CARBONDALE, Ill. — Illinois took advantage of an early lead over the Salukis and never let go as Southern Illinois fell to the Illini, 86-42, at SIU Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Illini (7-2, 0-0 Big Ten) were in control over the Salukis (4-2, 0-0 MVC) in the first half, jumping out to a 7-0 lead before Southern scored its first points at the 14:53 mark. Illinois’ 2-2-1 trap zone wreaked havoc on what was, entering today, a highly efficient Saluki offense. The Illini defense forced 14 first half turnovers and held SIU to 15 points on 17.9 percent shooting in the opening frame en route to a 57-15 difference at the break — spurred by a 39-6 run over the last 11:52.

Southern showed some signs of life in the second half, though, which only ended up 29-27 in the Illini’s favor. Much of SIU’s success in the second half came from the bench, which scored 14 of its 17 points in the game in the back half. Southern’s bench play helped keep the lead where it was, but it could do little else to dig into the large lead the Illini built in the first half.

“We have to stick to the fundamentals, and that’s part of the process we are in with this team,” said SIU head coach Cindy Stein. “Getting them to stick to the fundamentals and getting the snowball factor to roll the other way.”

“We just got away from what we practiced,” said redshirt sophomore point guard Rishonda Napier. “We weren’t playing Saluki basketball. We weren’t playing our game and the turnovers got to us, which made us hang our heads.”

Key to Illinois’ strategy was canceling out Preseason All-MVC center Dyana Pierre, who was double-teamed the entire game by an athletic and tall Illini defense down low. Pierre still managed seven points and seven rebounds amid the chaos, but with the added attention on Pierre and the disappearance of passing lanes in the trap zone, Southern’s offense struggled.

However, leading the way for SIU once again was Napier, who scored 18 points to make this game her sixth straight to start the season in double-digits. She had 11 of Southern’s 15 points in the first half and ended up with nearly one-third (17) of SIU’s shot attempts (56) all game.

“Rishonda does not have much fear and that’s what makes her a great point guard,” Stein said. “She was trying to make something happen and we just didn’t have a whole lot of people rolling with her. Rishonda is playing well and she is a very confident young lady but at the same time very humble. She just wants to prove that she can make her teammates better.”

The energy was high in SIU Arena today, though, as 1,975 fans took advantage of $1 tickets as part of a Pack the House promotion for the Illinois contest. Today’s attendance is the eighth-highest in Saluki women’s basketball history and the highest since 1,838 came out to see SIU take on Illinois State in 2009.

Even after today’s loss the Salukis are still riding high after a three-game home winning streak over Thanksgiving break that lead to Southern’s first 4-1 team since 1991-92. Remaining in the non-conference season are trips to Austin Peay (Dec. 13) and Morehead State (Dec. 30), a home contest against Murray State on Dec. 16, and a neutral-site trip to New Orleans to play No. 17/18 Oregon State and Toledo on Dec. 19-20.

“That was an ugly game, but I think we are going to be much better with this kind of game,” Stein said. “We aren’t used to being in this kind of situation and I think we backed down a little bit in the first half and then we finally got rolling. A lot of elements got to us but, like I said, I think we are going to be much better from experiencing this. Next time we will be able to handle it better.”

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Southern Illinois trounced Austin Peay, 71-49, on Saturday and demonstrated it could thrive despite an off night by star guard Anthony Beane, who was limited to nine points.

Winners of four-straight games, the Salukis (5-3) won tonight for the first time this season when Beane was held below his 21-point scoring average. His scoring touch wasn’t needed, as 10-different players registered field goals, led by Jordan Caroline’s career-high 13 points.

“I think the story of the night was it wasn’t Sean (O’Brien) tonight and it wasn’t Anthony (Beane),” said SIU head coach Barry Hinson. “If it’s not Sean and Anthony, everybody out in that arena is thinking, oh man, they’re going to have a bad night. We have some guys coming on and developing.”

The Governors (2-6) may have put too much emphasis on stopping the talented junior guard. Beane was 4-of-14 from the field while the rest of the team was 24-of-44.

“Austin Peay came in and said we’re going to take (Beane) out of the game, and that’s when everybody else has to step up,” Hinson said. “If everybody else plays like they played tonight, then Anthony will not be guarded like that.”

All of Caroline’s points came on layups or dunks, as he grabbed four offensive rebounds and was also the beneficiary of several of the team’s season-high 14 assists. Caroline scored six of Southern’s first eight points.

Defensively, the Salukis held APSU to 39 percent shooting, including a frigid 2-of-18 from 3-point range. They also forced 18 turnovers, including 13 in the first half, in which Southern’s sticky man-to-man defense helped the team build a 41-25 halftime lead.

“I thought we guarded well on the perimeter and made them take guarded shots,” Hinson said. “Our game doesn’t have to go by how we shoot the ball, it can go by how we guard.”

Two freshman guards provided long-range shooting for SIU as both Chaz Glotta and K.C Goodwin drained a pair of 3-pointers. They finished with eight and seven points, respectively.

 

Coming into the game, Southern had recorded more turnovers than assists in every game this season, but they reversed that trend against Austin Peay with 14 assists and only seven turnovers. Jalen Pendleton and O’Brien each had three assists to lead the team.

“We’re starting to mesh a little bit and starting to do the things we should be doing,” Hinson said. “When we rebound, when we guard, when we share the basketball, we can be a pretty good basketball team.”

In their previous seven games, the Salukis had been out-scored in the second half by every opponent except Olivet Nazarene. That streak also ended, as SIU edged the Governors, 30-24, in the final 20 minutes.

“Tonight we won the second half, too, and that was a big deal for us,” said Hinson, whose team improved to 3-0 against Ohio Valley Conference teams this season.

Pitcher Jason Hammel is returning to the Chicago Cubs.

Here’s the link at the Chicago Tribune.