SIU trails UMass 38-29 at halftime

It wasn't pretty in the first half and that's part of the reason SIU trails UMass 39-28 in the Carbondale Regional final of the 2K Sports Classic.

The Salukis have a lot of improving to do if it wants to punch their ticket to New York.

Such as:

• Rebound. The Minutemen have out-rebounded SIU 26-14 in the first half. Want to know what's worse? That they have 10 offensive boards compared to the 5 SIU has.
• Get to the charity stripe. The Salukis are perfect from the free-throw line, but it's not helping of they've only gone to the line four times. UMass has gone 12 times, but has only hit 7 of 12.
• See the 3. Be the 3. Hit the 3. SIU has been shut out from the 3-point line, going 0-for-8 from downtown.
  

They're going to need to come out strong in the second half and maybe hit a few long bombs to loosen up the UMass defense. If not, the visitors will likely just sit in zone coverage and let the Salukis' coach trip to New York turn into a pumpkin.