CARBONDALE - It may have been a good thing the Southern Illinois University men's basketball team opened the league season on the road.

The Saluki faithful might still be standing after SIU's effort in the second half Sunday at Carver Arena.

Bradley finished the first half on a 15-3 run and scored the first 11 points of the second half to beat the Salukis 79-63.

SIU didn't breach the scoreboard in the second half until Kevin Dillard hit the first of two free throws with 14:55 to play.

"We just wanted to maintain playing good basketball. I didn't want us to play score, I didn't want us to play anything other than continuing to be solid, defensively, and take good shots," Bradley coach Jim Les said. "Our offensive execution was as good as it's been all year, in terms of making the extra pass and guys creating for others, and just taking good shots. And the percentages show."

The Braves (7-5 overall) shot 55 percent from the field and made 28 of 32 at the free-throw line. Point guard Sam Maniscalco scored 18 points and forward Theron Wilson had 17, as the Braves won their first Missouri Valley Conference opener in three years.

SIU (5-7) got 21 points from Kevin Dillard off the bench and shot better from behind the 3-point line (38.5) than from the field (33.3). The Salukis made 10 of 26 shots behind the arc, but never got enough defensive stops to challenge the Braves in both teams' league opener.

The loss was SIU's first in a conference opener in five years.

The Salukis trailed by nine in the opening half but took a 27-26 lead with less than five minutes to go after a Dillard 3-pointer. The freshman from Homewood then forced Maniscalco into a turnover to get the ball back, but SIU didn't convert another field goal until 16 seconds remained in the half. In the meantime, Bradley took off.

Taylor Brown scored three of his five points with a 3-pointer from the right corner that hit nothing but nylon. Brown found the basketball without a defender within 10 feet of him, and made the most of his opportunity at the 2:12 mark. Brown's 3-pointer put Bradley up 35-28, and it only got worse for the Salukis.

Bryan Mullins, who climbed to within five assists of becoming SIU's all-time leader, bounced a pass off another player's knee that led to a Braves' bucket. Brown finished the 2-on-1 fast break with a layup off a Maniscalco pass that put Bradley up 41-28. Anthony Booker's layup in the final minute of the first half got SIU within 11, but the Salukis never got within single digits the rest of the way.

Bradley's 79 points were the most SIU allowed in a conference game since Jan. 26, 2005, against Missouri State.

"They got up on us, and they did a good job of keeping the lead on us and keeping us at bay," SIU coach Chris Lowery said. "They did a great job of just playing. They went right where we're weak right now. In that game, we were very weak guarding the basketball. They made us rotate and do things we didn't want to do."

Luckily for SIU, the Salukis don't have much time to dwell on the loss. Northern Iowa (6-6, 0-1 MVC) comes to SIU Arena on Wednesday night for a New Year's Eve date that tips off at 7:05 p.m.

The Panthers fell in double overtime to Indiana State, 85-84, Sunday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

todd.hefferman@thesouthern.com / 351-5087