CARBONDALE, Ill. ? Bradley committed 14 of its 18 turnovers in the first half and the miscues helped Southern Illinois (7-8, 2-2) to a 19-2 advantage in points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes, a disparity the host Salukis rode to a 77-64 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory versus the Braves (7-9, 0-4) Tuesday night at SIU Arena.
Southern Illinois senior forward Matt Shaw led five Salukis in double-figures with 18 points and his senior frontcourt mate Randall Falker added 14 points and game-high seven rebounds. Reserve guard Tyrone Green added 12 points, while point guard Bryan Mullins and reserve forward Carlton Fay each chipped in 11 points for the home side. Bradley sophomore guard Andrew Warren sank all 12 of his free throw attempts to share game-high scoring honors with 18 points. Freshman point guard Sam Maniscalco added 13 points for the Braves and senior center Matt Salley completed the double-digit scoring list with 10 points, while also adding a team-high six rebounds.
After a Warren 3-pointer with 13:47 left in the first half pulled the Braves into a 10-10 tie, Southern Illinois steadily pulled away by taking advantage of Bradley's mistakes. A short Falker jumper with 8:44 left in the period gave the Salukis their first double-digit lead, 26-15 and the preseason MVC Player of the Year pushed the advantage to a game-high 20 points, 45-25, with 1:08 left in the half.
Aided by its defensive effort, Southern Illinois shot 66.7 percent (20-30) from the field in the first half, while Bradley was just 8-for-19 (.421) when it did get off a shot.
Bradley made a couple of runs at the Salukis in the second half, but could not get over the hump in its comeback attempt. A Jeremy Crouch 3-pointer with 14:22 remaining got the Braves within 50-38 before the Salukis pushed their advantage back to 18 points, 59-41, with 10:47 left. With Bradley still trailing 64-47 after a Fay 3-pointer with 7:06 left, Warren went on a personal 9-0 run on six free throws and a transition 3-pointer to pull the Braves within 64-56 with 4:16 remaining. But Shaw and Falker each made a pair of free throws on the next two SIU possessions and the Braves got the deficit back into single digits just one more time down the stretch.
By falling to 1-6 since senior point guard Daniel Ruffin initially injured his abdomen, the Braves suffered their sixth straight loss. They will try to end the skid Saturday when they visit Northern Iowa for the rematch of UNI's 59-46 win Dec. 29 at Carver Arena in the Valley opener for both teams. Saturday's 7:05 p.m. contest from the McLeod Center will be televised throughout Central Illinois on Comcast (Channel 44 in Peoria).
