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Salukis demolish Jacksonville State

Suffocating defense shuts down Gamecocks' offense

The hands and feet of the SIU men's basketball team were simply quicker than those of Jacksonville State Wednesday night in an 84-49 home-opening win for the Salukis.

Quick hands allowed SIU to score on numerous tip-ins despite the presence of Jacksonville State's bulky big men under the boards.

The Salukis' quick feet allowed them to stay in front of the Gamecocks all night and put hands in the faces of JSU shooters to limit the team's stable of athletes to less than 34 percent shooting for the game and 28 percent in the first half.

The two teams traded buckets for the first several minutes before the SIU defense took over. SIU held the Gamecocks without a field goal over an eight and a half minute span, during which the Salukis turned a two-point deficit into a 12-point lead. Jacksonville State tallied only one point during that span, a free throw banked in by Emerson Brown.

SIU's defense then held JSU scoreless for nearly three minutes late in the first half while unleashing an offensive flurry of their own after the Gamecocks had trimmed SIU's lead to eight.

Josh Warren started it off with a putback, then Ryan Walker buried a three-pointer from the right corner. Brad Korn then hit a three of his own and was hit on the arm following the shot, but no foul was whistled. Darren Brooks, who finished with 15 points and nine boards, then dropped in a layup to give his team a 32-14 lead.

Korn, who started the SIU scoring in the game with a three-point play, finished with 13 points in the first half and 17 in the game.

"Brad is a lot more assertive," head coach Matt Painter said. "He's also getting an opportunity. (Last year), we kind of used him as a pinch-hitter. He backed up Jermaine (Dearman), took a couple threes, and we'd get him out. Now he's getting more pportunities and is making more of an effort to rebound the ball, mix it up in the paint, and tonight he just got in a great flow."

SIU put five players in double-figure scoring, three of whom were post players, a position that was thought to be a question mark heading into the season.

"Right now they're all playing well, and I'm kind of struggling to find them all playing time," Painter said of his big men. "I didn't know if I'd have this problem early but I do."

Junior guard Stetson Hairston returned to the starting lineup against the Gamecocks after being suspended for the team's two exhibition games. Hairston tallied 13 points, three assists and three rebounds. But his most attention-grabbing play of the night came late in the game, when a Gamecock defender told him he couldn't do anything with the ball.

Hairston easily beat the defender at half-court, then looked back at him and laughed.

Auburn transfer Abdou Diame led his team with 10 points and was the only player to score in double figures for Jacksonville State.

The Salukis will now travel north to face the Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers in a Saturday afternoon game in Brew City.