Dawgs prepare for WSU

SIU men's basketball team hits the road for tough test in Wichita State

Going into Saturday's game against Wichita State, the SIU men's basketball team has received a big boost from an unlikely source.

That source? The University of Evansville.

A week after knocking off No. 10 ranked Creighton at home to put SIU into a first place tie in the Missouri Valley Conference, the Purple Aces pulled off yet another upset in beating Wichita State Wednesday night 75-74.

The Shockers went into the game just a half-game behind SIU, Creighton and Southwest Missouri State with a 6-1 league mark and might have been caught looking past Evansville and toward their rematch with the Salukis. The two teams will tip-off at 1:35 p.m. Saturday at the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita, Kan.

Since losing to the Salukis 69-61 on Jan. 15, the Shockers reeled off three straight wins against Illinois State, Drake and Bradley before the unexpected loss Wednesday.

SIU head coach Bruce Weber said he isn't sure if the Shockers (11-6, 6-2 MVC) will be able to bounce back for a heartbreaker after Wichita State had finally gotten itself on a roll.

"It'll be interesting to see how they deal with losing a close game at Evansville and if they'll come with the same motivation," Weber said. "I would think they would be motivated because it's a big game, but you never know how kids will react to things like that."

This game is big for both teams in that Wichita State needs a victory to stay in the conference chase and the Salukis need to prove they can beat a respectable team after struggling against weaker teams such as Northern Iowa, Indiana State and Bradley.

SIU senior forward Jermaine Dearman said he expects the Shockers to be over the Evansville loss and also to be seeking a little payback for the earlier loss to the Salukis.

"Anytime you lose to a team that you are expected to beat, you're going to play the next game with a fear factor," Dearman said.

One advantage for Wichita State is that they will once again be playing at home. The Shockers are 9-2 at home and 4-0 in league games there.

Dearman said Wichita is a tough place to play and said even when the Salukis (13-4, 8-1 MVC) have won there it has been tough.

He said the crowd gives them a big boost as they get pretty rowdy and do a good job of getting into the other teams' heads. He particularly remembers the crowd yelling at Weber and the assistant coaches last season and telling them "to sit down and shut up."

"You've got to block that out and just go in there and just play our game, just play our style of basketball," Dearman said.

One danger for the Salukis is that Wichita State has a couple of shooters who can heat up almost instantaneously.

Sophomore Randy Burns, who is averaging 20.3 points during the past three games, and junior Aaron Hogg, who scored 20 against the Salukis earlier this month, are leading their team in three-point shooting and pose a potential problems for the Salukis.

The last time the two teams faced off SIU was able to keep Burns out of sync and did a decent job on Hogg until the final minutes when he started heating up. The Salukis know they'll need to do more of the same to be successful on Saturday.

"You just want to try and keep their shooters out of rhythm," Dearman said. "Try to defend them early and keep them out of the game. We really don't want them to be a factor."

Weber said one of the most important keys to controlling Wichita State's shooters is taking care of the ball and not letting the opposition gets into a running game and build up some confidence. The Shockers thrive on that running game and if the Salukis can shut it down, it should be a long game for Wichita State.

"What they do is they get in transition, they hit spot-up threes," Weber said. "Now you're fighting out to the threes and they're getting lay-ups on you or they get put backs on you because you're flying around scrambling."

If the Salukis are able to contain the shooters and keep the Shockers from getting into a transition game, they should be able to pass this test and keep their hold on first place in the MVC.

Reporter Jens Deju can be reached at jdeju@dailyegyptian.com