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Back to reality Wednesday for SIU men's hoops

By Todd Hefferman, The Southern

Sunday, November 23, 2008 11:18 PM CST

CARBONDALE - Five days after taking a two-course dish of humble pie, the Southern Illinois University men's basketball team heads back to reality Wednesday night at Western Kentucky.

The Salukis (2-2) were handed their first two losses of the season at New York City's Madison Square Garden last week. Duke, ranked 10th in The Associated Press list last week and the winner of the 2K Sports Classic, pulled away from SIU on Thursday night in the final eight minutes to win 83-58. It was the Salukis' worst loss since falling to USC by 25 last season.

Fourth-ranked UCLA then took out its frustration of losing to unranked Michigan on Thursday night on SIU on Friday. The Bruins beat the Salukis 77-60.

Both Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and UCLA coach Ben Howland had good things to say about the future of SIU this season.

"I thought Southern Illinois, going into the game, was a very good team, and they are going to be a very good team," Howland said. "The Missouri Valley Conference is going to have their hands full with them. They're very much like us in that they're young, with a blend of older players and younger players, but they were very tough."

One of those new players, freshman guard Kevin Dillard, made the 2K Sports Classic All-Tournament Team. Senior point guard Bryan Mullins caught Krzyzewski's eye as one of SIU's returnees. Mullins scored only two points with six assists in 31 minutes against the Blue Devils, but still made a good impression on one of the most storied leaders in college basketball.

"Their guard, Mullins, is really one of the most efficient players in the country," Krzyzewski said prior to the game.

Western Kentucky (1-2), a Sweet 16 team last season in the NCAA tournament, welcomes the Salukis to 7,326-seat E.A. Diddle Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Hilltoppers don't bring the national rankings Duke and UCLA did last week, but present two preseason all-conference players and a first-year coach in Ken McDonald.

Juniors Jeremy Evans and A.J. Slaughter were named preseason all-conference by the Sun Belt. Evans, a 6-foot-9 forward, was the Sun Belt tournament's Most Valuable Player in 2007. Slaughter, a 6-3 guard, averaged 7.6 points per game in an average of 19 minutes last season.

SIU coach Chris Lowery said his team learned a lot from its two days in New York against two of the most storied programs in the game.

"It's really about playing hard for 40 minutes, and they showed us where we need to be to go the rest of the way this year," Lowery said.

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087