Salukis Jump Out Of Valley Race With Loss

Free throws turned out to be very costly for the Southern Illinois University men's basketball team on Thursday night.

The Salukis fell to Indiana State 68-65 as its late rally was thwarted by the team's own inability to hit something called "free throws."

Free throws, as defined by basketball scholars, are shots taken at a line 15 feet away from the basket.

Also known as foul shots, players can take said shots from the "free-throw line" in the following situations on the collegiate level:

• When a player is fouled in the act of shooting.
• When a team is fouled seven times (it enters an event coined "shooting the 1-and-1")
• When a team reaches 10 fouls and enters the "double bonus" round.

As a free throw shooter, you are delegated several rights.  You have the right to shoot as little as one attempt and many as three free throws in one trip.

Players taking "freebies" at the "charity stripe" also reserve the right to shoot without the annoyance of a defender.  With a clean look at the goal and defenders designated to each side of the lane, shooters are expected to be more accurate at the free-throw line than when shooting from the field or 3-point stripe.

Apparently, the alma mater in maroon and white didn't get the memo.

Head coach Chris Lowery was right to call the team's 52 percent shooting percentage (13 of 25) "atrocious" after last night's debacle. 

If SIU is able to bump that to 17 of 25, which would be a 68 percent clip, the Salukis would have won by four points and rather than talking about being tied for ninth place in the Missouri Valley Conference, we're talking about being in the clusterfuck of mediocrity that features Missouri State, Illinois State, Bradley and Drake.

To make matters worse, the team's best shooters Kevin Dillard (77 percent) and Tony Freeman (75 percent) combined to shoot 4-for-9 from the line last night.

Upon speaking with a coach I cover back in reality land, I remember a conversation we had when his team struggled to shoot free throws.  Said coach told me he sat the team down and issued a challenge after a night of woeful shooting.

Coach X challenged his players to make 100 free throws before practice was over.  Not shoot 100 free throws.  Make 100.  That is a major difference.  For Team X, their free-throw shooting has improved immensley since the mandate and so has their record.

For SIU, their 4-6 conference record puts them in a Thursday game at Arch Madness, which would be the absolute low-point for any Saluki unit since the end of the Rich Herrin Era.  To avoid playing Thursday, Southern will likely need to go 5-3 down the stretch in conference play and break even with a 9-9 record.

And while that would be an improvement over last year's 8-10 mark, it would be a disappointment for a team that came into the season claiming (and expecting) a "return to greatness."

For now, I think the Salukis should return to the charity stripe for more practice.