Blowout

Margin of victory largest on road versus conference foe in school history

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A game that was expected to be a close, hard-fought battle instead turned into a blowout of historical proportions.

The Salukis traveled to Wichita, Kan., for a Saturday showdown against Wichita State and left town with a 94-59 victory and remain in a first-place tie with No. 16 Creighton.

The 35-point margin of victory was the largest in SIU history against a Missouri Valley Conference team on the road.

The Salukis went into the locker room at halftime with a slim 42-34 lead, but then went crazy and outscored the Shockers 52-25 in the second half, including runs of 10-0, 10-2, 10-0 and finally a 13-0 run to end the game.

The 94 total points was the Salukis' (14-4, 9-1 MVC) highest total of the season and the teams' highest since scoring 101 points against Evansville last January.

On his postgame radio show, Wichita State head coach Mark Turgeon said he was not exactly sure what happened to his team, but said they seemed to stop caring.

"Our defense was non-existent," Turgeon said. "We're not even close to guys when they're shooting the ball. I can't explain that."

That lack of defense by the Shockers (11-7, 6-3 MVC) is part of the reason why the Salukis were able to shoot 56.9 percent from the field, including a mind-boggling 67.7 percent in the second half.

Three players, Jamar Howard (18 points), Rob Kampman (15 points) and Paul Miller (13 points), combined for a total of 46 of Wichita State's 59 points. Guards Randy Burns and Aaron Hogg, who average a combined 27 points a game, were held to 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

The Salukis, on the other hand, had numerous players who were clicking offensively.

SIU sophomore guard Darren Brooks had probably the best game of his career as he scored a career-high 25 points, grabbed four rebounds and tied an SIU single-game record with six steals. Brooks is now tied with Troy Hudson, Chris Lowery, Marcus Timmons and Rick Shipley for the steals mark.

Brooks credits the coaching staff with coming up with a game plan that enabled him to be able to cause such havoc on the defensive end.

"The coaches did a good job of scouting their plays," Brooks said on the postgame radio show. "I knew their plays pretty much, so I cheated a few times and got my hands on a few balls and made some plays."

SIU head coach Bruce Weber joked on the postgame radio show that in addition to the preparation, another factor that enabled Brooks to get so many steals in one of his physical attributes.

"He's got the longest arms," Weber said. "We call him octopus and it seems like he's got eight arms and he's coming from all over the place."

Brooks was not the only Saluki to have a big offensive day. Fellow sophomore Stetson Hairston had 14 points and a career-high nine assists. Senior guard Kent Williams had 13 points and back-up forward Brad Korn chipped in 11 points of his own in the rout.

Freshman forward Blake Schoen, who is known more for playing defense and diving after loose balls, had a career-high with 10 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from the field and grabbed five rebounds in just 17 minutes.

Even seldom-used senior guard David Carney got into the act as he drained a shot in the final minutes of the game for his first points of the season.

Weber said Schoen had been struggling as of late and felt it was something he forgot to bring to Wichita that helped ease his nerves.

"He didn't even bring both of his shoes," Weber said. "He walked into the locker room and he goes, 'I've got two right shoes.' Luckily Tony Young had the same size shoes so he gave him the left. He's been struggling and maybe that loosened him up a little bit."

Despite the 35-point win, Weber still was able to find something to get mad about.

During the first half, Weber broke his clipboard after becoming enraged by Jermaine Dearman not getting back on defense on consecutive plays and enabling the Shockers to get into their transition game.

Weber joked on the radio show about not having to throw the clipboard to break it.

"I didn't even slam it this time, I broke it with my hands," Weber said. "I was so mad at Jermaine ... so I just snapped it. I was proud of myself."

He was also proud of his team who played what Weber felt was arguably its best game of the season.

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