Creighton University
Southern Illinois
Young's Career-Night Lifts Basketball To OT Win at SIU, 83-78
2/23/2010 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Antoine Young had a career-high 22 points, including six of CU's final eight points in overtime, as Creighton completed a season sweep of rival Southern Illinois with an 83-78 overtime victory on Tuesday night.
With the win, Creighton moved back over .500 overall (15-14) and in league play (9-8). CU is now alone in fourth place in the MVC with just five days left in the league race.
The win was Creighton's second straight in Carbondale and fifth in a row overall over the Salukis.
Southern Illinois fell to 15-13 overall and is 6-11 in MVC action. Eight of SIU's 11 league losses have been by five points or less.
Both teams came out red-hot to start the game, with Creighton taking a 20-16 lead at the first media timeout. The Jays would hit 10 of its first 15 field goal attempts, getting baskets from seven different men, while taking it to a typically strong Saluki defense. While Creighton relied on its balance early on, Southern Illinois used nine points from Carlton Fay and four from Gene Teague in the opening minutes.
SIU took advantage of a three-minute drought by Creighton to score nine quick points and go ahead 25-24. Fay had four of those points, giving him 13 points in the first 11 minutes of action.
The Salukis continued its offensive fireworks, including a four-point play by Justin Bocot, as part of an extended 20-4 surge in a seven minute span to go ahead 36-28.
The Jays would regain their defensive intensity late in the first half to score six of the final eight points, closing to within 40-36 at the intermission.
Fay led all players with 13 points at the break, as SIU had 10 assists against just one turnover in the opening half. Creighton was paced by nine points from Justin Carter at the break, shooting 50 percent from the field in 30 attempts as a team.
Creighton would close within two points on a Wayne Runnels basket inside, 62-60, with 8:01 left. SIU answered with its second four-point play of the game, this one by Tony Freeman, as the 'Dawgs went up 66-60 with 7:38 remaining. Kendal Brown-Surles followed with two free throws after a Bluejay miss, going up eight points with seven minutes to go.
Creighton used a pair of offensive putbacks to get back within four points, one each from Kaleb Korver and Carter, with 5:29 left. Young then drove the lane for a lay-up with 3:50 to go, bringing the Jays within 68-66.
The Jays then withstood a pair of Saluki misses and had the ball with a chance to tie as Lawson was fouled with CU in the bonus and 2:52 remaining. Lawson sank both free throws to tie the game for the first time in the half. Bocot ended Creighton's 8-0 run with a drive to the hoop with 2:29 left to put SIU up two. After the Jays would miss twice inside, the Salukis got out in transition and Tony Freeman converted lay-up, putting SIU up 72-68 with 2:02 left.
Young then scored on another drive inside to bring CU within two points with 1:41 left. After a defensive stop, CU's Darryl Ashford found Wragge trailing in transition. The freshman sharpshooter's deep three-pointer was left short, and the Salukis claimed the board and called timeout with 58 seconds to go.
The Salukis threw the ball away out of the timeout, and Brown-Surles saved it by throwing it to a streaking Ashford. Ashford was fouled on his dunk attempt, but sank both foul shots with 54.1 left to tie the score at 72-all.
After the Salukis called another timeout with 46.7 ticks left. SIU found Fay curling around a screen, but CU charge specialist Casey Harriman took a charge, negating Fay's basket.
Just as they did a month ago in a two-point CU win, Creighton held the ball for the last shot. Young would drive left, only to have his shot blocked out-of-bounds with 2.4 seconds left. Following a Bluejay timeout, Young would inbound the ball to Lawson, who had his fadeway jumper blocked by Fay as time expired, sending CU to overtime.
Creighton's Lawson drained the opening basket of overtime, giving CU its first lead since the first half. After a second consecutive SIU turnover, Young drove and converted a three-point play. Lawson then took a charge on Teague with 3:39 to go, and Young would go to the stripe. He made the second to push CU's lead to six.
After an Anthony Booker score for SIU, CU's Wragge drained a contested trey to give the Jays a seven-point lead. Booker answered with 2:01 to play, trimming CU's lead to five. The Salukis would force a Bluejay shot clock violation with 1:09 left.
With 53.9 left, John Freeman went to the line and sank both to make it a three-point game. The Jays called timeout with 30.0 seconds left. Young then hit a step-back jumper with 19.0 ticks left, giving CU a five-point lead. The 'Dawgs would miss its final four shots in the last 15 seconds, securing the Bluejay triumph.
Young's 22 were seven more than his previous best for points in the game, including 8-of-9 at the line. Lawson Jr. added his second straight double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in a career-high 30 minutes. Carter also had 15 points for CU. The Bluejays shot 49.2 percent from the field (32-for-65), 35.3 percent from three-point range (6-for-17) and made 81.3 percent at the line (13-for-16).
SIU shot 45.6 percent from the field (31-for-68), 25.9 percent from three-point range (7-for-27) and made 64.3 percent at the line (9-for-14). Bocot had 21 points while Fay had 18 points after his 38-point outburst on Saturday. In addition, Tony Freeman had 14 points and Teague finished with 11 points and seven boards.
Creighton closes the regular-season on Saturday with a 2:05 pm game against Bradley. The game will be broadcast on KXSP (Big Sports 590 AM) and be televised on KMTV. Seniors Chad Millard, Cavel Witter and Justin Carter will be honored after the game.
NOTES: This
was the final game was at SIU Arena before a major renovation of the inside of
the arena, which will start tomorrow. The project will be completed in time for
the start of the 2010-11 season ...Kevin Dillard, who leads SIU with 13.0
points per game and leads the MVC with 143 assists, did not suit up due to an
injured ankle ...Ethan Wragge made a three-pointer in his 16th straight game, extending his own Creighton record for a freshman ...Both teams started two freshmen ...Kenny Lawson Jr. became Creighton's first junior to reach 500 career rebounds since Chad Gallagher in 1989-90 and CU's first junior to own 125 career blocks since Benoit Benjamin in 1984-85 ...
Creighton entered the game 1-11 when trailing at halftime, including an 0-6 road mark ...Creighton is now 1-1 in overtime this season and 50-44 all-time in overtime games.
