All-Around Effort
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Of the nine players who dressed for Southern Illinois, seven of them scored in double figures during a 97-65 rout of Division II Missouri S&T on Saturday, in the final exhibition tune-up before the regular season starts in one week.
Granted, the game doesn't count, and the opponent was over-matched, but the Salukis played with a sense of urgency and passion that has been missing from SIU Arena in recent years.
Players dove on the floor for loose balls. An aggressive, trapping defense created a whopping 30 turnovers. The offense stayed up-tempo all night, producing a highlight reel full of crowd-pleasing plays, such as a lob pass from T.J. Linday to Jeff Early, that was slammed home with authority early in the second half.
"I'm happy that we're playing hard," said head coach Chris Lowery. "We're consistently putting halves together, going on big runs with our athleticism."
Southern started the game on a 10-0 run that featured seven-straight points by forward Dantiel Daniels. The freshman was a commanding presence in the paint, scoring 14 points, grabbing five offensive rebounds and blocking three shots in just 20 minutes of play.
"Dantiel as a freshman is making tough baskets and isn't afraid to make a play," Lowery said.
The only time the game was close was when SIU led, 18-14, nine minutes into the contest. Senior guard Justin Bocot then sparked a 13-3 run with a steal and a dunk, followed by a 3-point bomb.
"Justin went on a four or five-point swing himself which is what your seniors should do," Lowery said. "He's shown our guys how to play the way we want, and it's good to see him have some success."
The Salukis led by 18 at halftime and by as many as 38 with five minutes to go in the game. In an effort to get a squad with nine newcomers game-ready, the playing time was spread evenly, as no one logged less than 19 minutes or more than 26.
"We've scrimmaged a lot in practice doing game situations, so we get in these games and they're seeing the stuff," Lowery said. "I think the one thing that they've shown is that they can carry over from practice to the game.
One area where Lowery said he was looking for improvement was in execution of the offense, specifically among the guards. His players delivered. All three starting guards finished in double figures - Bocot (17), Lindsay (11) and Early (10). Josh Swan also added a dozen points off the bench.
"Our guard play had to improve and we knew that," Lowery said. "We have different guys who can dribble it and different guys who can pass it. We're sharing the ball well."
Another key factor in the success of the up-tempo offense has been conditioning, Lowery said.
"(The players) allowed us to get them in great shape and I think you saw how we can exchange ends really fast," he said. "We were very crisp, so even when we made mistakes, they were fast mistakes and they were aggressive mistakes."
The first regular-season game takes place at home next Saturday night against Ohio Dominican.