Article Options

Bulldogs deny Dillard chance to win game

By Todd Hefferman, The Southern

Monday, January 5, 2009 11:13 PM CST

CARBONDALE - Kevin Dillard was almost as good as a decoy as he was with the basketball Sunday night.

Unable to take the big shot himself in the final 30 seconds, the Southern Illinois University freshman guard did the next best thing. He found an open teammate for a 3-pointer that might have cut Drake's lead to two, but Ryan Hare missed it long. The Bulldogs went on to win, 67-60, despite Dillard's career-high 22 points and team-high five assists.

"When I was on the wing, they just played high; made sure the ball couldn't come my way, so, we tried to make moves to counter that, maybe use me as a decoy and get our big men involved," Dillard said.

It was Dillard's third career-high in his last four games and his second 20-plus-point effort in his last three. Still, outscored 23-12 at the free-throw line and held to one field goal in the last seven minutes, SIU fell to 0-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Hare made 3-of-8 from the field for eight points, but was 1-of-3 from behind the 3-point line. Both misses came in the final minute, as the Salukis tried to close a six-point gap at SIU Arena.

"They really took Kevin out. They shaded him. They made him give it up," SIU coach Chris Lowery said. "I would have liked to have seen him keep attacking it a little bit more, but, you know, he made the right decision. Ryan was open."

Drake (11-4 overall and 2-1 in the MVC) closed out its first win in Carbondale since Feb. 16, 1996, at the free-throw line. The Bulldogs made all five of their attempts in the final minute to pull even with Creighton, Evansville and Northern Iowa in the league standings. SIU (5-9, 0-3) lost for the fourth time in its last five games and joined Missouri State and Wichita State as the only league teams without a conference victory.

Wednesday, that will change for better or worse. The Salukis and Shockers (6-8, 0-3) square off at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night at Koch Arena.

"Now we're 0-3, and now they've gotta be mad that we lost again, and that's the only thing they need to be mad about," Lowery said. "When you're a family, and things aren't going well, you don't get mad at each other, you get mad at who's causing the family pain, and that's the opponent, so, we gotta take it out on somebody, and maybe it's good for us to get away and get to Wichita, and kind of camp out there, and get better."

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087