Southern Illinois-St. Mary's Basketball: Salukis Looking at Early Must-Win Game

Jerry Palm — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:50:03 -0500

If Southern Illinois harbors any hopes of returning to the NCAA Tournament short of winning the Missouri Valley Conference, Saturday's game with St. Mary's at the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis is a must-win.

The Salukis' six-year run of consecutive tournament appearances ended a year ago when they went 17-14. SIU is off to another 4-5 start, but a win over the Gaels could be a springboard to better things.

To make that happen, the Saluki defense will first have to contend with Naismith Award finalist Patrick Mills. Mills is deadly at both ends of the floor, averaging 20 points per game, dishing out almost 4 assists, and picking up more than 2 steals.

The Salukis will throw Bryan Mullins at him. Mullins stepped up huge in last year's game with the Gaels. He not only harassed Mills into a so-so night (11 points, 2 assists, 5 turnovers), but he lit up the gym with 24 points of his own. He'll need that kind of performance again if SIU is to have a chance.

Mullins will need some help from his backcourt mates Wesley Clemons and super freshman Kevin Dillard, who comes off the bench averaging over 9 points per game.

Even if the Salukis can lock up Mills, they are going to really have their hands full with the Gaels front court—6'11" Omar Samhan and 6'7" Daimon Simpson don't let you do much in the lane.

Simpson is the player who gets most of the accolades between the two, but Samhan is no longer taking a backseat to him. Simpson is all-time leader in blocked shots at St. Mary's, but he's second in the team to Samhan this season. Samhan is also the team's second leading scorer (to Mills) and rebounder (to Simpson).

It's going to be tough for Southern Illinois to handle those guys without Randal Falker this year. Carlton Fay is having a nice season, averaging 13.7 points per game, and 6'8" Tony Boyle is a physical presence inside; still, even combined, they don't match Simpson's rebounding numbers. Unfortunately, Boyle's also a bit foul prone. The Salukis need him on the floor in this game.

If Southern can dictate with their grind-it-out style, shoot well, and take care of the ball (not a strength), they have a chance. Otherwise, the Salukis are in for a long night.

Davidson-Purdue Preview

Jerry Palm — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:27:16 -0500

Davidson and Purdue will take the floor in the opening game of the Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis on Saturday with a common goal—looking for that first marquee win of the season.

Each team is in the rankings based more on what they did last year than what they have done so far this year. Purdue, the Big Ten favorite, is 0-2 against ranked opponents so far this year, with an overtime loss to Oklahoma in the NIT Tip-Off final, and a home loss to Duke.

The Wildcats, who made a remarkable run to the Elite Eight a year ago, also lost a tight game to the Sooners in the NIT Tip-Off.

All discussion of Davidson starts with the phenomenal Stephen Curry. Curry is averaging almost 32 points per game, nearly five points more than anyone else in the nation. But Curry isn't just a scorer. He also averages 6.8 assists per game, placing him among the nation's leaders in that category as well.

Defending him will be job one for Purdue, and when the Boilers need to clamp down on someone, they turn to G Chris Kramer. Kramer's goal will be to harass and get a little physical with the slightly-built Curry. The idea will be to wear him down, make him work for every shot and to make him shoot a low percentage. If he gets 25, but needs to take 40 shots to make it happen, so be it. The Boilers will be happy with that.

Purdue also needs to make sure the other guys don't get off, especially 6'7" F Andrew Lovedale, who averages a double-double. Lovedale aside, the Boilermaker front line players, 6'11" JaJuan Johnson, 6'9" Nemanja Calasan and 6'7" Robbie Hummel should have a big advantage over the smaller Wildcats, but so far this season, Purdue has been outrebounded by about 3 boards per game.

Another big problem for Purdue that could haunt them in this game is turnovers. The Boilers only average about 12 per game, but have had at least 19 in three of their last five outings. Davidson forces about 8.5 more turnovers per game than they commit. The Boilers cannot afford to give the Wildcats a lot of easy baskets.

If Purdue takes care of the ball, Hummel and G E'Twaun Moore will be difficult for Davidson to match up with defensively. The Wildcats figure to throw their stopper, 6' 6" Max Paulhus Gosselin, at Hummel. If Davidson decides to use Curry on Moore, Purdue could help wear Curry down by making him work on the defensive end of the floor. They could also attack him and try to get him in foul trouble. Bryant Barr may get the assignment instead.

Purdue is also hoping Keaton Grant's shooting touch returns. After a breakout season last year, he is only shooting 32 percent from the floor this year. He may still be feeling the effects of off-season knee surgery.

I will be covering this game with a live blog at CollegeRPI.com, so join in and follow along.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Jerry Palm

Southern Illinois-St. Mary's Basketball: Salukis Looking at Early Must-Win Game

Davidson-Purdue Preview