Drake rolled into Carbondale hoping to catch Southern Illinois at a good time.
It didn’t.
The No. 23 Salukis didn’t let their first top 25 ranking since 1976 affect them at all, rolling to a 96-76 victory Wednesday night at SIU Arena.
“This was a statement game,” said Southern Illinois center and Thornwood product Sylvester Willis. “We wanted to show we are for real.”
The Salukis (19-2, 13-0 Missouri Valley) convinced Drake head coach Tom Davis.
“This is no surprise,” Davis said. “They came out fired up. Sometimes, when a team gets ranked, they let up. There was no let-up in that team tonight.”
The Salukis trailed just once–by a point less than three minutes into the game. Their lead was 52-29 at the break and reached 37 at one point in the second half. This from a team that at times this season has struggled to put teams away.
“It was good for us to break out,” said Matt Painter, SIU’s first-year coach. “It was good for us to come out and get a game under our belt as a ranked team, to erase questions about being ranked.”
The win was SIU’s 11th in a row and 18th straight regular-season league victory. It kept the Salukis’ cushion over second-place Creighton at three games with five to play.
Willis had a double-double for the Salukis with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Jamaal Tatum topped SIU scorers with 19 points and Darren Brooks added 15 points, four assists and four rebounds. LaMar Owen came off the bench for 13 points and Brad Korn added 10.
Tatum and Owen have played key roles in the Salukis’ conference run.
“We say that we have nine starters on this team,” Painter said. “Those guys are proving it’s not just coaches’ talk.”
Drake (9-12, 5-8) was paced by 13 points from Lonnie Randolph.
The Salukis are off to their best start since the 1966-67 team opened the season 21-2. That team went on to beat Marquette for the National Invitation Tournament title.
