Creighton University
Southern Illinois
Late SIU Rally Trips Men's Basketball, 48-44
1/26/2008 10:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois held Creighton to one field goal in the final 12:45, outscoring the Bluejays 21-7 down the stretch to post a 48-44 victory over Creighton on Saturday night in Carbondale.
SIU improves to 10-10 (5-4 MVC) while the Jays lost a second straight game to fall to 14-5 overall (5-4 MVC). The win improved SIU to 56-1 at home in MVC contests since the start of the 2001-02 campaign.
Saluki point guard Bryan Mullins had 13 points, a key assist and a key offensive rebound in the final two minutes as SIU scored eight of the game's final 11 points in the final three minutes.
Creighton owned a 25-22 halftime lead, scoring 12 points in the final five minutes of the first half. The Jays largest lead, 25-19, was sliced in half on a three-pointer from Mullins with 13 seconds left in the first half.
Reserve Booker Woodfox scored seven of CU's first nine points after intermission, and shortly thereafter a Nick Bahe trey from the left wing gave CU its first double-digit lead at 37-27, prompting a Saluki timeout.
The renowned Saluki defense then came to life, clamping down on the Jays during an 8-0 run that got the crowd back into the game. Matt Shaw drained back-to-back three-pointers from opposite corners to fuel the rally, which started with a Randal Falker putback. CU would get a free throw at the 5:47 mark to end the drought, but Mulllins answered with another trey to tie the score at 38-all.
Kenny Lawson Jr. gave CU a two-point lead with two free throws at the 4:59 mark. Tyrone Green's offensive putback at the 3:38 mark tied the game at 40 after CU had forced an off-balance three-point try from Mullins to beat the shot clock.
After Cavel Witter split two free throws, Mullins hit a trifecta from the right wing as SIU took its first lead of the second half at 43-41. Mullins would then drive and dish to Falker for a lay-up with 43.7 seconds left and give SIU a four-point lead. Matt Shaw later added two free throws before CU's finally broke through with a three-pointer by Chad Millard with 1.2 seconds left.
Woodfox had 11 points off the bench to lead Creighton. The Jays shot 36.8 percent for the game but hit just 5-of-17 baskets in the second half. CU did own a 29-28 rebound edge, led by five from Dane Watts.
SIU was led by 16 from Matt Shaw, while Mullins had 13 points and four assists. SIU shot 41.9 percent for the game.
Creighton returns to action on Wednesday with a 7:05 pm road game at league-leading No. 22 Drake (18-1, 9-0 MVC). The game can be heard on KXSP (Big Sports 590 AM), but will not be televised in the Omaha area.
NOTES: The game was televised nationally on ESPN2 ...Dr. Albert Brown, the world's oldest survivor of the Bataan Death March (102 years old), the 1928 Creighton basketball team captain and a Pinckneyville (Ill.) native, was honored and received a standing ovation during the second media timeout of the first half ...Dane Watts grabbed his 600th career rebound with 7:36 left in the first half. He is one of 11 men in CU history with 1,000 points and 600 rebounds in a career, and one of just four men with 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 100 or more three-pointers (along with Rodney Buford, Kyle Korver and Ben Walker) ...Dana Altman had been 42-0 in his Division I coaching career when holding opponents to 50 points or less.
