Nov. 17, 2007

Box Score

Southern Illinois 88, Northern Illinois 68 in PDF Format

Carbondale, Ill. - Southern Illinois used its famous stifling defense and held the Northern Illinois men's basketball team scoreless over the first 10 minutes of the game as the No. 23 Salukis earned the 88-68 non-conference victory over the Huskies at the SIU Arena on Saturday night.

Saluki junior guard Bryan Mullins and senior forward Matt Shaw each scored 16 points to lead SIU, while freshman guard Brandon Wood added 15 off the bench.

SIU forced 23 NIU turnovers, which translated into 22 points and held the Huskies to 34.4% (21-for-61) shooting for the contest. The Huskies did not score their first points until a Ryan Paradise (Naperville, Ill. / Central) jumper at the 10:11 mark, cutting SIU's lead to 17-2

"It was a hard fought game," NIU head men's basketball coach Ricardo Patton said. "We spotted them 17 points and you can't do that with any team, particularly a team such as Southern Illinois.

"Our kids played hard and aggressively on the defensive end, but you have to put the ball in the basket."

With the victory, Southern Illinois improves to 1-0 overall, while the Huskies fall to 0-4 on the campaign.

NIU junior guard Jarvis Nichols (Carol Stream, Ill. / Glenbard North / Pratt C.C.) led the Huskies in scoring with 18 points, followed by 14 points from freshman guard Darion Anderson (Chicago, Ill. / Carver Military Academy).

"This was a great contest for our program," Patton said.  My hat is off to [SIU] Coach [Chris] Lowery for even making this game possible and returning it next season.

"It's a game I think our fans wanted to see, so kudos to Coach Lowery for even being willing to play the game," Patton continued. "It certainly does more for our program than his right now, but this is where we hope our program goes as being one of the top programs in the country. 

NIU continues its tour of the Missouri Valley Conference on Tuesday, November 20, as the Huskies travel to Terre Haute, Ind., to square off with Indiana State for a 6 p.m. (CST) tip-off.

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