Teague, Brown-Surles Should Lead Salukis Down The Stretch

In a conference where senior leadership is the ultimate "X-factor" when it comes to winning championships, a pair of freshman could hold the fate of the Southern Illinois men's basketball team.

And even though the Salukis are playing to avoid a Thursday game in St. Louis, which would be nothing more than a moral victory to boost morale throughout Saluki Nation, we at TBDS are thinking outside the box.

We're entrusting Kendal Brown-Surles and Eugene Teague to lead Southern out of the cellar.

Prior to this year, we were convinced KBS could have a Bryan Mullins-esque impact on this team. 

With solid ball-handling skills, a steady hand for distribution and stout defense, we were sure the freshman point guard would be a lynch-pin for years to come, but right now, could be the kind of role player SIU head coach Chris Lowery could depend on.

The freshman from Evansville, Ind., committed only one turnover and had two steals in 22 minutes for the Salukis in the loss against Northern Iowa.  Meanwhile, sophomore Kevin Dillard was held scoreless for only the second time in his young career.  Dillard also committed five turnovers, compounding matters.

Let the record show that Brown-Surles was subbed out for Kevin Dillard at the 1:36 mark with the Salukis and Panthers deadlocked at 49-49.  Dillard had been struggling after getting smacked in the face on a foul call only a few minutes before that.  The final minute-and-a-half for KD wasn't pretty as turnover at the 1:19 mark and a missed 3-pointer with 26 seconds left capped Dillard's performance.

If Dillard was at all shaken up by the after-effects of getting smacked across the face, and you combine that with his general ineffectiveness, KBS should have been running the show.  Everyone knows we love Dillard, but you can't have a guy who is struggling down the stretch be the primary ball-handler in the guts of a game.

SIU should take advantage of what Brown-Surles brings to the table and run an offense that features a three-guard set with Brown-Surles running the show being flanked by Dillard and Freeman. 

And it is not as if Brown-Surles, who is Harrison High School's all-time leading scorer is a slouch on the offensive end.  Before you dismiss the accomplishment, note that the school has former NBAers Calbert Chaney, who was absolutely unstoppable from beyond the arc in NBA Jam and Walter McCarty, who was a pretty good player at the University of Kentucky.

No news on what kind of NBA Jam player he was.

Freshman center Eugene Teague went 6-for-9 from the field the last time Missouri State and Southern Illinois met, and I wouldn't mind if he even got more touches.  Mo. St. has no answer down low for the big fella and I think Teague could be in store for another monster performance.

UNI's Jordan Eglseder averages 11.61 shot attempts per game in contests he logs at least 20 minutes in.  If Southern can get at least 20 minutes out of Teague, he should be getting the same number of looks.  The more opportunities Gene gets on the block, the better the Salukis look on offense.

I'm looking for the man in the middle to stumble upon an 18-point, 10-rebound game one of these days.  And I think Wednesday would be a really good time to have one.

Teague is averaging 11.6 points and 8.4 rebounds over his last five games and has really taken strides since his 14-point, 8-rebound performance against Creighton where he filled in more than admirably for (the recently departed) Nick Evans, who was ejected from the game in the first half.

SIU hasn't had a post presence like this since Randal Falker left, and before him, since Roland Roberts roamed the paint wearing maroon and white.  Southern needs to take advantage of a position where it holds a clear edge.  They need to do it early and they need to do it often.

And to think, coming into this year, SIU fans thought the strength would be in backcourt depth.  Here were are in the heart of the season and two of our biggest contributors down the stretch could be a freshman back-up point guard and a trimmed down freshman center.

My, how some things change.