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Published Wednesday January 25, 2006 SIU streaks past Creighton BY STEVEN PIVOVAR
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

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CARBONDALE, Ill. - Tuesday's win over Creighton was one for the ages for Southern Illinois basketball fans.

Creighton's Anthony Tolliver, left, tries to stop Southern Illinois' Matt Shaw during Tuesday's MVC game in Carbondale, Ill. Shaw finished with 15 points in the Salukis' 62-48 win.

For the Salukis, it was just another night at the office.

Relying on its relentless defense, Southern Illinois pounded out a 62-48 victory over the Bluejays to set a Missouri Valley Conference record for consecutive home wins with 42. The victory also was the Salukis' 33rd straight to give them the longest current home winning streak in the nation.

"It's crazy because we never talk about it," Southern Illinois guard Tony Young said. "We never think about the record."

The Salukis' fans do, and 9,004 showed up Tuesday night at SIU Arena for what was being billed as the "Game of the Century" in these parts. The turnout was almost 1,500 more than Southern Illinois had drawn for any of its first eight home games this season.

The fans departed having witnessed history as the Salukis moved past the Oklahoma State teams that won 41 straight conference home games from 1936 through 1942 and the Cincinnati teams that matched that streak from 1957 to 1964.

"I know we broke the record," Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery said, "but all along, I've been trying to get our guys to focus on staying in first place. That was our ultimate goal. All we wanted to do was stay in first place, and we accomplished that."

In doing so, the Salukis (15-5, 8-2) snapped Creighton's six-game winning streak and knocked the Bluejays out of a four-way tie for the Valley lead. Now 13-5 and 7-3, Creighton faces the other two league leaders - Wichita State and Northern Iowa - it its next two games.

"We have to learn from this one," Creighton forward Dane Watts said, "and get refocused fast with Wichita State coming to town on Saturday."

Southern Illinois taught the Bluejays plenty on Tuesday. The Salukis, in holding Creighton to its lowest point total since a 70-46 loss to Missouri State on Feb. 28, 2004, limited the Bluejays to 32.7 field-goal shooting while forcing 18 turnovers.

Southern Illinois also had a 34-31 edge on the boards, with 13 offensive rebounds resulting in numerous second-chance opportunities.

"We had opportunities to get back into the game," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "They'd take 25 or 30 seconds, put up a shot, rebound it and then make us guard for another 25 or 30 seconds. They wore us down and they hit some shots at the end of the shot clock that took the wind out of our sails."

Creighton fell behind 10-0 after the first three minutes. The Bluejays battled back to force a pair of first-half ties at 16-16 and 21-21 before Jamaal Tatum scored on three straight possessions just before halftime to give Southern Illinois a 27-23 lead at the break.

Creighton eventually cut the deficit to a point, thanks to three straight steals by guard Dominic Bishop that fueled a 6-0 run that pulled the Bluejays within 35-34 with 13:45 to play.

"We just always seemed to be a play or two away," said guard Johnny Mathies, Creighton's scoring leader with 15 points. "I thought we had the momentum on our side after those plays that Dom made, but we needed another stop.

"Instead, they made some plays, got the momentum back and then ran the score up a little there at the end."

Southern Illinois regained control with a 7-0 spurt that saw Matt Shaw hit a jumper at the end of the shot clock and bury a 3-pointer on the next possession. Bryan Mullins capped the spurt with a layup after a Creighton turnover to make it 42-34 with 11:50 remaining.

Creighton got within six points just once after that before the Salukis sealed the win at the free-throw line, making 11 of 17 in the final 7:18.

Meanwhile, the Bluejays scored on just three of their final 13 possessions, missing nine shots from the field, one from the free-throw line in the bonus situation, while committing three turnovers.

"They outworked us, they out-toughed us in every phase of the game, and we got what we deserved tonight," Altman said. "We didn't play hard enough, and the better team, the tougher team, won. There's no doubt about that."

Meanwhile, the Bluejays scored on just three of their final 13 possessions, missing nine shots from the field, one from the free-throw line in the bonus situation, while committing three turnovers.

Mathies' 15 points came on 4-of-13 shooting, with Watts adding 10. Anthony Tolliver scored nine points but got just four shoots - two from 3-point range - against a Saluki defense that double-teamed him most of the night. No other Creighton player scored more than five points.

Young led Southern Illinois with 18 points but played just 16 minutes because of foul trouble. Tatum, who missed about six minutes of the second half with an ankle injury, added 15, while Shaw finished with 12.

"This is a good feeling," said SIU center Randal Falker, who added six points and six rebounds. "But it's a long season, and we just have to take this one with a grain of salt. The only time you can be happy is if you're in first place after 18 games. This one was just a steppingstone."

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