better.

Then there's junior Carlton Fay, who came off the bench to score 18 points in 15 minutes.  There's only one ball on the court, but there are eight guys who could score double figures on any given night.  That number climbs to 10 if Nick Evans and Eugene Teague go nutso on the offensive boards.

So, what sparked the balanced effort?  Well, that was a question posed last night to the coach.

"It comes from our patience. I thought we were much more patient and really tried to ball control and go inside more," Lowery said in his post game press conference. "I like my team because they don't understand why I'm so hard on them. But if we keep playing and practicing hard, then good things will happen for us."

So, maybe SIU's aggressive practices are translating to aggressive play on the court.  The Salukis shot 30 free throws last night, sinking 21 of them.  Lowery said he was happy with the team shooting at a 70 percent clip and set a team goal to shoot 30 free throws per game, and while UT-Martin shot upward of 30 free throws, the coach had an explantation on why they failed to be as successful as Southern's shooters.

"We fouled them too but we wore them down physically, so when they were getting to the line they were very tired," Lowery explained. He would then go into how wearing down an opponent could help spark some future Saluki offense. "It shows that we're slowly starting to get how i want to play defense back. Once we figure out some more things and continue to learn about positioning defensively, we'll turn those turnovers into points more."

Where have we heard this before?  Better yet, where have see seen this before?  SIU's defense has been so good at forcing turnovers over the years, but everyone always wonders why the team rarely attempts to capitalize on its opponents mistakes via the fast break.  Those days might be behind us as this year's Southern squad features enough ball handlers to push the break and enough big men willing to run.

As much as we've heard about style changes with this team, maybe it is the change in the kind of personnel that might prove to be the biggest difference in Saluki Basketball this season.

Though we're only one game in, I like what I have seen thus far.  I also like what I hear, too.  Especially from sophomore forward Anthony Booker after being asked how he felt after getting a win that counts his belt.

"Every game counts for me. Whether it's exhibition or regular season or not.  Even though they don't count for stats, they measure how well we do as a team," Booker said. "Every game counts, but it's also good to get that first "W" to show the SIU fans that we mean business and that we're getting back to defense."

I'm not sure that Southern Illinois can score 91 points per game this season, but I do know if its "D" can turn into "O" the Salukis will rack up a lot of "Ws" this season.